[phoenix214]

Came up with this play problem during a teams event , figure maybe somebody might appreciate it in this forum.

Lead 6 of spades, you play jack, ducked around, best line to play - imps

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[inquiry]

phoenix214, on 2016-March-05, 14:29, said:

Came up with this play problem during a teams event , figure maybe somebody might appreciate it in this forum.

Lead 6 of spades, you play jack, ducked around, best line to play - imps

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My "best guess", and I consider this a very appropriate problem for this forum. Please try to solve the problem before reading the reply hidden in the spoiler box below. I took a look at it to consider if it might make a useful "Avoid simple mistakes" series of BBO Movies. This would make an useful BBO Movie for beginners/early intermediates, and if I missed the correct solution, then for late intermediates too.

Spoiler

Heart Ace
Three round of clubs, pitch spade from dummy.
Heart.

Concept is 1♠, 1♠ ruff with high, 4♥, 1♦ and and 3♣. The danger is if the ♥ finesse loses, they will get the ♠A, and a ♠ ruff, plus the ♥King, plus an eventual diamond for down one.

[Phil]

By the way, make life tougher for RHO by playing the SJ from dummy. While the 6 is probably 65 doubleton there may be a case where the 6 is harder to read and there's no benefit to advertise possession of the Q in your hand.

[zillahandp]

I would play the ks not the knave as its more likely to tempt ace from rho. Then its ace and another heart as soon as I get in Bes way t stop spade ruff by lho

[1eyedjack]

zillahandp, on 2016-March-06, 09:21, said:

I would play the ks not the knave as its more likely to tempt ace from rho.

Frankly I doubt that there is much in it. Leading away from an Ace v suit tends to be unpopular, so that absent any honour in South's hand he is more likely to play leader for Q than Ace, which in turn would dictate playing the Jack, whereas holding the Q himself the K/J become equal cards and he might play either. In third seat, therefore, I am more likely to play South with the possibility of a wide open holding if the Jack is played from table. And I am more likely to duck if I place South with the Queen. A sort of restricted choice application, and a Grosvenor if he played the K without Q.

[Caitlynne]

I am not sure what I am missing. There are 3 possible losers - Ace of spades, a diamond, and a trump/heart. What you need to do is prevent a spade ruff if possible - the danger being that spades are 5-2 with the hand with 2 spades having more than 1 trump. So, lead a trump the Ace and another trump. Only when the doubleton spade hand has 3 or 4 hearts do you lose. When the spades are actually 5-2 (which seems unlikely since that would mean the 6 would have been led from 65 doubleton - so it is far more likely that spades are 4-3 on this hand than in general - and you can't say more because you did not tell us which spade 3rd hand played and what the defenders's carding methods might be), the chances of that are 15%. So playing hearts this way means you will make almost always.

By the way, I would have played the King, not the Jack from dummy. The King is more likely to produce the Ace from 3rd hand than the Jack is.

[iandayre]

I think the point is to cash 3 rounds of Clubs, pitching a Spade from dummy, before playing Ace of H and another Heart. The play to Trick 1 makes it appear that Spades are Axxxx opposite xx.

[zillahandp]

Well one eye thepoint is exactly that west would not underlead the ace, probably so the 5/2 split ian with the doubleton on your left, so losers maybe kh, a ruff As and a diamond, you dont want Rho to duck spade as if Kh is wrong he can get in with ace on second round of spades. What on earth is unusual about 6 from 65 dbltn and three hearts to the king, standard lead cait.

[Phil]

zillahandp, on 2016-March-06, 09:21, said:

I would play the ks not the knave as its more likely to tempt ace from rho. Then its ace and another heart as soon as I get in Bes way t stop spade ruff by lho

Possibly but unless it's an unusual circumstance RHO knows that we know that an Ace underlead is unlikely so the K is advertising the Q. Its also very likely we have three small and RHO won't want to lose a tempo by ducking.

[billw55]

Interesting. This is quite a different problem at matchpoints, where you could make anywhere from 8-11 tricks.

[tfoerster]

minimize the risk of a spade ruff, in case they are 52.

So trump to ace and another trump, loosing only to Kxx of trump with West. (Of course the trump finesse would not have worked then either.)

[Cyberyeti]

tfoerster, on 2016-March-07, 17:06, said:

minimize the risk of a spade ruff, in case they are 52.

So trump to ace and another trump, loosing only to Kxx of trump with West. (Of course the trump finesse would not have worked then either.)

As said above, you eliminate the spade ruff entirely by cashing 3 clubs pitching a spade first.

[phoenix214]

I figure I can post my personal solution to the problem.
Well seems mostly everybody noticed the problem with the looming spade ruff - and found the play to cash three clubs to pitch a spade - I agree to that. But In my honest opinion after you do that - you are free to take the heart finesse. The reason for this is that you have all the spot cards - and you are going to lose one diamond anyway - my play at the table was - three rounds of clubs, diamond to ace, run heart jack. You still get the overtrick if HK is onside - and if HK is offside - well they cash their SA and if they go for a ruff, you will have the higher trump in dummy.

This line of play is superior to playing HA and h because you will go down if the person with xx in spades had Kxx in H. Finessing vs playing HA H in the first line just gives a free chance for an over trick.

[WesleyC]

phoenix214, on 2016-March-08, 04:40, said:

I figure I can post my personal solution to the problem.

Nice solution to a cute problem. I think your line is definitely best.

The only thing I have to add is that (based on my experience) this hand belongs in (at least) the Intermediate/Advanced forums!

[NickRW]

WesleyC, on 2016-March-08, 07:15, said:

The only thing I have to add is that (based on my experience) this hand belongs in (at least) the Intermediate/Advanced forums!

People have different perceptions of what constitutes a novice problem versus what is an intermediate one. Some people have blind spots on problems of a particular type, while they're good at others. And pretty well all of us perform better with problems as compared to our real life performance at the table.

Personally I'm happy for problems like this to appear in either forum.

[billw55]

Cyberyeti, on 2016-March-07, 18:24, said:

As said above, you eliminate the spade ruff entirely by cashing 3 clubs pitching a spade first.

phoenix214, on 2016-March-08, 04:40, said:

I figure I can post my personal solution to the problem.
Well seems mostly everybody noticed the problem with the looming spade ruff - and found the play to cash three clubs to pitch a spade - I agree to that. But In my honest opinion after you do that - you are free to take the heart finesse.

Most everyone found the club play, but nobody mentioned the risk. If the third club is ruffed, you could go down in a cold contract. This is unlikely, but perhaps a little less so when we assume spades are 5-2. It is still the percentage play, but it is not totally safe.

[phoenix214]

I am sorry if I posted in the wrong forum, this is the first time Im posting a problem that I feel is under my class of play - so it is hard for me to judge - atleast I hope people enjoyed it.

[Zelandakh]

phoenix214, on 2016-March-08, 14:38, said:

I am sorry if I posted in the wrong forum, this is the first time Im posting a problem that I feel is under my class of play - so it is hard for me to judge - atleast I hope people enjoyed it.

Talking of N/B problems that ought to be below your (Advanced) level, what do you think Opener has shown in the following sequence?
(P)- 1♠ - 2♦;
3♥ - 3NT;
4♥