[manudude03]

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MPs scoring. East opens a weak NT (12-14) and plays there. You lead the ♠J and the play proceeds as follows:

.S. .W. .N. .E.
SJ S3 SK S8
S2 SA S4 SQ
C6 CJ CQ CA
C3 C5 C2 CK
C9 C8 C7 CT
D4 D2 D3 C4
D9 D5 H4 DA
DK D8 S7 D3


Bold represents card won, underline is card led.

You are now on lead at the following position:

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What do you do now? Int+ please hide answers.

[Vampyr]

Could you put the plays into the hand diagram? It would be easier to follow.

[NickRW]

 Vampyr, on 2017-February-16, 08:10, said:

Could you put the plays into the hand diagram? It would be easier to follow.

In general I'd agree, though simple counting of declarer's hand gives the right answer in this case, does it not...

[Vampyr]

 NickRW, on 2017-February-16, 08:30, said:

In general I'd agree, though simple counting of declarer's hand gives the right answer in this case, does it not...

The idea here is for novices to follow the play, and it's not so easy this way.

[manudude03]

I would put the play in a hand diagram, but I don't know how to add play while hiding the other 2 hands. My attempts at adding "&p=...." have come up with the next button still disabled.

[Kaitlyn S]

Spoiler

You should count declarer's points and figure out what declarer can't have based on the bidding. You should also ask yourself whether declarer would waste the ♠Q on trick 2 if he had another spade. You now need to play the suits in the right order.

The play in 2S by South is interesting from a counting standpoint also.

[JLilly]

I think my response gives it away, so despite considering myself an "advanced beginner with intermediate conventional knowledge and intermediate card sense", I'll conceal my answer. I think OP doesn't even need to specify that opponents' 1NT means 12-14, if the goal is to have a chance of setting opponents.

Spoiler

If I just lead off the top from my hand, I lose a diamond to dummy. There is one spade left, and it's unlikely that E played their highest two spades while holding onto a low one. So I infer that partner has the S6. That's my entry into partner's hand. Clubs are spent. There's one loser diamond left in ptr or declarer. The only way we can set the contract is if we can take the top three hearts, and then two more hearts or spades. I'll play assuming that we can set contract, which means leading the ♥A, then giving lead to partner by leading my ♠5. If partner has KQ of hearts, then we take the top three hearts, and it comes down to the hearts held by partner and declarer (my winning spades are now inaccessible).But, since it's specified that EW play 12-14 NT, and E has already shown 14 points, partner must have all the remaining points in H, and KQxxx at that, since if E had 5 hearts they would have opened 1H. Our top honors knock out dummy's ♥JT and we run hearts.

[rmnka447]

 JLilly, on 2017-April-13, 02:07, said:

I think my response gives it away, so despite considering myself an "advanced beginner with intermediate conventional knowledge and intermediate card sense", I'll conceal my answer. I think OP doesn't even need to specify that opponents' 1NT means 12-14, if the goal is to have a chance of setting opponents.

Spoiler

Good Work!!

Opener has shown up with 13 HCP so can't have either ♥ K or Q. Since opener had only ♠ Qx, then as you surmised partner had to have 4 ♠ and some number of ♥ to the KQ. Your partner, hopefully, has also seen opener play out 13 HCP and ♠ Q, so knows you have the ♥ A and 3 ♠. If partner had any concern about the long heart being cashable -- say holding ♥ KQ32 -- then partner could pitch a ♥ and retain both remaining ♠. Then after you cash ♥ A and lead a ♠ to partner, partner can cash high hearts and lead the remaining ♠ to your winning ♠.

[ahydra]

 rmnka447, on 2017-April-13, 21:25, said:

Spoiler

Good Work!!

Opener has shown up with 13 HCP so can't have either ♥ K or Q. Since opener had only ♠ Qx, then as you surmised partner had to have 4 ♠ and some number of ♥ to the KQ. Your partner, hopefully, has also seen opener play out 13 HCP and ♠ Q, so knows you have the ♥ A and 3 ♠. If partner had any concern about the long heart being cashable -- say holding ♥ KQ32 -- then partner could pitch a ♥ and retain both remaining ♠. Then after you cash ♥ A and lead a ♠ to partner, partner can cash high hearts and lead the remaining ♠ to your winning ♠.

Spoiler

In fact, as partner has shown up with a singleton diamond we know the exact count. Declarer was 2434 to start with. So partner had 5 hearts to the KQ; he threw one, and is now left with KQxx and ♠6. Declarer has not yet played any hearts, so it all comes down to the ♥9. We have to hope partner has defended correctly; he threw a spade so should be hoping to run the hearts, i.e. he should have the ♥9 (if not, he should have thrown the losing heart rather than the ♠7).