[gman_uk]

Hi People,

Would someone please clarify a quick question on carding.

Partner and I are defending a 1NT (15/17) open by opps. Partner leads hearts and we take first four tricks. On the 5th trick partner continues hearts and I signal a dislike in clubs.

Partner switches to diamonds by playing the 8 and I am holding K,Q,J,10. 7 and 5 diamonds are in dummy as declarer has dumped a couple of low diamonds against the earlier rounds of heart and I play my King and declare wins trick with Ace.

We played the remaining tricks and at the end the of the hand my partner stated that playing King of diamond on the 1st round was bad play as this suggested that I didn't hold the Queen. From memory my partner said that I should play the Queen on 1st round. Is this correct? Is there any particular diamond I could play with no agreement that would intimate that I have an honour sequence.

Comments appreciated.

[Vampyr]

It is normal for a defender to play the lowest of touching cards.

[gman_uk]

Thanks vampyr

[ggwhiz]

Partner often has to plan the rest of their defense, what to keep/what to throw etc. and knowing that declarer will not be hitting them with good diamond cards helps. Even if it doesn't matter it saves mental effort.

[fromageGB]

There is a thought, though, that playing the lowest of touching cards is not always a good idea. If you play the ten in this example, partner is likely to think that declarer has all the top cards and is playing the ace to disguise how many tops he has. Playing Q may be better as this is consistent with KQ and partner will therefore (when he gets in) lead them again. You win that one with the ten, then play from top.

[barmar]

fromageGB, on 2015-June-13, 08:30, said:

There is a thought, though, that playing the lowest of touching cards is not always a good idea. If you play the ten in this example, partner is likely to think that declarer has all the top cards and is playing the ace to disguise how many tops he has. Playing Q may be better as this is consistent with KQ and partner will therefore (when he gets in) lead them again. You win that one with the ten, then play from top.

It's the same problem -- If declarer wins the Q with the A, partner doesn't know which of you has the K.

Partner should be able to figure this out from other clues. For instance if you signalled for a diamond lead, you wouldn't do it with just T or JT.

And in the example in the OP, there were 5 low diamonds in dummy, and declarer was discarding diamonds. Would he do that with a 9 card fit holding the top honors?

[aguahombre]

I have other clues. Partner led hearts on opening lead, yet I will be playing the Diamond before dummy does. And there seem to be more than 13 diamonds in the deck if the card we play on the diamond switch can possibly matter.

These are clues that something is wrong.

[1eyedjack]

There is a case for playing the lower of a sequence of two touching cards, but the higher of 3 (or more). Or perhaps the lowest of an even number of touching cards but the highest of an odd number. Or the lowest from an even total holding and so on.

This is based on the premise that partner is unlikely to be interested in the distinction between (say) KQJT and KQJx., and my well be able to work out from context which of Kxx and KQJ you hold if you play the K.

[phoenix214]

Actually an interesting idea - on the last heart, cant you afford to play the king of diamonds?
That should tell partner immediately what your diamond holding is(You should only be able to afford to play the king of diamonds, if you need a different switch which would be fatal or you have really good diamonds), and that one trick should not matter that much long, as long as you can get all your other diamonds.

[gman_uk]

thanks all for the additional comments

[steve2005]

While playing lower of touching honors helps. Declarer can freely false card so don't know who has K.

That's why smith echo and other systems invented to let partnership know if lead liked.

[fromageGB]

barmar, on 2015-June-13, 20:18, said:

It's the same problem -- If declarer wins the Q with the A, partner doesn't know which of you has the K.
And in the example in the OP, there were 5 low diamonds in dummy, and declarer was discarding diamonds. Would he do that with a 9 card fit holding the top honors?

We are reading this differently. I see dummy as starting with four diamonds, the 75xx. I think you and aquahombre have it wrong.

Yes partner does not know you have the K, but playing the Q is consistent with having the K.
Playing the Q and having the K is more likely than playing the T and having the KQJ, so partner is more likely to play you for it if you get no chance to signal again.

This post has been edited by fromageGB: 2015-June-14, 09:07