[dellache]

Scoring: IMP

2NT 3NT

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I got this one in a new book.
North leads J♥ ("J denies", if that matters)
What would be your plan ?

[Fluffy]

I'd start with ♥A and duck a club, wich seems to me to leave all posibilities open.

Next would be a spade to the queen since I might stripsqueeze north later to lead a spade for the ninth if nothing else works.

[dellache]

Fluffy just went down. Anyone wants to take his/her chance ?

[Fluffy]

dellache, on Nov 4 2009, 08:15 PM, said:

Fluffy just went down. Anyone wants to take his/her chance ?

This sucks cos either I will be greatly surprised, or feel so dumb when the real answer appears

[dellache]

Szukajcie, a znajdziecie.

[jdonn]

Fluffy's looked pretty good to me. What do I know.

[dellache]

Here is the solution (hidden) :

Spoiler

Take the Heart Ace, and play simply the Heart nine back. The simple plan was just to score 4 Heart tricks.

.

[maggieb]

dellache said:

Fluffy just went down. Anyone wants to take his/her chance ?

dellache said:

Here is the solution (hidden) :

Spoiler

Take the Heart Ace, and play simply the Heart nine back. The simple plan was just to score 4 Heart tricks.

.

LOL

[ArtK78]

dellache, on Nov 4 2009, 04:49 PM, said:

Here is the solution (hidden) :

Spoiler

Take the Heart Ace, and play simply the Heart nine back. The simple plan was just to score 4 Heart tricks.

.

Exactly what is this the solution to?

I am at a complete loss.

[dellache]

This solution makes full use of the fact that they play : "JACK DENIES".
(Last hint before revealing that the problem is actually from Krzysztof Martens... oops I have said it)

[dellache]

OK, before I get another "LOL" or whatever, let me explain why I also think the following is definitely the best solution to make : [1] Take ♥Ace and [2] Play the ♥9 back.

You actually take the excellent chance that North is a good player who led the Jack in J108x. Now take the North's seat : when you play the 9, if South has the ♥Kx (meaning you'd have A9x), covering with the 10 simply gives away the contract ! West just has to duck this hasty Ten (Jack denies, easy task !) and finesse the 8 next time. So cover or not cover ? That is the question

And if afterall North unexpectedly covers... well just go on by ducking a club .

[billw55]

dellache, on Nov 4 2009, 05:40 PM, said:

Now take the North's seat : when you play the 9, if South has the ♥Kx (meaning you'd have A9x), covering with the 10 simply gives away the contract ! West just has to duck this hasty Ten (Jack denies, easy task !) and finesse the 8 next time.

But with that holding, leading the 9 makes no sense

Also wouldn't a good defender know to cover? Good defenders usually assume declarer knows what he is doing. And bad defenders just cover anyway.

All in all, I duck a club right away.

And what is the big deal about "J denies"? I can see the AKQ anyway ...

[Fluffy]

the point is, covering is dangerous, and not covering is dangerous you are on a guess. I don't like J denies for some of this reasons.

[suokko]

sorry to spoile the funt but I happened to lead from Jx and you went down after finesse when partner led spade tough and gained lead again with ♣. I think this scenario is even more likely than JT8x lead.

[billw55]

suokko, on Nov 5 2009, 11:24 AM, said:

sorry to spoile the funt but I happened to lead from Jx and you went down after finesse when partner led spade tough and gained lead again with ♣. I think this scenario is even more likely than JT8x lead.

Surely after 2NT-3NT, north would find a better suit to lead than Jx ?

[Phil]

I like this hand and I've never seen it before.

[suokko]

billw55, on Nov 5 2009, 06:27 PM, said:

suokko, on Nov 5 2009, 11:24 AM, said:

sorry to spoile the funt but I happened to lead from Jx and you went down after finesse when partner led spade tough and gained lead again with ♣. I think this scenario is even more likely than JT8x lead.

Surely after 2NT-3NT, north would find a better suit to lead than Jx ?

ATxx Jx xxx Jxxx, What do you lead?

[dellache]

suokko, on Nov 5 2009, 06:06 PM, said:

billw55, on Nov 5 2009, 06:27 PM, said:

suokko, on Nov 5 2009, 11:24 AM, said:

sorry to spoile the funt but I happened to lead from Jx and you went down after finesse when partner led spade tough and gained lead again with ♣. I think this scenario is even more likely than JT8x lead.

Surely after 2NT-3NT, north would find a better suit to lead than Jx ?

ATxx Jx xxx Jxxx, What do you lead?

I don't know, probably ♠x, 2nd choice high Diamond.
What is sure is that if my pard leads the ♥J with that, my first discard will be... Him.

[gnasher]

I don't understand all the negative comments. This is an interesting idea, which I haven't seen before. At worst it gives LHO a guess which he'll get wrong some of the time.

As for leading from Jx against this auction, words fail me (though I can think of an acronym that would probably do the job).

[jdonn]

I have seen this play in another context and even pulled it off and am kind of annoyed I didn't see it here. It looks clearly best, I like it.

Where I saw it before was what looked like a 3rd best from 4 card suit lead, Txxx in dummy, AK9 in hand. When the lead went to the jack (or queen) and ace, I once successfully returned the 9 right away, tricking LHO into ducking.

From ATxx Jx xxx Jxxx, a heart lead is my 4th choice against 2NT - 3NT. The comment to concern yourself that the lead would be Jx is ridiculous. I think most likely is JTx, but JT8x has a reasonable chance as well.