Last night on BBO I typed "Thinking..." a couple of times and when I made the contract Anusha prompted "So thinking works :)". Well of course thinking works, and the lack of forethought can end up losing your board. Case in point, this board came up a couple of boards after the "thinking" board and this time I didn't think much:
Anusha had opened a heart but led a diamond. As you can see, lazy play result in a quick -1. I should have immediately realized that if she had a 5-carder diamond to go with her 5+ cards in hearts, I wouldn't have time to set up all my tricks. Accordingly I need to play her for a singleton or doubleton club ace. This would require some careful entry management:
- Win the DA
- Cash the SK and the SQ. If they break 3-2, overtake the SJ with the SA to generate a second entry.
- Lead a club up to the J. If Anusha doesn't play the club ace, I play the CJ and duck a club back.
This gets me 3 club tricks if she has a singleton or a doubleton club to go with 4 spade tricks, the DA and one trick in whichever red suit they attack.
What if the spades break 4-1? Now I can try to sneak a finesse of the S9 and hope that Vinoth doesn't realize he has to hop up with the S10. But for a legitimate chance of making, I have to hope for diamonds 4-3 which would give me time to set up a heart trick and end up with 4 spades, a heart, 2 diamonds and 2 clubs. So it depends on how sleepy Vinoth looks ;)
Finally, how can I improve upon the line if the club ace is with Vinoth? Duck the first round of diamonds and take the second. Now he doesn't have a diamond to return; if he returns a heart, we gain the tempo to make the contract.
Cheers,
Prashanth.
3 comments:
The bidding is interesting too. What can happen in 4!S. Lead of diamond King. Win in dummy, play three trumps ending in hand and slam club. North will probably play DQ, DJ, does declarer get locked in hand?
I was thinking about correcting to 4S but felt 3NT was the right spot. But as the cards lie, 4S is perhaps easier: you would look to ruff two diamonds in hand and make the contract on the 3-2 trump break.
The line you're talking about is bad. You will lose 2 D tricks if you pull trumps first.
nice post thanks for update
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