From: mss@netcom.com (Mark Singer)
Subject: Re: interesting hand
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Distribution: rec.games.bridge 
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 02:05:04 GMT

In article <Bz7xAJ.CBw@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> bharat@cs.uiuc.edu writes:
>rudy@netcom.com (Rudy) writes:
>
>>Some interesting hands came up this weekend in Pasadena -- I might post
>>a bunch of them later, here's one:
>>--
>>AJTx
>>AKxx
>>AKQxx
>
>>2S  X  4S  5H
>>P   ?
>>    5N P   7H
>>7S  X ----
>
>>What do you think of the auction?  You lead club King and dummy is:
>>Qxxxx  xx  QJx xxx  Standard signals, partner plays the Jack.  Your plan?
>
>Anyway, seriously, declarer ought to be highly distributional, but
>stranger things have happened.  The CQ at trick 2 is marked...

Definitely NOT>
>
>As long as partner has at most 2 clubs, there is no problem with this
>hand.  I simply make sure to take all my clubs and hearts; and hope to
>get any of 3C, 2H, 2D for upto 1700. 

"ought to"  "as long as" "hope to"
These are very interesting expressions to be using in a situation such
as this.  In fact, there are many things that can be done with absolute
assurance, if...

 As far as I can see, there is
>nothing wrong with cashing all your clubs, then trying to get two
>hearts and 2 diamonds (your tricks don't go anywhere and you can pitch
>hearts in content).

you remember that bridge is a partnership game.  As an absolute fact,
you know that parter has either KQ of hearts or K with extra length.
As an absolute fact, he knows about all of your first round controls.
So...
>
>One rare scenario is when RHO has gone berserk and has 4 clubs, then
>there is a slim chance that partner has the SK and you can get a
>promotion.

what you need to do is let partner *tell* you whether or not there
is a promotion coming.  The idea is to put *partner* on play to 
direct the defense, and so the critical question is "which heart
do I underlead so that partner knows the count in the suit".  We
were playing 3rd and lowest, and standard leads from intermediate
sequences.  Should this hand lead the heart 10 as "third best"?

  This is mostly academic, unless declarer has 7 spades (he
>would have opened 3S white versus red) or is exactly 6-0-3-4 or has 3
>hearts (virtually impossible); else he is short an entry to dummy So
>partner should give you present count in the red suits and you can
>figure out to get all your heart winners before giving partner the
>uppercut.

False again.  It is not at all academic.  Declarer may have 6
spades, and may also have 4 (!!!!!!!) diamonds.  Now if partner
has Kx of spades...

Of course, *you* have no way of knowing this.  Partner does.  *If*
partner can read a third-best heart underlead, he can return the top
of a doubleton diamond, get a ruff with his small trump, then put
you back in with either a heart or club (depending on declarer's
*heart* length and, with the K of spades, give you a suit preference
for another diamond.  Of course, if *you* know the dimaond count
and know that no uppercut is coming, *you* can then try to cash the
obvious "round" card(s).

Sorry, Rudy, if I ruined your problem.  But all of these forwarders
keep viewing this defensive problem as if it is *their* problem to
work out.  C'mon guys.  This is just a variation of a dummy reversal.

BTW, which heart should you lead?
>


--  Disappointed with my 1400, but still well above average for the board

>
>-- 
>R. Bharat Rao                         E-mail: bharat@cs.uiuc.edu
>AI Group, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
>405 N. Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801   (217)-333-5978 (O), 337-6498(H)
>Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana


-- 
Mark Singer    
mss@netcom.com
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge