[bd71]

PART I

Scoring: IMP

Simple bidding:
3C - all pass

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Partner leads the AD. Your agreements are A from AK(x...) and primary attitude signals.

Do you play the 6 to encouarge and try to get a ruff?

Do you play the 3 to discourage, because you fear an overruff and want to get a spade switch before declarer can drop spades on dummy's hearts?

Or is it more complicated than either of those suggest?


PART II

Scoring: IMP

Same hand, same bidding:
3C - all pass

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Now forget East's hand. As West, you lead the AD, partner plays the 3, and declarer the Q. What do you do at trick 2?

[dicklont]

1. Tell partner what you have, play the 6, he might read it as a doubleton.

2. From 63 partner would have played the 6 so you are certain that partner has a singelton diamond and declarer is falsecarding.
You can give him a ruff.
Should you try to win the spade king first?
Very expensive when declarer holds the ace.
Lead diamond 8, partner will play spade ace when he has it and give you a ruff.

[Old York]

West has an impossible guess if you have the agreement to play 3 from 63, but has the same guess if you play the normal hi-lo because declarer can drop the Queen from Q3. As for the Spade switch, it could be right or wrong, another guess

I prefer to bid as 4th hand, hoping to go 1 down when 3♣ is making, but at Imps the decision may be closer. But the main feature of your hand is long spades and no defence to 3♣. Also, bidding 3♠ may push them into 4♣/5♣

Tony

[vuroth]

bd71, on Nov 6 2009, 12:57 PM, said:

Do you play the 6 to encouarge and try to get a ruff?

Do you play the 3 to discourage, because you fear an overruff and want to get a spade switch before declarer can drop spades on dummy's hearts?

Bear in mind that partner can see the heart danger as well as you can.

I pretty much agree with dicklont's post. If you're going to play the 3 from x, xx or xxx, it's going to be very difficult for partner with 5 or 6 diamonds to get it right. The best answer isn't which play is correct in isolation, but rather how to get it right as a partnership.

[ArtK78]

Pardon the potential hijacking of this thread.

Is it just me, or is anyone else surprised that East did not balance with 3♠?

[Trumpace]

1) Assuming 3C is with 7 clubs, seems like you need declarer to have a heart void and 3 diamonds to have any chance of breaking the contract. This gives declarer a 3-0-3-7 hand. In which case, partner has a singleton spade.

So play the 6. Ruff the third diamond, A spade and another to set the contract, even if partner does not have the SK.

If declarer has only 2 diamonds, you are probably not beating the contract anyway (and if declarer has a heart void with 2 diamonds, partner has no spades to switch to!).


2) If declarer does not have a heart void, the contract is probably hopeless (except maybe when he is 1-3-2-7, in which case you can give partner a heart ruff, if he has the CA. But that gives partner 9 spades).

So if you give declarer a 4-0-2-7 hand, you could cash DK, SK and exit a trump to prevent being thrown in with the SK.

Or you could give partner a diamond ruff at trick 2, so that you have the DK exit card later when you get in with the SK, (but declarer can counter that by ducking the DK!).

So perhaps you should hope partner has SA, and cash DK, SK and exit a trump.

Sorry if this is BS.

[Phil]

A. I play the 6 for the reasons others have suggested. By the way with Q63, I probably won't play the 6 because I don't want pard continuing A♦, ♦. Our diamonds can wait. Our spade probably can't.

B doesn't matter, but I would play a small diamond if i chose to continue the suit. In practice I would continue the ♠K.

[Old York]

Many players lead Ace for Attitute, King for Count, which seems sensible after a pre-empt, but nothing helps on this hand. Declarer is well on his way to claiming

With the given hand, many would open 3NT Gambling, although the hand is not ideal for the bid, and north should not normally pass, it is interesting to see 3NT making an overtrick for +630. 3♣ opening on this hand is not the best bid

Scoring: IMP

Contract 3NT by South
Diamond lead

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