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MATCHPOINTS
VUL N-S
DEALER: WEST
[b] A98 West North East South K8 Pass Pass Pass 1H 95 Pass 2C Pass 3H QT9853 Pass 4H end Q3 AQJT52 A73 A7[/b]
Opening Lead CLUB-JACK. Plan your play (be specific), keep in mind matchpoint strategy.
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Good idea #2
#1
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Posted 2003-March-20, 00:42
Following in jjsb's idea of posting beginner level problems, I thought I would take a stab at it as well. So this is the first of a series of hands I hope will follow jjsb's lead.
MATCHPOINTS
VUL N-S
DEALER: WEST
Opening Lead CLUB-JACK. Plan your play (be specific), keep in mind matchpoint strategy.
MATCHPOINTS
VUL N-S
DEALER: WEST
Opening Lead CLUB-JACK. Plan your play (be specific), keep in mind matchpoint strategy.
--Ben--
#2
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Posted 2003-March-20, 16:31
Quote
Following in jjsb's idea of posting beginner level problems, I thought I would take a stab at it as well. So this is the first of a series of hands I hope will follow jjsb's lead.
MATCHPOINTS
VUL N-S
DEALER: WEST
[Fixed]
A98 West North East South
K8 Pass Pass Pass 1H
95 Pass 2C Pass 3H
QT9853 Pass 4H end
Q3
AQJT52
A73
A7 [/fixed]
Opening Lead CLUB-JACK. Plan your play (be specific), keep in mind matchpoint strategy.
MATCHPOINTS
VUL N-S
DEALER: WEST
[Fixed]
A98 West North East South
K8 Pass Pass Pass 1H
95 Pass 2C Pass 3H
QT9853 Pass 4H end
Q3
AQJT52
A73
A7 [/fixed]
Opening Lead CLUB-JACK. Plan your play (be specific), keep in mind matchpoint strategy.
As Jack the ripper might say...I thought I'll take a stab at this. =)
JC lead looks suspiciously like a singleton. I cover with QC, to induce E to go up with KC. If he doesn't, I take with AC anyway. Then cross to dummy with KH, then draw all trumps. Then play 7C, till KC is forced out. This gives me 12 tricks, I think.
Hopefully yours,
Rain =)
"More and more these days I find myself pondering how to reconcile my net income with my gross habits."
John Nelson.
John Nelson.
#3
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Posted 2003-March-20, 16:51
Assuming the lead is honest (knowing me I'd lead J from KJx just to cause utter confusion), drawing trumps doesn't seem right to me. Let's say the QC with NO cover from East...what then? I play one round of trumps, then backward finesse the QS...if the lead was singleton they are back in again.
"Champions aren't made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. " - M. Ali
#4
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Posted 2003-March-20, 17:04
Playing MPs the clearcut line for 12 tricks is to play Q, win with the A whether covered or no, draw trumps, play a C up and claim and be thankful for no D lead.
"The King of Hearts a broadsword bears, the Queen of Hearts a rose." W. H. Auden.
#5
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Posted 2003-March-20, 19:06
Very well done for Rain and the The_Hog. Here is the full solution with an extra added point meant for the beginners. A new little question/solution is added in yellow below.
MATCHPOINTS
VUL N-S
DEALER: WEST
A98 West North East South
K8 Pass Pass Pass 1H
95 Pass 2C Pass 3H
QT9853 Pass 4H end
Q3
AQJT52
A73
A7
Opening Lead CLUB-JACK. Plan your play (be specific), keep in mind matchpoint strategy.
This is a matchpoint problem for two reasons: First, after this opening lead you have a sure 10 tricks by the simple action of covering the JACK with the QUEEN. Thus to make it interesting you need to forced by the condition of contest to try for extra tricks (that means Matchpoints, see below). Second, it ACTUALLY was a matchpoint problem in real life.
First, thing you need to know is how matchpoint scoring differ from IMP scoring? It is a type of duplicate scoring where you get 1 point for every team you beat, and a half for everone you tie, the size of the difference is not important. See the following table.
RESULT NS Score NS MP %
4SW-1 +100 4 100 %
4SW= -620 3 75 %
4SW+1 -650 1.5 38 %
4SW+1 -650 1.5 38 %
4SW+2 -680 0 0 %
One team did great, beating 4S by one trick, but holding 4S to 10 tricks was nearly as good a score. And note how big a disaster that allow 4S to make two over tricks, the extra "30" scoring point, cost 38% of the score, while beating 4S, for +750 points was worth only a 25% bump (compared to 75% for ten tricks).
So, since you have 10 tricks (6H+2C+1D+1H), at matchpoints you work has just begun. On this hand, no doubt you probably automatically covered the CLUB-JACK, assuming it was a singleton (it was), anticipating that EAST would play the KING, you would win the ACE and away you go, winning 13 tricks. But when you cover the JACK with the QUEEN, East plays low. Now you are still assured of your 10 tricks if you allow the QUEEN to win and pull trumps. But see what happens after you pull trumps? You cash the CLUB ACE and West shows out, as expected. But when you use dummys last entry (the SPADE ACE) and lead a top CLUB. East will cover with the King and you will ruff. But now you will have the S-Q and D-Axx and some trumps left, but no COMMUNICATION (entry) to the good clubs in the dummy. You will therefore lose the spade and the two little DIAMOMDS. Thus you will be held to 10 tricks.
There are three points to this hand, all revolving around the CLUB King and COMMUNICATIONS. The first is that when you get the lucky CLUB-JACK lead, and EAST makes the DUCK, count your tricks. You will need to knock out the CLUB KING, while maintaining an entry to the long clubs. The solution becomes CLEAR when you think about it. After EAST refuses to play the CLUB-KING, play your CLUB ACE anyway!
Now you pull trumps, starting with the H-KING. When all the trumps are in, you lead your carefully perserved club 7 to the CLUB TEN. East will win the CLUB KING, but now you have set up all the clubs (since West had 1C, EAST had only 4C, so you CLUB FIVE will be good. So you win 1S + 6H + 1D + 4C for 12 tricks.
TWo other points. EAST with C-K642 made a very good play of not covering the CLUB-QUEEN with the KING. She knew if she covered that she would not be promoting a trick for her side, since the C-QT98 are in the dummy.
As a final note, if WEST leads the CLUB JACK and dummy's clubs were C-QT9654 (swapping the 8 for the 6), how should you play? This was the actual hand, and it should be easier to find the right play without the 8 after seeing the play when the dummy holds the eight. Do you see the play now? Right, the solution is not to even cover the JACK in the first place. The reason being is that when EAST plays low from the KING, you still have to win the ACE. Now however, the dummy will have C-T96xx and EAST has CLUB K8x. When you lead a club to the TEN, EAST wins the CLUB KING, and his CLUB EIGHT will mean that you will make only 11 tricks. BUT if you play low on trick one, after pulling trumps you can lead a club to the QT9xx and still take 12 tricks.
When this hand was played, making only 10 tricks in hearts was a very poor 2 MP out of 12 (16.7 %), making 11 tricks was a more norma 8 out of 12 MP (66,7 %) but making 12 tricks would have been 11 MP (92.6 %), losing only to the pair who made 13 tricks when east played the CLUB KING on the club QUEEN.
MATCHPOINTS
VUL N-S
DEALER: WEST
A98 West North East South
K8 Pass Pass Pass 1H
95 Pass 2C Pass 3H
QT9853 Pass 4H end
Q3
AQJT52
A73
A7
Opening Lead CLUB-JACK. Plan your play (be specific), keep in mind matchpoint strategy.
This is a matchpoint problem for two reasons: First, after this opening lead you have a sure 10 tricks by the simple action of covering the JACK with the QUEEN. Thus to make it interesting you need to forced by the condition of contest to try for extra tricks (that means Matchpoints, see below). Second, it ACTUALLY was a matchpoint problem in real life.
First, thing you need to know is how matchpoint scoring differ from IMP scoring? It is a type of duplicate scoring where you get 1 point for every team you beat, and a half for everone you tie, the size of the difference is not important. See the following table.
RESULT NS Score NS MP %
4SW-1 +100 4 100 %
4SW= -620 3 75 %
4SW+1 -650 1.5 38 %
4SW+1 -650 1.5 38 %
4SW+2 -680 0 0 %
One team did great, beating 4S by one trick, but holding 4S to 10 tricks was nearly as good a score. And note how big a disaster that allow 4S to make two over tricks, the extra "30" scoring point, cost 38% of the score, while beating 4S, for +750 points was worth only a 25% bump (compared to 75% for ten tricks).
So, since you have 10 tricks (6H+2C+1D+1H), at matchpoints you work has just begun. On this hand, no doubt you probably automatically covered the CLUB-JACK, assuming it was a singleton (it was), anticipating that EAST would play the KING, you would win the ACE and away you go, winning 13 tricks. But when you cover the JACK with the QUEEN, East plays low. Now you are still assured of your 10 tricks if you allow the QUEEN to win and pull trumps. But see what happens after you pull trumps? You cash the CLUB ACE and West shows out, as expected. But when you use dummys last entry (the SPADE ACE) and lead a top CLUB. East will cover with the King and you will ruff. But now you will have the S-Q and D-Axx and some trumps left, but no COMMUNICATION (entry) to the good clubs in the dummy. You will therefore lose the spade and the two little DIAMOMDS. Thus you will be held to 10 tricks.
There are three points to this hand, all revolving around the CLUB King and COMMUNICATIONS. The first is that when you get the lucky CLUB-JACK lead, and EAST makes the DUCK, count your tricks. You will need to knock out the CLUB KING, while maintaining an entry to the long clubs. The solution becomes CLEAR when you think about it. After EAST refuses to play the CLUB-KING, play your CLUB ACE anyway!
Now you pull trumps, starting with the H-KING. When all the trumps are in, you lead your carefully perserved club 7 to the CLUB TEN. East will win the CLUB KING, but now you have set up all the clubs (since West had 1C, EAST had only 4C, so you CLUB FIVE will be good. So you win 1S + 6H + 1D + 4C for 12 tricks.
TWo other points. EAST with C-K642 made a very good play of not covering the CLUB-QUEEN with the KING. She knew if she covered that she would not be promoting a trick for her side, since the C-QT98 are in the dummy.
As a final note, if WEST leads the CLUB JACK and dummy's clubs were C-QT9654 (swapping the 8 for the 6), how should you play? This was the actual hand, and it should be easier to find the right play without the 8 after seeing the play when the dummy holds the eight. Do you see the play now? Right, the solution is not to even cover the JACK in the first place. The reason being is that when EAST plays low from the KING, you still have to win the ACE. Now however, the dummy will have C-T96xx and EAST has CLUB K8x. When you lead a club to the TEN, EAST wins the CLUB KING, and his CLUB EIGHT will mean that you will make only 11 tricks. BUT if you play low on trick one, after pulling trumps you can lead a club to the QT9xx and still take 12 tricks.
When this hand was played, making only 10 tricks in hearts was a very poor 2 MP out of 12 (16.7 %), making 11 tricks was a more norma 8 out of 12 MP (66,7 %) but making 12 tricks would have been 11 MP (92.6 %), losing only to the pair who made 13 tricks when east played the CLUB KING on the club QUEEN.
--Ben--
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