[inquiry]

After A more or less normal auction, you arrive in 6NT with the club JACK opening lead, east plays an odd count spot card. You have a routine 12 tricks if diamonds are 3=2 or if the heart JACK falls or you find it with a finesse. So like the bidding, the play looks to be routine (when you lose a spade, West wins the ACE and continues clubs).

Do you just test the red suits, or is there something special you would "try".

---

[ArtK78]

I don't see any reason not to cash out the black suits and see if anything odd happens - like one opponent having 2-2 (or less) in the blacks. In the off chance that North has 2-2 in the blacks and 4 diamonds, you could throw him in with the fourth round of diamonds to force a heart return.

If South is short in either or both of the black suits and has 4 or 5 diamonds, you might play him for length in hearts. This would depend on exactly how many cards South is known to hold in each of the off suits.

The only other consideration is that you should play the diamonds K then Q just in case South has a singleton J or 10 of diamonds.

Otherwise, there doesn't seem to be too much to the hand. Just taking advantage of a couple of extra chances. I hope that I have not missed anything.

[RSClyde]

inquiry, on 2013-August-27, 10:49, said:

After A more or less normal auction, you arrive in 6NT with the club JACK opening lead, east plays an odd count spot card. You have a routine 12 tricks if diamonds are 3=2 or if the heart JACK falls or you find it with a finesse. So like the bidding, the play looks to be routine (when you lose a spade, West wins the ACE and continues clubs).

Do you just test the red suits, or is there something special you would "try".

---

I'll pass the 9 of diamonds under the KQ hoping to smash the 8.

[RSClyde]

The challenge is that I want to "test" but I have to be careful severing entries to the east hand in case I need to double hook diamonds against south. How good is north? He could have made it harder by ducking 2 spades, so he either is getting thrown in if he does or he doesn't think about such things. (Or everything's working and he's saving an imp.)

[PhilKing]

Just to clarify the first few tricks:

Trick 1: club ace (no huge reason, but it is mildly deceptive and counterintuitive on this hand)
trick 2: spade to the queen
trick 3: they exit to our club queen

tricks 4-6: play KD QD AD

Do not on any account cash black suits first. Our ordinary auction has concealed our shape from the defence, so cashing black cards prematurely will just allow them to defend double dummy. What we want to happen is that the hand with short diamonds to be pseudo squeezed.

One might also consider:

trick 2: diamond king
trick 3: diamond ace (if nothing dropped)

which makes them find a discard before we have touched spades.

[manudude03]

I think you have your E/W and N/S mixed up. Did we lose the ace of spades on the first round? If so, I'll cash the clubs first, then play diamonds by cashing leading low to the king, and low to the ace if the J or T don't show up, and finally back to the queen. The main purpose of all this is to try and keep south in the dark about my major suit holdings. I'll then cash my spades ending in the East hand, then KA of hearts hoping I'll have an inferential count of the hand.

[nige1]

inquiry, on 2013-August-27, 10:49, said:

After A more or less normal auction, you arrive in 6NT with the club JACK opening lead, east plays an odd count spot card. You have a routine 12 tricks if diamonds are 3=2 or if the heart JACK falls or you find it with a finesse. So like the bidding, the play looks to be routine (when you lose a spade, West wins the ACE and continues clubs). Do you just test the red suits, or is there something special you would "try".

---

I like Phil King's line better but, at the table, would have played Artk47's line. Apart for the throw-in . Drive out ♠A. Play off your Black-suit winners, discarding a ♦ hoping to get a count. Cash ♦KQ. ♦ may break; or RHO may have a singleton ♦ honour; or there may be a red-suit squeeze; or a marked ♥ finesse; or ♥J may drop in three . I suppose that, if you've retained a dummy-entry and you get an early count that South has lots of ♦ (before discarding a ♦ from hand), then you might try RSClyde's line of cashing ♦A hoping that LHO has singleton ♦8, ♦T or ♦J.

[johnu]

I like PhilKing's line 1, win ♣A, knock out ♠A, and play on diamonds, hoping for the extra chance of a pseudo squeeze in hearts on the hand with short diamonds.

[edit] On 2nd thought, Line 2, winning ♣A and then 2 top diamonds will pressure the opponent with short diamonds while giving them no extra information about the other suits.

I don't understand cashing the black suit winners first. What do you pitch on the 3rd club? Certainly not a heart, and if you pitch a diamond you can only play diamonds one way. Opponents will know the club position when declarer shows out of clubs, and should have no problem figuring out spades so they are highly unlikely to get hearts wrong. Hoping to get a get an exact count on diamonds if 4-1 with South having 4 and North having J, 10, or 8 while leaving an entry to east so you can repeat a double finesses seems exceedingly remote compared to the possible pseudo squeeze.

If nothing good happen after playing 3 rounds of diamonds, run the black suits, then ♥K, and finally ♥A If south has 4 diamonds, you have a show up squeeze in hearts so play for the drop of the ♥J offside if it hasn't already fallen. If north started with 4 diamonds, finesse for the ♥J at trick 12 if he hasn't pitched a heart, ie hearts were originally 4-2 with south having 4, north having 2, or if he does pitch a heart, play for the drop.

Position at trick 12 with east on lead.

West
♥Q10

East
♥5
♦9


If the defenders don't take the ♠A on the first 2 spade leads, play can get complicated. Play 2 diamonds, and 3 rounds of clubs. If they discard 2 spades leaving only the ace, give up a spade and play as above. Otherwise, cash the 3rd diamond and 2 round of hearts. Depending on the discarding, you may try to throw North in with a spade or diamond, or just play on hearts depending on how the hand counts out.

[Fluffy]

If it is match points play twice towards ♠QJ, I wanna try and steal the overtrick.

[gszes]

trick 1 club A
trick 2 heart to K
trick 3 spade J (fake finesse) if lho has the spade A they will
probably auto duck and then
trick 4 small spade toward K this LOP has a much greater chance of
getting both ducked twice since LHO (if they have the A) is almost
compelled to duck the first round in case P has the Q. The next spade
lead they will most likely duck since they missed their first chance to
catch an honor they don't want to catch air now. That's my way of
trying for the overtrick. Mainly because it is more fun torturing an
opponent that way vs just being lucky and finding the A in the right
place (see fluffy)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

If opps win the spade A in first couple of rounds I agree with playing
on dia first in hope of a pseudo squeeze if one is needed to make 6)

[Vampyr]

ArtK78, on 2013-August-27, 12:00, said:

I don't see any reason not to cash out the black suits and see if anything odd happens - like one opponent having 2-2 (or less) in the blacks. In the off chance that North has 2-2 in the blacks and 4 diamonds, you could throw him in with the fourth round of diamonds to force a heart return.

I think the OP is hoping to make the hand, not settle for one off.