[ahydra]

IMPs, EW vul. NS play 5cM weak NT. EW "don't have any agreements at all"... in particular they don't have any agreements on two-suited overcalls; their basic system is 4cM weak NT, leads are 4th from honour / 2nd from bad suits, reverse attitude signals. E is a novice, W is an I/A standard player.

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Click Next to follow the play. (Constructive criticism of my line of play is welcome.) Do you finesse the C10?

ahydra

[Cyberyeti]

If W has ♣ Jxxx this is a finesse you don't have to take with them having crashed the hearts, it appears E will have started 5251 and W 1534 so if you cash your diamond and spade winners, if W has ♣Jxxx, when you play clubs from the top, he'll be endplayed to give you the ♥8 for your 9th trick.

[mikeh]

Cyber is correct, but the OP needlessly, greedily pitched a heart on the last diamond, thus creating this silly situation. Meanwhile the clues are conflicting. RHO ‘should’ be 5-5 to bid as he did with only 9 hcp in his suits and the heart Jack. The carding in diamonds is simply weird. LHO led the 10 from 108x? But if he had 1098x, why would RHO’s 3rd diamond be the 7? Even if LHO started with 108x, the 7 still makes no sense, although it could simply be random from 97x. In addition the return of the diamond 2 at trick 2 ‘should’ show an initial 4 card suit, but RHO may not know that.


We’ve created a silly dilemma by our pitch of our heart stopper. I’d need to be at the table, but fear that even then it would be a crapshoot.

[cherdano]

 Cyberyeti, on 2018-November-30, 03:51, said:

If W has ♣ Jxxx this is a finesse you don't have to take with them having crashed the hearts, it appears E will have started 5251 and W 1534 so if you cash your diamond and spade winners, if W has ♣Jxxx, when you play clubs from the top, he'll be endplayed to give you the ♥8 for your 9th trick.

While that's true, surely if East is known to be sane we just take the club finesse for the two overtricks? Even if RHO does want to take a second bid with KQ9xx Jxx A7xx x it would be double rather than 2D for anyone who has ever learned the slightest bid about natural bidding?

[Cyberyeti]

 cherdano, on 2018-November-30, 18:17, said:

While that's true, surely if East is known to be sane we just take the club finesse for the two overtricks? Even if RHO does want to take a second bid with KQ9xx Jxx A7xx x it would be double rather than 2D for anyone who has ever learned the slightest bid about natural bidding?

No, he's probably a clueless loony that has KQ9xx, Jx, Axxx, Jx and taking the finesse is unfortunate

[mikeh]

 cherdano, on 2018-November-30, 18:17, said:

While that's true, surely if East is known to be sane we just take the club finesse for the two overtricks? Even if RHO does want to take a second bid with KQ9xx Jxx A7xx x it would be double rather than 2D for anyone who has ever learned the slightest bid about natural bidding?

As I have been told, repeatedly, when commenting on thepossum’s posts, one should never underestimate the utter ignorance of basic bridge possessed by the majority of players, lol. And we are told that RHO is a beginner

[akwoo]

I'm not taking inferences from East. I don't think West would have lead T from T86 given their agreements, so West must have the 9. No finesse.

[ahydra]

 mikeh, on 2018-November-30, 19:33, said:

As I have been told, repeatedly, when commenting on thepossum’s posts, one should never underestimate the utter ignorance of basic bridge possessed by the majority of players

Ouch!

 akwoo, on 2018-December-01, 02:11, said:

I'm not taking inferences from East. I don't think West would have lead T from T86 given their agreements, so West must have the 9. No finesse.

That was my thought at the table as well. Unfortunately LHO had Jxxx and I went one off. When I asked LHO why he would say they led MUD but lead the 10 from 108x, he just shrugged. To be honest perhaps describing him as an I/A player is too generous given this and his subsequent 1NT-2D transfer on a 4-card suit, though on the first hand of the round he did seemingly knowingly pull off a neat endplay. Club bridge is a weird place. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

CY makes a very good point about the hearts, which I didn't spot because my counting skills only extend to about 6 of the opponents' 8 suits - I was tracking East's shape and West's clubs. This is likely the reason that I have missed at least three double squeezes at the table, but spot simple and even triple squeezes easily. :-(

ahydra

[msjennifer]

 Cyberyeti, on 2018-November-30, 03:51, said:

If W has ♣ Jxxx this is a finesse you don't have to take with them having crashed the hearts, it appears E will have started 5251 and W 1534 so if you cash your diamond and spade winners, if W has ♣Jxxx, when you play clubs from the top, he'll be endplayed to give you the ♥8 for your 9th trick.

Sir,yes indeed.