Here's another recent hand I played. This time on BBO, so the bidding needs to be omitted and the opponent quality is best described as beyond estimation (as opposed to inestimable?!). Somehow you've stumbled into 6NT by South on the lead of the Jack of Diamonds.
Vul none
IMPs
6NT by S
North
K J 9 8 7
A 9 8
K 7
A J 9
West
J lead
East
South
A 6 4 2
K 7 6
A Q 9
K 6 3
Plan the play. You can assume that whichever option you play for in spades fails, else you'll have 12 tricks off the top.
I would just take the club hook before touching spades. I would be embarrassed to go down if spades were 4-0 offside if the club queen was onside all along.
ReplyDeleteThe magical Adam has a play for that scenario below...
DeleteStandard play: K diamonds, K spades, spade - then the rest depends on how do spades behave and what the opps play to the spade tricks. I do not see where the problem is - you cannot decide in trick 1 whether to finess the club (more likely) or play for the club-heart squeeze.
ReplyDeleteSo, on the hand West had:
DeleteQTx
52
JT86
8542
both East and West pitched a couple of hearts on the spades, which revealed East was protecting hearts, and was also fatal, because it means that if declarer uses the ace of diamonds as the squeeze card at trick 11 then follows suit and from the lead looked to still have a diamond left.
Is the spade King the right play in the suit? If the club finesse is 50% then it makes no difference to laying down the spade ace, does it?
ReplyDeleteIf spades are 4=0 the ace makes the contract, but loses to 0=4.
On the play of the spade King you lose one trick against both 4-0 breaks and you win as often as the club finesse comes in.
So I guess all the extra layouts where favourable things happen like the club queen singleton, or a 100% club/heart squeeze materializing push the spade King line slightly higher.