Okay, I’ve not played in a long time (used to have regular lunch games at work, semi-retired now), and I was an average player at best. So bear with me a moment….
What I would probably have done is play the heart jack at trick one. My reasoning is that West led the king, which implies the queen, so there’s a good chance the jack is actually good, barring a really bad break. As the cards lie, that gives me two good heart tricks.
The best part is that if the jack falls to the queen with East, then I play the ace, and I’m no worse off than I would be had I played low from the board, giving me plenty of time to … probably not do the correct thing with clubs. 🙂
Does this make sense? Is it good play?
Patrick CheuOctober 11th, 2021 at 6:25 pm
Hi Bobby, If South holds AT9x of clubs,would you still play low to QC? Or would you try Ten of clubs and play QC when West played low? Regards Patrick
bobbywolffOctober 11th, 2021 at 9:48 pm
Hi Patrick,
I’d first try and strip the hand, by leading a diamond early and then ruff out the diamonds (even though the diamond ace being onside, with the heart lead, won’t theoretically help (because of the 4th club being in hand). But if so and the trumps are 2-2 (finding out early), then arrange, if possible, to then lead the queen of clubs from dummy, and then, even if the king, jack are held by West, the contract would be iron clad.
However, if the defensive distribution is not kind, then the clear best percentage, (In the absence of adverse bidding and possibly telling psychology (although unlikely) would be to still plan on two finesses by first leading the queen or even low to the nine or ten, in a vacuum a 75% chance of success, one of two finesses working.
Hopefully the above description is clear enough to be understood.
Patrick CheuOctober 12th, 2021 at 6:19 am
Hi Bobby,Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts on the subject matter..precise and clear as ever. All the Best to both Judy and you. Best Regards Patrick
bobbywolffOctober 13th, 2021 at 7:05 pm
Hi Patrick,
With people like you asking, not only I, but bridge itself, becomes extremely honored to answer.
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Okay, I’ve not played in a long time (used to have regular lunch games at work, semi-retired now), and I was an average player at best. So bear with me a moment….
What I would probably have done is play the heart jack at trick one. My reasoning is that West led the king, which implies the queen, so there’s a good chance the jack is actually good, barring a really bad break. As the cards lie, that gives me two good heart tricks.
The best part is that if the jack falls to the queen with East, then I play the ace, and I’m no worse off than I would be had I played low from the board, giving me plenty of time to … probably not do the correct thing with clubs. 🙂
Does this make sense? Is it good play?
Hi Bobby, If South holds AT9x of clubs,would you still play low to QC? Or would you try Ten of clubs and play QC when West played low? Regards Patrick
Hi Patrick,
I’d first try and strip the hand, by leading a diamond early and then ruff out the diamonds (even though the diamond ace being onside, with the heart lead, won’t theoretically help (because of the 4th club being in hand). But if so and the trumps are 2-2 (finding out early), then arrange, if possible, to then lead the queen of clubs from dummy, and then, even if the king, jack are held by West, the contract would be iron clad.
However, if the defensive distribution is not kind, then the clear best percentage, (In the absence of adverse bidding and possibly telling psychology (although unlikely) would be to still plan on two finesses by first leading the queen or even low to the nine or ten, in a vacuum a 75% chance of success, one of two finesses working.
Hopefully the above description is clear enough to be understood.
Hi Bobby,Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts on the subject matter..precise and clear as ever. All the Best to both Judy and you. Best Regards Patrick
Hi Patrick,
With people like you asking, not only I, but bridge itself, becomes extremely honored to answer.