Easy one? Yes, but here’s a hard one. Suppose partner didn’t double; now what do you lead?

Hi Dear Mr. Wolff
What either declarer wanted to achieve by diamond finesse early is not clear. Even if the finesse wins there are only eight tricks. I think declrer should duck first spade( as the first declarer did) win the spade continuation and try clubs cashing A and K and continuing clubs.He will make the contract if clubs are breaking or QJ , Q10 or J10 are doubleton in either hand . In case west turns up with four clubs and cashes his club winners, east must have diamond K and perhaps hearts Q for the bidding gets squeezed. And if west does not cash clubs, south retains a valuable tempo.And in the unlikely case of east turning with four clubs, declarer’s only hope would be to play west for all diamond honors, K ,J and Ten. Hope I am right . As you often mention – if west is dealt with K of diamonds , it will be there with him whether on second or on any later trick unless TOCM manifests.
( And perhaps it would be too bad not to make 3NT after being dealt with 28 points)
Regards
AVRR

I confess that I do not understand the first declarer’s reasoning for ducking the second diamond to East once West shows out. After all, East overcalled 1S, so must have two more spades to cash. If the declarer simply gives up on the diamonds and plays clubs at that point as Hackett did, would that not produce the same result? That is, both ducked a spade and lost a diamond, and are left hoping for East not to be able to win the third club, letting declarer score 2S + 2H + 1D + 4C = 9 tricks.

Thus, the delta is not which spade was ducked, but declarer’s odd duck of the second diamond, which conceded 2D + 3S = 5 tricks.

A V Ramana Rao –

On playing on diamonds, I suspect both declarer’s hoped the 10D would come out in the wash, letting the superior diamond spots pave the way to extra diamond tricks.

Hi Jim 2
But if east happens to hold K and J of diamonds, ( quite probable)south has to lose three spades and two diamonds
Regards

I do not disagree, but I think both expert declarers expected otherwise to the point of letting East win the first diamond in hopes to knocking out that entry while West still had a spade to lead. Then, should West win the second diamond once spades were cleared, that defender would not have a spade. The error, as I said, was letting East win another diamond after spades had been cleared — that makes no sense to me. When West showed out on the second diamond, shifting lines by going up with the AD and then playing for a low probability clubs layout was a LOT better than the give-up play of letting East win the diamond and cash two known spade winners.

Hi David,

Yes, the double made it easy, but, for what it is worth, I think the nine of diamonds, instead of the four will be more often appreciated by partner as to the specific defense going forward.

While a case can be made either way, since partner is going to have excellent diamonds and apparently well located for the defense the disclosure of holding the nine, plus the possible advantage at trick one of the opening leader holding the lead, swings the choice, at least in my taste, to the card which has been in ancient bridge history named the “Curse of Scotland”.

As to the choice without the double, a low club, because of the routine bidding indication of the declarer not holding a 4 card major, swings me to leading from a major suit and although the eight of hearts may be not read correctly, the stronger overall heart holding, than, of course, spades, convinces me to lead it. However. and possibly having to do with the lack of experience of my then partner, the deuce of spades might be my choice, only because it might be more readily understood and, of course, the choice between the two major suits is a relatively close one.

Only barely worth a mention, this might be a good time to shy away from convention and offer the queen of hearts, especially while holding the 98 since again that choice has some chance as the only card to defeat 3NT when partner happens to have AJ10 or even AJ32 with the king in dummy and the 10 with declarer.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive” only to be done however, when it triumphantly, works.

Hi AVRR,

Yes and to further respect your line of play, your mention of NS having 28 hcps only becomes important in the play (since West did conjure up a raise with likely only 3 small spades and 1. West then would devalue the king of diamonds and 2. East would upgrade that king, both factors strongly suggesting to an aware declarer that the king of diamonds is offside for him, plus of course, EW do not figure to have completely balanced distribution (because of their both bidding with a combined 12 hcps).

While the above is not always an accurate barometer of where the cards are, it, along with the bidding habits of those specific opponents, often make the difference in deciding how to declare.

Hi Jim2,

Again, yes it is odd to have basically by declarer just given up, by conceding that second diamond trick to a hand which surely held the setting trick by surely holding his fifth spade.

The only additional comment worth adding is that after one high club is played by declarer without an intermediate one falling (not true in this case), declarer should lead his jack of hearts to the king and lead a club from dummy to make every effort to not allow East to win the third club, taking the queen if played but ducking a small one if East follows low.

That type of technique is well known and practiced by all good players, if and when it is available (and it often is) so all up and comers need to keep an eye out for how to have the best chance to bring home a close contract by not falling victim to what some players may later say, “I just got careless”.

Dear Host, I think declarer should have gone down that club road even sooner.

That is, when West shows out, go up with AD and advance a club, intending to cover East’s card. When East plays J/10, declarer goes up and THEN leads to the AH to repeat the club lead. Here, he would again go up with last high club, advance the 9C and all would be well.

Hi Jim2,

While I agree with you, East, while feeling the setting tricks in his (or her) hand will likely rise with whatever he can to keep declarer from ducking a club into partner (with partner, at least at a competent playing level also trying to cooperate). However, I do not see any way that EW can win a battle, except, of course, when East has all three honors or when West, doesn’t jettison the queen if given a chance by declarer not doing what you suggest and from Qxx immediately.

Playing off one high club honor and THEN crossing to the board to advance the second round fails to protect against club layouts like:

Jxx —- Q10x
10xx — QJx
Qxx — J10x

That is, East cannot be prevented from gaining the lead with any of those holdings if declarer cashes one high club first.

However, leading twice from the board DOES win on those holdings

Hi Jim2,

Far be it from me to argue with the one person in the bridge world who has had to deal with, as declarer, the worst holdings possible since TOCM is, by definition, the name of that affliction.

However, 0% because of the above and 100% because you are right, have you informed all who are listening how the hand should have been played, instead of a high club originally from declarer’s hand.

No doubt TOCM doctors have taken note to, if for no other reason than to offer more encouragement to TOCM victims, informing them to play more bridge since one’s bad fortune during play will tend to make him a championship player, by, at the very least, enticing him to read up and then execute more safety plays.

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