Hand of the day #240
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff Twenty years ago Tony Forrester wrote a bridge...
Oren Lidor is considered one of the best bridge teachers in Israel, is the author of 5 bridge books, and teaches bridge to people from all over the world on BBO.
Then N must not dbl, bid 3D
If pard doesn't have the HJ, the shouldn't play back the C10 which is suit preference for spades.
same hands every day?
On board 1, partner has a limited hand, and with a solitary ace we are sure there is no game. So the only question is whether to play in 3D or 3H. We know that N has good diamonds; we don't know about his hearts. Oren offers a hand which is perfect opposite a 3H bid, but what if North has 2 spades, Qx in hearts, and KQxx in clubs. Same points, just as likely, and now I prefer to play in 3D over 3H. At matchpoints the bonus for playing in a major is a factor in favor of 3H, but at IMPS I think 3D is the best bid. 3H is a risky bid with a weak hand.
Then N must not dbl, bid 3D
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on board 3, why is going for trump promotion better than caching clubs and exiting with third club, waiting for setting diamond trick? Declarer doesn't have four clubs as he bid hearts, but I don't see why it is more likely for him to be 3-5-3-2 than 3-4-3-3
I agree that trump promotion is a good idea if we are sure that declarer doesn't have any more losers, but I don't see how we can be sure here. Any suggestions?
3-5-3-2 won't work since declarer discards a diamond on the third club. 3-4-3-3 is possible though South may well ,have bid 1NT in preference to 2H with QJx Jxxx Kxx Jxx
I have the exact same reservation. Playing for the trump promotion is the only for the contract to make, if declarer is 3433 including the Jack of hearts, right?
If we didn't have the ten of diamonds, then the trump promotion is probably a better bet.
Oh, now I see that the diagram in the explanation is rotated 180 degrees, and the wrong hand was exposed. Too bad 🙁
It is, after all, an instructive problem to rule out diamond continuation. And to even spot the possibility for trump promotion (I did that, but opted to play two more rounds of clubs instead).
Admittedly, there are two possibilities. One is that partner has the Jh. Then cashing the clubs and playing a spade will do. The other is the declarer has 3442 or 3433 distribution, in which case three rounds of clubs will do the job. I think it's close, honestly.
The problem as presented is incomplete: even a mildly cultivated partner would show the reminder count in clubs and the defense would be clear
When cashing CA, South dropping J and West giving remaining count of 9, East then try trump promotion of play spade.
"and immediately cash their ♠Q to set you."
Typo: I think you will find that is a ♠J.
Also, any comment about Hand 3 declarer dumping the JACK of clubs under your King? It would take a brave East to try "cashing" AC before giving the promo after that! If East instead plays another spade to give the trump promotion, declarer triumphantly discards the C3 and makes the contract. A diamond from East is obviously fatal. A passive trump exit lets declarer play all the trumps down to dummy having QC and the three diamonds, East having to keep all three diamonds and KC, and now a club throws him in to make the contract.
Playing JC is clever, but if JC is singleton, that gives declarer 9 red cards. If they have 4 diamonds, QC is not a useful pitch and you might as well try AC. If they have 6 hearts and 3 diamonds, you can't beat the hand even with a trump promotion because of the throw-in you mentioned.