[jetstar]

Hi
I would appreciate your thoughts!
North opens 1NT[12-14]which is the final contract; East leads 5 of spades[4th highest]. Dummy has only the 7 singleton.
West has KJ96. King played, which holds. West then played the 6 giving East a headache[East held AT854]
Thoughts much appreciated. Thanks. Jetstar

[wank]

the 9 is the best card to return. whilst systemically incorrect, it allows east to continue them safely unless he holds aq85x, i.e. it allows him to continue with the 10 from 108x remaining on the 3rd round. this shouldn't be tried if p is likely to be short of entries - it would be a little embarrassing if declarer covered with the queen and partner let it hold to preserve communications.

[Kaitlyn S]

I don't understand where the problem lies. As I understand it, the suit was:

............ N (declarer) ♠ Q32
W:♠ KJ96 ....... E: ♠AT854
............ S (dummy) ♠ 7

East led the ♠ 5 to West's king. West returned the ♠ 6. Did declarer play the queen? If so, East wins the ♠A (East expects that West has four, so East clears the suit by leading low, not caring who has the jack.) If declarer didn't play the queen, the ♠6 holds the trick. But even if you switch the spots so that East had to overtake the second spade, East would know that West had four from the card he returned (unless declarer had five) so East would cash the ace and West might have to be aware to unblock.

The problem from returning the ♠9 from ♠KJ9x is that this might be the layout from East's point of view:

............ N ♠QJ2

W ♠K96 ...... E: ♠AT8543

............ S: ♠7

When trick 2 goes ♠9-♠Q, East "knows" West started with 3 so an entryless East ducks to maintain communications. Having West play the true card really helps East. However, if you play the ♠9 from ♠KJ96, you have this debacle:

............ N ♠Q2

W ♠KJ96 ...... E ♠AT8543

............ S ♠7

East leads the ♠5 to West's ♠K and West returns the ♠9, and East ducks North's queen! Correct play has West returning the ♠6 so that East wins the ace. East realizes his only chance to run the suit is to play low and the suit runs. (Granted, it's possible that declarer started with ♠QJ92 and West ♠K6 but a decent defender in West might realize that problem and switch at trick 2 having started with a doubleton.

A more likely scenario is this:

............ N ♠QJ32

W ♠K96 ...... E ♠AT854

............ S ♠7

East leads the ♠5 to the ♠K and returns the ♠9, covered by North's ♠Q. North might have made a mistake by covering (playing low strands East's spades if East is entryless) but people make mistakes all the time. Since East knows that West started with three and the last spade is lower than the ♠9, an entryless East again ducks, and waits for West to push another spade through declarer's ♠Jx. What happens if you return the ♠9 from ♠KJ96?

............ N ♠Q32

W ♠KJ96 ...... E ♠AT854

............ S ♠7

West leads back the ♠9 at trick 2 and North optimistically plays the ♠Q and wins the trick as East ducks to maintain an entry! The proper return of the ♠6 leads to five spades for the defense as East gobbles North's queen and leads low to West's ♠J.

There are times where it's right to return the "wrong" card to unblock. I don't believe this is one of them. In many of the cases where it is necessary to return the wrong card, partner misreads the situation and messes up the suit anyway, so having a general policy to always return the right card unless both partner and you are experts (real experts, not BBO "experts") is not a bad idea.

This post has been edited by barmar: 2017-January-09, 02:04
Reason for edit: fixed a typo in one of the W hands

[wank]

Kaitlyn S, on 2017-January-08, 13:18, said:

I don't understand where the problem lies. As I understand it, the suit was:

the problem is the 6 is can be from k63 (assuming declarer plays the 2 on the first round). now partner should duck the queen and even if he doesn't, he won't be playing one back anytime soon.

the aim is to solidify partner's suit so he can happily win and continue them.

[jetstar]

Thanks for the thoughts. By the rule of 11 North can hold only one card higher than the 5. West knows that. It is odds on East led from a five card suit, so I believe the Jack is the correct card to play. The 9 is better than the 6 for sure, but I think East will be unsure of the situation. The Jack will always yield 5 tricks for the defence irrespective of what North chooses to do. Jetstar

[barmar]

jetstar, on 2017-January-09, 07:01, said:

Thanks for the thoughts. By the rule of 11 North can hold only one card higher than the 5. West knows that. It is odds on East led from a five card suit, so I believe the Jack is the correct card to play. The 9 is better than the 6 for sure, but I think East will be unsure of the situation. The Jack will always yield 5 tricks for the defence irrespective of what North chooses to do. Jetstar

I think East will always be unsure of the situation. J could be from KJ6, so cashing the T will set up declarer's 9.

The normal 6 probably is best. It has the best chance of partner reading it as being from an original 4-card holding. It could be from K63, so he still has a guess, but he's more likely to guess right than if you play an unnecessarily high card.

[johnu]

jetstar, on 2017-January-08, 06:33, said:

Hi
I would appreciate your thoughts!
North opens 1NT[12-14]which is the final contract; East leads 5 of spades[4th highest]. Dummy has only the 7 singleton.
West has KJ96. King played, which holds. West then played the 6 giving East a headache[East held AT854]
Thoughts much appreciated. Thanks. Jetstar

You should include the complete dummy and your hand when you give a play problem. While you may not think it makes any difference, it may make a difference to the forum members trying to answer the question.

[johnu]

barmar, on 2017-January-09, 10:30, said:

I think East will always be unsure of the situation. J could be from KJ6, so cashing the T will set up declarer's 9.

The normal 6 probably is best. It has the best chance of partner reading it as being from an original 4-card holding. It could be from K63, so he still has a guess, but he's more likely to guess right than if you play an unnecessarily high card.

I agree that East can never be sure of the situation unless the partnership using the Black Magic system of carding. IMO, returning jack is least likely to give declarer an unexpected trick with the queen. K63 and K93 are equally probable, but KJ96 tilts the scales for the 6. Still, without knowing what the rest of dummy and your hand look like, you can't judge whether partner is likely to duck the queen and cost a trick.