[mikeh]

You open 1C, showing 2+. The 2C overcall was natural. Partner finds a great lead of a low spade from Kxx. You win the A, play the 8 to partner’s King, and win the continuation. On the 4th spade, declarer pitches a diamond and partner a discouraging heart. Your play, and why?

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[Cyberyeti]

If declarer has something like ♣AQJxxx and ♥Ax you need to return ♥K here

[shyams]

Nice problem.

I must say the play of ♥K to disrupt communications between declarer and dummy is not very hard to find.

In addition to the hand described by Cyberyeti, there are other hands where declarer still is unable to make 9 tricks (e.g. ♠xxx ♥Axx ♦xx ♣AQJ10x)

[pilowsky]

Thanks for that Mike great problem, - I'm looking forward to the answer - it's got me stumped.
the layout I came up with looks like this:

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But, this layout is no good, because if South leads back the ♥K, then West just collects it in hand, runs off the ♣ in hand ditching all the♦ and then makes the contract with the remaining ♥ in dummy.

So I must have something wrong.

Answers my other question about what 2 ♣ over 1♣ means when 1♣ is a short♣. Thanks for that.

[Cyberyeti]

pilowsky, on 2020-September-06, 23:58, said:

Thanks for that Mike great problem, - I'm looking forward to the answer - it's got me stumped.
the layout I came up with looks like this:

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But, this layout is no good, because if South leads back the ♥K, then West just collects it in hand, runs off the ♣ in hand ditching all the♦ and then makes the contract with the remaining ♥ in dummy.

So I must have something wrong.

Answers my other question about what 2 ♣ over 1♣ means when 1♣ is a short♣. Thanks for that.

You have nothing wrong, there are layouts where the contract is unbeatable, but AQJxxx or AQJ10x are not cashable without unblocking the ♣K, returning to hand with the ♥A taking the finesse if you're a trick short and then cashing the clubs, removing the ♥A prematurely prevents this. It's only wrong if the 6 card club suit was cashable all the time and the heart ace was stiff or declarer had ♣AQJ109 and ♥Ax.

[cherdano]

pilowsky, on 2020-September-06, 23:58, said:

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But, this layout is no good, because if South leads back the ♥K, then West just collects it in hand, runs off the ♣ in hand ditching all the♦ and then makes the contract with the remaining ♥ in dummy.

So I must have something wrong.

On this layout, declarer would pitch a heart not a diamond! Also, he can make on any return.

Once you realise declarer won't pitch a singleton diamond and cut himself off dummy, it seems impossible to construct a layout where ♥K is wrong.

[Cyberyeti]

cherdano, on 2020-September-07, 05:05, said:

On this layout, declarer would pitch a heart not a diamond! Also, he can make on any return.

Once you realise declarer won't pitch a singleton diamond and cut himself off dummy, it seems impossible to construct a layout where ♥K is wrong.

xxx, A, xxx, AQJ109x or xxx, Ax, xxx, AQJ109 are the two specific wrong ones, where he can only generate 8 tricks without you divesting yourself of ♥K. he can have or not have ♦Q

[mikeh]

I had this hand at the table, and thought it was a neat hand. The return of the heart King is a textbook play. It can never be wrong, although it will often be irrelevant.

The key is that declarer may hold clubs that look like AQJxxx, and as little as 10xxx in partner’s hand will be a stopper.

Book plays like this rarely arise, so having it arise was fun

Honesty compels me to say that I didn’t get a chance to make the play. My partner, looking at the club jack in his hand, knew there was no need to kill the club suit. Concerned to kill diamonds, rather than clubs, he switched to a club to knock out that entry. However, I thought the hand was worth posting. In answer to pilowski’s post, the point is to assume one can beat the contract (especially at imps) and to picture layouts where that is possible but where one can do something about it, don’t worry about imagined layouts where the contract cannot be beaten, here, Jxx Axx x AQJ9xx was a real,possibility and the only way to beat it is to drive out the heart entry before declarer unblocks the clubs.

[cherdano]

Cyberyeti, on 2020-September-07, 05:38, said:

xxx, A, xxx, AQJ109x or xxx, Ax, xxx, AQJ109 are the two specific wrong ones.

Ok I had missed such layouts. In the first, we have to play a low heart to break up a criss-cross squeeze in the red suits (which declarer will get right). In the second, we have to play a club because a low heart would set up a criss-cross squeeze in the red suits...