How to Lose Your Kibitzers
In the second of two hands during the first round of a sectional open pairs, you surprisingly find that you have a pair of kibitzers, players who are participating in the same event. Must be something with respect to the arrangement of the event or maybe they have finished their first round early and have learned that they will not be playing these hands.
LHO deals and his 15-17 1NT bid ends the bidding.
Partner leads the ♣T (can be from T9 or KT9 or QT9).
You win the ♣A and decide to switch to a small heart. This works well. Partner plays, and wins, the ♥Q. She continues with the ♥K, losing to declarer’s ♥A. Declarer plays ♦A and a small diamond, partner following to the first diamond and discarding a small club on the second. Upon winning the second diamond, you cash out the heart suit, as declarer pitches three diamonds, partner pitches two more clubs and dummy pitches one of each black suit.
What now?
You know that declarer holds the ♣J and at least one, if not both, of the ♣Q and ♣K. You also know that declarer was dealt A-empty fourth of diamonds and the ♥A. That accounts for something between 11-14 HCP. Declarer must own at least the queen in spades, maybe more.
You can cash the ♦K to ensure +100, maybe more if declarer does not own the ♣K, but owns the ♠KQ, ♣QJ, and the known red aces. But unless declarer owns the ♣K and KQxx of spades (for a full 17 HCP, along with the red aces and the ♣J), declarer will be unable to win the rest of the five tricks needed to make his contract before letting you in the lead again and you have a chance at scoring at least +200 other ways (as when declarer owns the ♠K, ♣KJ, and the red aces and must give up the lead again in one the non-heart suits).
You hope you are not making your decision just to thrill the kibitzers, but you choose to exit a club. -90, as this was the whole deal.
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If I read it right, partner discarded three clubs. Can’t he help you find out whether he has a spade card by how he pitches?
Hi MOJO Dave,
I play a fast and happy discard of low spades immediately as showing nothing, especially making the happy with a smiling face. How do others do it?
I know Bobby is being facetious, but I have sympathy for the position of my partner. What if South held something like KJT/KJTx, Ax, Axxx, KJxx/KJx? Now West does not want to discard spades and help declarer with a spade guess. In a more practiced partnership (which this one is not), it does strike me that my partner West can inform me about holding or not holding the CK (information already known by declarer but not known by me), but beyond that …?
In retrospect, I do think I had one, pretty subtle, clue to have gone right: Declarer spent a long time before playing the DA at Trick 4. Perhaps I could have divined that the reason for such delay is that declarer was cogitating between trying to cash enough tricks for his contract right then or there (which would have worked) and trying for risky overtricks, which would be available if diamonds were 2-2 but risks going down in a cold contract when diamonds are 3-1 (stiff small) and spades are 3-3.
Now that I think about it, the chance for overtricks are pretty slight. Only if diamonds are 2-2 and hearts are 4-4 will declarer be able to enjoy an extra diamond trick; otherwise we would win one club and at least one diamond and at least four hearts. Perhaps declarer should have just cashed out, hoping that either spades are 3-3 or that the person who wins the fourth round of spades (or second round of diamonds) can’t (or won’t) disentangle all the side suit winners.
Think of how much easier this hand is, for both declarer and defender, at IMPs!
declarer can’t pitch 3 diamonds on the hearts as he has played 2 already; if he pitches CJ on 5th H not hard to figure to cash D
Jordan, you’re right about the pitch, of course. I must have missed something. Assuming declarer did pitch the CJ, it is reasonable for me to assume that his original club holding was KJx and not QJx (because pitching down to the stiff Q would subject him to having the whole rest of the club suit run against him). That would account for 12 HCP (the four in clubs and the two red aces), marking declarer with from 3-5 points in spades. That, in turn, means declarer must own the SK, but still leaves undetermined the ownership of the SQ. If partner owns the SQ, then declarer has only five top tricks (CK, DA, HA, SAK). Does that make it clear to cash the DK?
Hi Jeff, MOJO, and Jordan,
I have almost no opinion on your main subject with only Al Davis’ football encouragement, “Just win, baby”.
However I may acknowledge the the importance in making a common falsecard which, at times, can make a mighty difference in the final result. If a defender holds the KQ10 over a long suit in dummy containing the jack and declarer leads the ace from hand, the defender over the dummy should (usually) drop an honor to make it look to declarer that the distribution is more favorable than he possibly expected.
Any legal misconceptions a defender can give declarer will, in the long run, almost certainly produce a dividend for the defense as well as somewhat intimidate the opponents into knowing that the battle is definitely joined.
if he wanted to try for overtricks shouldn’t the first diamond play be low?