[HighLow21]

This hand happened to me recently (I was the partner of the exposed defender's hand and was saddened by his error at trick 2). I submitted it to Ben, i.e. Inquiry, for possible inclusion in his B/I Defender's Play series. He asked that I post it in the Forums.

Here goes my first attempt at using Hand Editor:

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You lead K♠ at trick 1. What do you do at trick 2 and more importantly, why?

A/E responders, please hide your replies in a "Spoiler" tag.

Thanks!
-Tate

[mr1303]

Spoiler

No I don't, I lead a 4th/5th highest spade depending on my agreements. If partner has a doubleton I have no entry back to my hand

[HighLow21]

mr1303, on 2012-February-03, 14:47, said:

Spoiler

No I don't, I lead a 4th/5th highest spade depending on my agreements. If partner has a doubleton I have no entry back to my hand

A reasonable point, but a losing action on this hand.

Still, go with the prompt --> after leading K♠ at trick 1, what do you do at trick 2?

[bd71]

What spades do partner and declarer play at T1, and what are our signalling methods?

[ArcLight]

Trick 2 - lead a diamond, hope pard has the ♦K and Q and some length.

It looks like declarer has 4/5 clubs, a dime, 2 hearts, and a spade after your ♠ is knocked out.

[HighLow21]

bd71, on 2012-February-03, 15:05, said:

What spades do partner and declarer play at T1, and what are our signalling methods?

Good question. Declarer and partner follow with low spades. Defenders are playing standard signaling methods.

[HighLow21]

ArcLight, on 2012-February-03, 15:41, said:

Trick 2 - lead a diamond, hope pard has the ♦K and Q and some length.

It looks like declarer has 4/5 clubs, a dime, 2 hearts, and a spade after your ♠ is knocked out.

Dead on so far. Next question --> what is the probability that declarer has 5 tricks in clubs? An estimate is reasonable. Does your intuition tell yuo 4 or 5 is more likely?

[WesleyC]

One comment about the way you've posed the problem - you're much better to include ALL the information (including spot cards and signalling methods) so that the reader can decide what is important.

Regarding your lead choice, I agree with Mr1303 that holding an entryless hand, a small spade lead is by far the best chance. If partner held the ♠Jx on this deal a small spade lead would've beaten the contract straight up.

However, once you have started with a top spade, things look pretty grim. I'd guess there's about a 50% chance that that clubs are running and if they are we have an uphill battle to win 5 tricks. In both cases is looks like a diamond switch is our best chance because it requires the least from partner.

[oryctolagi]

Are we supposed to know what cards E and S played at trick 1?

[Zelandakh]

HighLow21, on 2012-February-03, 15:48, said:

WesleyC, on 2015-October-05, 00:53, said:

Early candidate for Necro of the Month?