Sitting East I heard North opening 1S as dealer. My hand was QJ932; A; 86; JT987. Vulnerability being none vul, I should have made a Michael's cue. But I refrained from doing it. South raised to 4H; 2 passes to me. With a sense of regret I took a chance bidding 4S hoping to find p with honor doubleton or 3 carder S. North balanced with 5H ending the auction there. Result was 1 down, while 4S looked promising. (Atleast better result than 4H making for N).
The four hands are shown below.
North
T75
T75
KQ986
A42
K6
West East
AK86 QJ932
732 A
KQ75 86
32 JT987
South
4
JT54
JT93
AQ53
At first glance, it looks as though, at 4S, E have only 3 losers in the minors ( 2 C and 1 D losers).
Well! Take a moment and plan the play. See if you can make it.
The following is the line of play adopted by one of the decent players at TNSC.
East took the Natural H lead with A. He played low D to Q at trick2. North took the Ace and backed a H. ruffed in hand, cashed QS. East now played JC from hand. North took the K and backed a H, ruffed in hand and played an other club. South took with A and played a club. Time to count!
If clubs are 3-3, East could ruff this club and pull trumps to enjoy the good clubs. But if clubs are 4-2?? Dummy ruffed the club with A S and North discarded a H.
East deciding to learn more about the defenders' distribution, cashed KD and a D ruff in hand.
Now North's distribution is.. 2 or 3 Ss, 5 Hs, 3 or 4 Ds, 2 Cs. If Spades are 2-2, a club can be ruffed high to pull the last trump and take home the contract. If spades are 3-1 (only 3 with North is possible), a club should be ruffed high in dummy, and T S with North should be finesed to claim 10 tricks. Declarer with not much hesitation, ruffed club high and finesed the T to book a top on a very tricky board. "It's Ubayakar! How else will you play" was his explanation for the line.
Considering, I would not have got line right, 5H-1 by N was the best result at our table.
3 comments:
I agree with the line, but I would suggest some better reasoning :)
1H was raised to 4H at your table with only 4 card support. That suggests good distribution, and you already know he does not have a 5 card suit. So he must be 1444.
Makes sense?
agreed...
Appologies D discovery play cannot be made, as 2 Hs are already ruffed in hand and there is no room for D ruff. Also, hence after 2 rounds of Ds, South's distribution is either 1=4=4=4 or 2=4=3=4 or 3=4=2=4. As SP explained, 1=4=4=4 is most probable. Hence, the finesse of T S.
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