I think declarer can infer one thing about East’s hand when he doesn’t clear spades at T1 to T3 – he doesn’t have (say) AK8xx Q10x xx AJx or similar as (if he is a decent player) he’ll see the strip squeeze coming. He could have similar but no HQ but then he’ll just clear the spades and the hand can’t be made.
Still makes sense to run the Diamonds as you say and see how East wriggles.
Regards,
Iain
bobbywolffNovember 10th, 2022 at 2:46 pm
Hi Iain,
And from a teaching point, hands like these (and they are definitely often) turns the talent needed for a wise declarer into usually not necessarily strictly numerical, but MUCH more often psychological, when an unwary and inexperienced player than hesitates before, at the apex, finally discarding.
More needs to be said regarding bridge ethics, some otherwise sound and experienced players, while defending, use these opportunities to perform illegal black magic by, at the crucial time, usually last discard, to try and mislead declarer illegally, by then taking time to discard an obvious worthless card, in order to effectuate the declarer to go wrong. That type of unethical conduct is often successful in causing a worthwhile,
but inexperienced, declarer to go wrong (of course, when there is at least a winning line available).
However, at least IMO, that declarer should report his opponent’s behavior to the TD,
in order for him to, at the very least, be consulted by an official as to what he was doing, is unethical, and thus illegal. Furthermore, especially if that culprit had gathered a sordid reputation, or perhaps only a newbie to that duplicate, so that
our game can remain as pure as possible, in the future, for all players.
Hopefully an episode like this, especially if it gets known by others, can do wonders
for lesser experienced bridge lovers who are getting hooked on its beauty. We need to ward off the evil spirits which no doubt, at least, threaten to taint it.
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Hi Bobby,
I think declarer can infer one thing about East’s hand when he doesn’t clear spades at T1 to T3 – he doesn’t have (say) AK8xx Q10x xx AJx or similar as (if he is a decent player) he’ll see the strip squeeze coming. He could have similar but no HQ but then he’ll just clear the spades and the hand can’t be made.
Still makes sense to run the Diamonds as you say and see how East wriggles.
Regards,
Iain
Hi Iain,
And from a teaching point, hands like these (and they are definitely often) turns the talent needed for a wise declarer into usually not necessarily strictly numerical, but MUCH more often psychological, when an unwary and inexperienced player than hesitates before, at the apex, finally discarding.
More needs to be said regarding bridge ethics, some otherwise sound and experienced players, while defending, use these opportunities to perform illegal black magic by, at the crucial time, usually last discard, to try and mislead declarer illegally, by then taking time to discard an obvious worthless card, in order to effectuate the declarer to go wrong. That type of unethical conduct is often successful in causing a worthwhile,
but inexperienced, declarer to go wrong (of course, when there is at least a winning line available).
However, at least IMO, that declarer should report his opponent’s behavior to the TD,
in order for him to, at the very least, be consulted by an official as to what he was doing, is unethical, and thus illegal. Furthermore, especially if that culprit had gathered a sordid reputation, or perhaps only a newbie to that duplicate, so that
our game can remain as pure as possible, in the future, for all players.
Hopefully an episode like this, especially if it gets known by others, can do wonders
for lesser experienced bridge lovers who are getting hooked on its beauty. We need to ward off the evil spirits which no doubt, at least, threaten to taint it.