[AL78]

Not sure how I could get this right other than by guessing.

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South was declarer in 4♠ after a weak NT and transfer auction. I led ♦6, won by declarer with the ace. Partner got on lead with the ♠K and led a club to my ace.

I decided the diamond suit looked dangerous and was almost certainly about to be used for discarding losers, so I switched to a heart, won by partner, and that was the end of the defence.

I needed to play a diamond for partner to ruff, one down.

If partner had cashed her heart ace before putting me in, maybe I would have twigged it, but unless the same position comes up again, I will never know if I'd have found it.

[johnu]

As a note, the complete auction should always be given, even if it doesn't look like it should make a difference to you, and spot cards should be given for played cards.

On this particular hand, East should definitely cash ♥A, and then after seeing your signal, continue with ♥9 or a small club. West is only going to have 1 entry and playing ♥A gives East the best chance of finding it. East is the only player at the table that knows they started with a singleton diamond.

Once East switched immediately to a club, you should have noted which club. In this instance, I would have interpreted East's spot card as a suit preference, low club for a diamond return, high club for a heart return. If a high club, I would be wondering why East didn't cash ♥A and conclude he didn't have it, probably the ♥K or Q.

[nige1]

AL78 "South was declarer in 4♠ after a weak NT and transfer auction. I led ♦6, won by declarer with the ace. Partner got on lead with the ♠K and led a club to my ace.I decided the diamond suit looked dangerous and was almost certainly about to be used for discarding losers, so I switched to a heart, won by partner, and that was the end of the defence.I needed to play a diamond for partner to ruff, one down.If partner had cashed her heart ace before putting me in, maybe I would have twigged it, but unless the same position comes up again, I will never know if I'd have found it."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yes, East can help West to find the ♦ continuation, by cashing ♥A
As JohnU points out, if West encourages ♥ then ♥K is as good as ♣A.
Hugh Kelsey wrote a book about such deals, where you can help partner defend.

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[mikeh]

Note that east, when cashing the heart A, denies the K. On this hand, assuming south showed at least 12 hcp, west could infer that anyway. One leads the K from AKx(x) etc, the A from AK tight or without the King. This is important, on this hand, since now west knows, with certainty, not to continue hearts. That leaves only the diamond suit.

[AL78]

johnu, on 2020-January-18, 16:04, said:

As a note, the complete auction should always be given, even if it doesn't look like it should make a difference to you, and spot cards should be given for played cards.

On this particular hand, East should definitely cash ♥A, and then after seeing your signal, continue with ♥9 or a small club. West is only going to have 1 entry and playing ♥A gives East the best chance of finding it. East is the only player at the table that knows they started with a singleton diamond.

Once East switched immediately to a club, you should have noted which club. In this instance, I would have interpreted East's spot card as a suit preference, low club for a diamond return, high club for a heart return. If a high club, I would be wondering why East didn't cash ♥A and conclude he didn't have it, probably the ♥K or Q.

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I can't remember what club partner played.

[cherdano]

AL78, on 2020-January-18, 16:47, said:

I can't remember what club partner played.

That's the problem right there...

[sfi]

Sure, partner could have made it easier by cashing the HA, but I don't think a heart shift can ever be right. If it is, partner would have already led one. The (presumably) high club from East asks West to shift to a different suit and there is no positional reason to do so in hearts. The only thing left is diamonds.

The other reason East may have shifted to a club is to cash the winner before it goes away, but that doesn't look like the case here.

[AL78]

cherdano, on 2020-January-19, 17:36, said:

That's the problem right there...

What, that I forget one card played in a game 2-3 days ago? I don't have a computer-like mind and don't store and recall everything that happens.

[AL78]

sfi, on 2020-January-19, 18:02, said:

Sure, partner could have made it easier by cashing the HA, but I don't think a heart shift can ever be right. If it is, partner would have already led one.

She very nearly did cash the ace before leading a club.

[cherdano]

AL78, on 2020-January-20, 02:30, said:

What, that I forget one card played in a game 2-3 days ago? I don't have a computer-like mind and don't store and recall everything that happens.

Your partner led a suit in which dummy has a singleton, meaning (in case you'd win the trick) she would know that you have a problem which suit to switch to.
Whenever you don't know which suit to switch to, and partner knows you will have that problem, you should assume (or at least consider the possibility) that she tried to give you a suit preference signal.

If you had thought about which suit your partner signaled for (with her club spot), you would still remember which spot she played. And if partner didn't attempt to make a suit preference signal, that is also the problem.

Basically, I agree with everyone that partner made a mistake not cashing ♥A. But I find it more important that the two of you, as a partnership, get on the same page, namely the page that tells you to use suit preference in obvious suit preference situations.