[jjsb]

well it's just my proper opinion of course but this deal was asking me by one of my good friend and so far this is the one i prefere...

here it is

R63
AQ62
5432
73

AQJ108
KJ
7
AKQ62

the auction is not good but it's just here for information , nothing more ... it is :

2S(strong)   5D(by west )   6S   all pass .

the lead is K of Diamond . East overtake with the Ace and play Spade that West didn't follow...

what is the best line of play?

regards
syl

[easy]

 




here it is

R63
AQ62
5432
73

AQJ108
KJ
7
AKQ62  


The way I see it this hand is cold if we can guess lho's distribution. I dont see any squeeze because if lho can be squeezed in clubs and diamonds line 2 below works.

1. If lho is -   xxxxx  xxxxxxx   x   win spade in hand cash ak clubs and rough 2 clubs in dummy using hearts as entries to my hand

2. if lho is  -   x   xxxxxxx   xxxxx   win spade in hand cash kj h go to dummy with k spades, cash 2h pitching 2 clubs then return to hand in trump.

3. if lho is   -   xxxx  xxxxxxx xx  i need to cash kj h , ak club ruff club , return to hand in trump pulling all o/s trump

4. - xx  xxxxxxx xxxx Win spade in hand cash kj h  ak club ruff club with ks and return to hand with trump

5. If lho is - xxx  xxxxxxx  xxx any of the above lines of play work.


Since cashing the kj of hearts allows me the most flexibilty i will take that approach. if lho shows out on 1st or 2nd heart i will use line 2. if lho follows to both hearts i will use line 4.Taking this approach works with all of the above holdings except line # 1.

[inquiry]

Quote

well it's just my proper opinion of course but this deal was asking me by one of my good friend and so far this is the one i prefere...

here it is

R63
AQ62
5432
73

AQJ108
KJ
7
AKQ62

the auction is not good but it's just here for information , nothing more ... it is :

2S(strong)   5D(by west )   6S   all pass .

the lead is K of Diamond . East overtake with the Ace and play Spade that West didn't follow...

what is the best line of play?

regards
syl

Spoiler - solution given I think  

If clubs are 3-3, no problem, you have plenty of tricks, so don't worry about that.  In another sense, you have 12 tricks anyway, 5S+3C+4H, but the Heart suit blockage means you can not pull trumps then cash those 12 tricks.

West is clearly 0-?-7-? Distribution, not so much because of the 5D bid as if EAST had a second diamond, he would have returned it forcing you to ruff and giving himself a long trump. So if you are a lucky guesser (I am not, so I wouldn't play this way), you could make the hand on a DIAMOND-HEART or DIAMOND-CLUB squeeze (if clubs are not 3-3, West has to have four or more of one of these suits). All you would need to do is play five rounds of SPADES and then cash the three winners in which WEST has a doubleton or less. The two endings would be.


(West 4+ Hearts)              
               S - - -
               H AQxx      
               D 5
               C - - -            
S - -                                    
H Txx
D Q
C -
               S -  
               H K  
               D -  
               C Axx  

West with 4+ Clubs

               S -
               H AQx
               D 5
               C xx
S - -              
H x
D Q    
C JTxx
               S -
               H J
               D -
               C AKQxx



In the first hand, when you cash the CLUB ACE, West has two losing options. If he throws away his last diamond, a heart is tossed from dummy, and the heart king overtaken. If he throws a heart, the diamond is thrown form the dummy and the H-King is overtaken and the after taking heart Q, the Heart-x is good. In the second ending, overtake the H-Jack and cash the H-Q. West must once again keep the DIAMOND Queen, or the Diamond 5 is good, but if he throws a club, you can cash all your clubs.

Sadly, you have to guess which suit to cash the three winner in without really knowing the distribution. So, ok if you are a good guesser, you can play a squeeze. But if you are not a good guesser, you should take the 100% sure line. It is straight forward. West with 7D can have at most 6Hearts (0-6-7-0). This means that EAST must have at least one heart. So you after winning the Spade Q (or even 8) on first round, Cash the Heart king. If West shows out of hearts, cash the second heart, cross to spade King and throw two clubs away on the AQ of hearts then pull trumps. So assume both follow to heart.

Now, that West has at least one heart, the largest number of clubs he can have is 5 (0-1-7-5). So East now must have at least one club. So it is safe to cash a top club. If West shows out (0-6-7-0), pull trumps and play the squeeze shown above on the left with 100% certainty (as above). Once West plays a club, then the most hearts he could have is 5, so it is safe to cash a second heart.

When you lead a second HEART, if West shows out (0-1-7-5), you know you can score your 12 top tricks. Simply cross to the SPADE KING, throws two clubs on H-AQ, pull trumps and claim. If both follow to the second HEART, then East must have a second CLUB. Since West Distribution can be at worst (with regards to clubs) 0-2-7-4. So lead a second high club. If West shows out, cash the third club, ruff a club, and lead a top heart. If EAST pitches, you pitch your last club and claim. If East ruff, you overruff, ruff your last club and claim. If, however, West follows to the second club, keep a high club, and ruff the third round of CLUBS with the trump KING (clubs no worse than 4-2). Now lead the low spade and insert the SPADE EIGHT when East plays low. You wouldn't have opened 2CLUBS without the eight would you... :-)

[jjsb]

congratulation to inquiry to find that 100% line of play !! not very easy but i very seldom see someone giving me that line of play . it's find more easily if i ask the question other way ... i mean ask to find the 100% line . anyway it's really a wonderfull bid in my opinion cause nto classical some kind of reasoning we're not use to do in bridge but more in mathematical problem in fact.

regards
syl

[easy]

Good solution, Ben, your line does seem to be 100%.Mine does not cater to a 6- 4- 2-1 heart distribution. nor did i cater to the d h squeeze.
I thought about this hand for about 30 minutes while riding my bike. At the table i'm sure i would have gone down because i wouldnt have that much time to solve the problem.

How long did it take u to solve problem?

[inquiry]

Hi Fred,

I wasted a few minutes trying to figure out which squeeze to try for (I always think squeeze on problem hands for some reason). In thinking about the squeeze, like you, I realized the hand was cold if I guessed right, but that there was no way to extract the required information if you pull trumps before you have to commit to one line or the other. So I had wasted sometime already thinking about possible distributions. Once I left the play for a squeeze, and concentrated on possible distributions, it came to me fairly quickly. I spent a heck of a lot more time typing the answer so that people could follow my logic than I did coming up with the solution.

Ben