| ♠ A Q 10 3
♥ K Q 8 5 2
♦ 4 3
♣ J 6 |
I open one heart in second seat, hoping the auction doesn't continue pass--one notrump--pass. Fortunately it doesn't. Partner raises to two hearts. I pass, and LHO balances with a double. Partner bids three hearts, which ends the auction.
If I were West, one thing I would be unlikely to have for this auction is a three-suiter short in hearts. If I have a classic pattern for a take-out double and wasn't willing to double at the one-level, I'm probably not going to be doubling at the two-level. More likely, I would have a hand without support for one the unbid suits. 4-2-2-5, 4-2-5-2, or even 4-3-1-5 or 4-3-5-1 would be typical. To cater to these possibilities, I play that, after this double, partner's two notrump shows a desire to bid diamonds. If I can't support diamonds, I bid three clubs.
West leads the ace of clubs:
| NORTH
♠ J 8 4 ♥ 10 7 6 3 ♦ K Q J 10 ♣ 10 9 |
||
| SOUTH
♠ A Q 10 3 ♥ K Q 8 5 2 ♦ 4 3 ♣ J 6 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Pass |
1 ♥ |
||
| Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
| Double |
3 ♥ |
(All pass) |
I play the nine from dummy; East plays the five. What do you play?
____
The right play is the jack, the card you're known to hold. It seems West has ace-king and East is signaling to show possession of the queen. If you play the six, West will know you have the jack (since East would play the queen from queen-jack). If you play the jack, he won't know you have the six.
West cashes the king of clubs, on which East plays the deuce, then shifts to the deuce of spades--jack--six--three. West apparently began with the ace-king of clubs and the spade king. (It would have been a good play for East to refuse to cover the jack of spades, but he can't possibly know that.) So East probably has both red aces. If he began with a doubleton spade, I can make this. East can set up his partner's spade king, but West has no entry to cash it. Eventually, I can pitch my spades on dummy's diamonds.
It probably doesn't matter, but if I had to guess, I would place West with the five-card club suit. Assuming East signaled with his highest spot (a fair assumption given that we recently saw him give away trick by signaling with the nine from Q97x), then there is only one way he can have five clubs: Q5432. There are two ways he can have four clubs: Q542 and Q532. That makes it two to one that he has only four clubs even before factoring in the possibility that he would have bid something with queen fifth of clubs and two aces.
I play the six of hearts--four--queen--nine. I'm about to lead a diamond to return to dummy for a second heart play when a paranoid thought occurs to me. Could West have ducked with ace doubleton of hearts? If so, I need to continue hearts out of my hand. If I play a diamond, East can put a spade through while West still has an entry. Ducking the heart ace isn't a hard play to find. West can see that he has no chance to beat me if he wins this trick. So I have to rely on the auction to make my decision. Which of these hands is West more likely to hold, given that he passed over one heart:
| (A) ♠ K x x x
♥ A x
♦ x x
♣ A K x x x |
| (B) ♠ K x x x
♥ x
♦ x x x
♣ A K x x x |
If he has (A), I must play a heart. If he has (B), I must play a diamond. Personally, I wouldn't pass with either hand. But I can come a lot closer to understanding a pass with (A) than I can with (B). The suit is not ideal for a two-level vulnerable overcall. And, in some continuations, it may be easier to find a spade fit if you pass than if you bid two clubs. Passing with (A) I would categorize as overly cautious. Passing with (B), on the other hand, is bizarre. But Jack doesn't seem to think the way I do about competitive bidding. If I have to bet which hand Jack is more likely to hold (and I do), I would have to go with (B).
I play a diamond--six--ten--ace. East plays the nine of spades--ace--five--four. I play a diamond to dummy and a heart--jack--queen--four of clubs. Making three.
| NORTH
♠ J 8 4 ♥ 10 7 6 3 ♦ K Q J 10 ♣ 10 9 |
||
| WEST
♠ K 7 5 2 ♥ 9 ♦ 9 7 6 ♣ A K 8 7 4 |
EAST
♠ 9 6 ♥ A J 4 ♦ A 8 5 2 ♣ Q 5 3 2 | |
| SOUTH
♠ A Q 10 3 ♥ K Q 8 5 2 ♦ 4 3 ♣ J 6 |
Just look at that hand West wouldn't double one heart with! Not surprisingly, he was wrong. It's his hand for four clubs, and an initial double should get you there:
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Pass |
1 ♥ |
||
| Double |
3 ♥ |
Double |
Pass |
| 4 ♣ |
(All pass) |
The auction is identical in the other room. But at trick one, South plays the club six. West underleads his king of clubs; East wins with the queen and shifts to a spade. Down one.
I replayed this board several times to see if this was a fluke. It wasn't. Every time declarer plays the jack at trick one, West cashes the ace. Every time declarer plays the six, West underleads. I suppose what's happening is that, when declarer plays the jack, West worries that his partner is playing low from six-five doubleton. Since he's not even sure it's necessary to put partner on play, he's not willing to risk the underlead. But when declarer plays the six, West knows the five is high. The way Jack cards, East must have the queen, so the underlead is perfectly safe. (This decision isn't fatal. On this particular layout, even after cashing the king, West can beat you by defending passively. But that's a different problem.)
Playing the jack works not because it fools West but because it keeps him in the dark. He knows you have one or more club spots, but he needs to know what it or they are in order to decode his partner's signal. Note that there is no need for you to appreciate this fact to find the right play. The jack carries no information, and the six does. You needn't think any deeper than that.
It's nice when being attentive to such details pays off. Most of the time it doesn't matter. But every now and then you pick up five imps out of the blue.
Me: +140
Jack: -50
Score on Board 38: +5 IMPs
Total: +96 IMPs
I am not sure why you think that concealing the 6 will convince Jack W that Jack E has it. Why would Jack E signal with the 5 holding 65 excelt with 56 doubleton? So E could have 65, Q542, Q532, Q52, Q53, or Q54.
ReplyDeleteI agree with playing the Jack, but am not sure why Jack W was fooled by the play. Given that Jack E failed to bid S, SOuth is marked with at least 3 of those, to go with 5H. So if Jack E has 65 doubleton of clubs, South is 3=5=0=5 exactly, and East has neglected to bid with D- A sixth and enough values that South has no game try after 1H - 2H. This is impossible, so Jack E must have the CQ, and therefore S the C6.
Concealing the six doesn't convince Jack that East has it. It just leaves open the possibility. Apparently Jack doesn't think the case for underleading the king is strong enough to risk it unless he's 100% that it will work. As for South's shape, why can't you just switch the black-suit lengths? East can be 4-3-4-2 and South can be 2-5-2-4. I don't think East would bid three spades with only four of them. He would just be happy his partner balanced and pushed them up a level.
ReplyDeleteYes, I forgot that Jack N bid 3H immediately over the double, so Jack E was never forced to bid. In general, computers do not signal well (or, in GIB's case, very often) and do not interpret signals very well. I suppose that is because they make their card play decisions on the basis of a set of random deals, and do not factor in signaling issues in their deal selection process.
ReplyDeleteI am still unconvinced, however, that Jack W has any basis for believing that Jack E has the C6. But I suppose it is barely possible that Jack E does not have the CQ, at least possible enough to discourage the underlead. It's very difficult for Jack W to envision the need for the underlead at trick 2. This deal is a very good trick 2 defense problem for W.
Had East doubled North's 3H call, after the Jacks' auction that featured a balancing takeout double rather than a direct takeout double, would such call still be a responsive double? And if so, would "standard" meaning of Jack (at least "standard" as suggested in Mike Lawrence's books) be that such double denies four spades and promises at least four cards in each minor?
ReplyDeleteIf all above are "yes", then Jack West has the clues needed to avoid the spade switch. With declarer marked with at least three spades, not even a ruff/sluff at Trick 3 can give declarer a useful pitch ... but a spade lead into the AQ can, as the actual layout demonstrates, give away a trick.
West isn't necessarily trying to establish spade tricks. Maybe he's trying to cash them. Couldn't East have Ax Kxx xxxx Qxxx? Then ace, king, and a spade ruff is the only winning defense.
ReplyDeleteIf East held the SA, wouldn't he discourage on the club lead?
ReplyDeleteIt's a matter of partnership agreement whether an attitude signal pertains primarily to the suit led or primarily to whether you can tolerate the obvious shift. Some partnerships would play that a discouraging club would show something in spades--it could be the ace or the queen--and an encouraging club would deny anything in spades and say nothing about whether you held the club queen or not. Others would say, particularly looking at that dummy, that the only message carried by partner's club is whether West can underlead his king at trick two or not. I don't feel strongly either way. I only feel strongly that you need some agreement. I am curious if there is a consensus. I'll ask around.
ReplyDeleteI should add that, with this dummy, there is no reason to discourage at trick one with Ax Kxx xxxx Qxxx if you play that encouraging promises the club queen. You can always win the club and lead spades yourself. I think whether a high club shows the club queen or tolerance for a spade shift should depend on what dummy's spades are and on which side we are more likely to want to lead spades from. I have been polling some players, but most of the responses I've received have been surprisingly unhelpful. ("East's card is attitude about the whole hand and everyone does the best he can," for example.)
ReplyDelete