[Shavit1]

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Opening lead: ♥Q.
Declarer won the Ace and led a trump to the Ace, dropping the Jack from West.
On the second round of trump, West discarded a small heart.
Declarer then ran the ♣10 for a finesse.
Can you find a better line?

[rhm]

I see an improvement.

Ruff a heart at trick 2 in case West has a singleton ♠J or ♠T.

you now have the entries in dummy to ruff 3 hearts and can play a trump coup against East when West shows out even if the club finesse fails.

Rainer Herrmann

[PhilKing]

Heart ruff at trick 2 is standard.

[emalka]

Still only 11 tricks without club finesse: 7 spades, 1 heart, 2 diamonds, 1 club, but if East is 4-4-2-3 with club king it is 12 tricks.

[WesleyC]

emalka, on 2015-August-09, 23:57, said:

Still only 11 tricks without club finesse: 7 spades, 1 heart, 2 diamonds, 1 club, but if East is 4-4-2-3 with club king it is 12 tricks.

Even if you run the ♣T and it loses to East's ♣K, you've still got 3 club tricks on the table. If east is (say) 4432 or 4342 they can ruff the 3rd club but then you over-ruff, draw trumps and cross in diamonds to cash the final club winner making 7 spades 1 heart 2 diamonds and 2 clubs. There are some distributions where you might struggle if East can discard diamonds rather than ruffing (eg 4612 or 4522), but you should make it home against most common distributions.

[FrancesHinden]

I have the same question that I had on your other thread: why have you posted this hand? Do you want to learn something, if so what?

[Shavit1]

Deleted

[Shavit1]

FrancesHinden, on 2015-August-10, 15:10, said:

I have the same question that I had on your other thread: why have you posted this hand? Do you want to learn something, if so what?

I know the solution but also got the idea that this is not the appropriate place to post such elementary hands.
Thanks!

[Phil]

Every few years we get someone that posts a book hand. Or several.

Its fine as long as you cite the source and don't seem clever about the presentation.

[Shavit1]

Phil, on 2015-August-12, 10:47, said:

Every few years we get someone that posts a book hand. Or several.

Its fine as long as you cite the source and don't seem clever about the presentation.

I have this hand (among hundreds) saved on my comp, not having even a single clue about its source. Can you direct me to the book where this hand is located? Appreciate your kindness!

[Shavit1]

WesleyC, on 2015-August-10, 01:06, said:

Even if you run the ♣T and it loses to East's ♣K, you've still got 3 club tricks on the table. If east is (say) 4432 or 4342 they can ruff the 3rd club but then you over-ruff, draw trumps and cross in diamonds to cash the final club winner making 7 spades 1 heart 2 diamonds and 2 clubs. There are some distributions where you might struggle if East can discard diamonds rather than ruffing (eg 4612 or 4522), but you should make it home against most common distributions.

How would you play against 5332 in East (assuming ♣K is onside)?

[mikeh]

Shavit1, on 2015-August-12, 15:49, said:

How would you play against 5332 in East (assuming ♣K is onside)?

not suitable for the expert forum. it is trivial.

however:

The precise sequence depends on what East does as we elope with our trump (my first acquaintance with term 'elopement' was in Adventures in Card Play, but elopement has been a standard part of technique for a long time).

We start with ruffing a heart at trick 2: this is so basic that no self-respecting expert would fail to get this right if paying any attention.

Top spade, revealing the break.

We can no longer avoid a spade loser, since rho has J1087 and we hold KQ96x, but this is still basic

The precise sequence depends on when and with what East ruffs in. However, at some point we will end up pitching a diamond, letting him score his inevitable trump trick. We'd certainly start by hooking a club, ruffing a heart, hooking a club, and then trying to cash the club Ace, since RHO may be 2=3 minors, not 3=2, etc.

The point is that he cannot stop us eloping with our trumps unless we screw this up (as in not ruffing a heart at trick 2, for example).

[Shavit1]

mikeh, on 2015-August-12, 16:17, said:

not suitable for the expert forum. it is trivial.

however:

The precise sequence depends on what East does as we elope with our trump (my first acquaintance with term 'elopement' was in Adventures in Card Play, but elopement has been a standard part of technique for a long time).

We start with ruffing a heart at trick 2: this is so basic that no self-respecting expert would fail to get this right if paying any attention.

Top spade, revealing the break.

We can no longer avoid a spade loser, since rho has J1087 and we hold KQ96x, but this is still basic

The precise sequence depends on when and with what East ruffs in. However, at some point we will end up pitching a diamond, letting him score his inevitable trump trick. We'd certainly start by hooking a club, ruffing a heart, hooking a club, and then trying to cash the club Ace, since RHO may be 2=3 minors, not 3=2, etc.

The point is that he cannot stop us eloping with our trumps unless we screw this up (as in not ruffing a heart at trick 2, for example).

...or as in not overtaking the ♣10 with the Jack in order to gain a vital entry. But, as you said, this is trivial

[beautyleg]

Of course the declare must try to lose his diamond loser on clubs of dummy. The contract would still go down with unbalanced trump fit and CK in 2+cards on east. But the main problem is the slam try of dummy. Is 18hcp+weak usually good for slam？

[FrancesHinden]

Shavit1, on 2015-August-12, 16:41, said:

...or as in not overtaking the ♣10 with the Jack in order to gain a vital entry. But, as you said, this is trivial

If you read his line of play, you see overtaking the club is implicit because the next trick involves playing a heart from dummy.

Hands that come up at the table - such as WesleyC's posted at a similar time to this - are far more interesting because they often have a theme that isn't covered in standard textbooks on play.
I would never expect to go down in your 7S contract if I was paying any attention. Going off with a trump suit of AKQx opposite J9xx by not forseeing a possible trump promotion in 6 tricks time is much easier.