[rasmuskold]

Hi all,

Had this south hand the other day, and I'd like some thoughts on how to play it. I assumed (somewhat problematically) that not everyone would reach the contract, so I think I missed an overtrick.

---

In a matchpoints game, how do you plan the play on the lead of the diamond 3?

At trick one...

Spoiler

...if you play low, RHO also follows low. If you put up the queen, he covers with the king

[mgoetze]

Personally I'd be asking myself....

- Would East double 2♦ with good diamonds or does that show something else?
- Does West realise this auction indicates a trump lead or is he a beginner?
- How do the opps lead, how many diamonds does West rate to have?

Personally I would guess that anyone passing initially with North will drive to game when South opens 1♠.

[rasmuskold]

 mgoetze, on 2011-June-17, 05:49, said:

Personally I'd be asking myself....

- Would East double 2♦ with good diamonds or does that show something else?
- Does West realise this auction indicates a trump lead or is he a beginner?
- How do the opps lead, how many diamonds does West rate to have?

Personally I would guess that anyone passing initially with North will drive to game when South opens 1♠.

It was at an intermediate club game, and while the opponents were not experts, they are by no means beginners either. I doubt that they had any defensive agreement over 2di opening. They lead fourth best.

[nige1]

rasmuskold wrote....
Had this south hand the other day, and I'd like some thoughts on how to play it. I assumed (somewhat problematically) that not everyone would reach the contract, so I think I missed an overtrick.
In a matchpoints game, how do you plan the play on the lead of the diamond 3?

IMO,
You are likely to earn a good MP score for bidding and making 4♠.
Duck the ♦ lead and win with ♦T. (Superficially, It's a guess but if LHO has led from ♦Jxxx you can usually get three fast ♦ tricks.
♠ to ♠K.
If ♠ are 2-2 , you guess ♥ right, and ♦K drops, you may make an overtrick, because you can ruff your minor losers in dummy.
If ♠ are 3-1, you may need to guess ♥ and set up a ♥ trick.
With no other clue, finesse ♥J first, because if LHO has both ♥AQ then your task is simpler.

---

[mgoetze]

 rasmuskold, on 2011-June-20, 04:56, said:

They lead fourth best.

Assuming that implies they play high from a doubleton, West has either 1 or 4 diamonds. I guess I'll play low from dummy, and if East produces the Jack, West likely has a singleton so I need to draw trump immediately. I'd think about the rest when I see what happens.