Posted 2011-January-06, 10:57
I could cash ♠K, which works when LHO has everything, even if nothing breaks. However, that goes down rather a lot if RHO has a heart honour.
Instead, I'll play a line that works most of the time as long as I guess who has ♦K.
Heart to K (in case RHO has a singleton queen), lose a heart, win the club exit, lose a heart, win the club exit. Now, if I think LHO has ♦K:
- If clubs broke and hearts were 4=2, unblock the last club and exit with ♥2, endplaying LHO to give me an entry back to hand.
- If clubs broke and hearts were 5=1, play the same heart endplay, but one trick later.
- If clubs were 4-1 and hearts not 5-1, cash the hearts. If LHO keeps three diamonds including the king, cash the club and run ♦7, endplaying him I hope. If he comes down to ♦Kx, I can set up ♦Q.
- If clubs broke and hearts were 3-3, play the diamond endplay, but with more confidence as LHO will be 2=3=5=3.
- If clubs were 4-1 and hearts were 5-1, I should have cashed ♠K.
If I think RHO has ♦K, I do something more obvious.
... that would still not be conclusive proof, before someone wants to explain that to me as well as if I was a 5 year-old. - gwnn