[MrAce]

---

South plays 6♥, lead small ♠. (Sorry I do not know the auction)

[cherdano]

Do trumps break?

[nige1]

MrAce, on 2017-December-21, 14:42, said:

South plays 6♥, lead small ♠. (Sorry I do not know the auction)

---

Spoiler

My guess:
Cash ♠A, ♥A, ♠K. Ruff a ♠ high. Cash ♣A. Cross to dummy by overtaking a ♥ honour. Lead a ♣ to ♣Q. If that wins cross to ♥7 and lead another ♣. This caters for LHO holding ♣K singleton or doubleton.

[smerriman]

nige1, on 2017-December-21, 18:42, said:

Spoiler

Cross to ♥K.

Spoiler

Remembering not to play the 5♥, of course

[sfi]

Nigel's line is what I was thinking.

Spoiler

Dummy is an entry short to do this on a 3-0 break, but then I find out early enough and use the entries to finesse in the minors (clubs first, obviously).

[MrAce]

cherdano, on 2017-December-21, 18:29, said:

Do trumps break?

You have a percentage line in both scenarios.

[MrAce]

nige1, on 2017-December-21, 18:42, said:

Spoiler

My guess, assuming trumps are 2-1:
Cash ♠A, ♥A, ♠K. Ruff a ♠ high. Cash ♣A. Cross to ♥K. Lead a ♣ to ♣Q. If that wins cross to ♥7 and lead another ♣. This caters for LHO holding ♣K singleton or doubleton.

How can it possibly hurt to cash the 2nd trump, if trumps are 2-1 ? But yes, other than that you got it right Nige1

[gszes]

It NEVER helps to play any suit before starting to draw trumps. It might (rarely I admit) give a surprise ruff to the opps they do not deserve.

Spoiler

trick 1 win spade A (breathe a sigh of relief when it is not ruffed)
trick 2 heart to A

If trumps break 2/1
trick 3 win another heart in south hand (ok we got the kiddies off the street)
trick 4 cash the club A (see Nige1)
trick 5 spade to K
trick 6 ruff a spade (high) (this sets up an endplay against west if they started with Kx in clubs)
trick 7 high trump to the K
trick 8 lead a club to the Q (assuming it holds)
trick 9 low trump to the north hand
trick 10 lead another club. Fails only when W began with 4+ clubs to the K and the dia finesse fails.

If trumps break 30
We are an entry short of being able to do NIGE1 play so we need to make sure we have enough entries in the north hand to tackle clubs and diamonds if needed
trick 3 win the heart Q
trick 4 win the heart J
trick 5 lay down the club ace (this caters to the singleton K with west)
trick 6 spade to the K
trick 7 club toward the QJx (assuming it holds)
trick 8 high trump to dummy (or low trump to dummy if u want to show off)
trick 9 another club toward Jx
this works anytime east began with the club K or clubs break 33 or west began with the singleton club K
If west began with 4 clubs to the K
trick 10 or 11 ruff club in dummy or ruff spade in hand leading a dia toward the Q when you ruff the 4th round of clubs. Fails only when west began with 4+ clubs to the K (or Kx) and the dia finesse fails

The important part of both lines of play give is to visualize the extra edge because they cater to extra club distributions that merely taking repeated club finesses does not and by timing the play properly we can test all of our possibilites in the club suit before we fall back on the dia finesse if needed.

[nige1]

6♠ on a red-suit lead
Never say never

---

[MrAce]

gszes, on 2017-December-22, 11:02, said:

It NEVER helps to play any suit before starting to draw trumps. It might (rarely I admit) give a surprise ruff to the opps they do not deserve.

Spoiler

trick 1 win spade A (breathe a sigh of relief when it is not ruffed)
trick 2 heart to A

If trumps break 2/1
trick 3 win another heart in south hand (ok we got the kiddies off the street)
trick 4 cash the club A (see Nige1)
trick 5 spade to K
trick 6 ruff a spade (high) (this sets up an endplay against west if they started with Kx in clubs)
trick 7 high trump to the K
trick 8 lead a club to the Q (assuming it holds)
trick 9 low trump to the north hand
trick 10 lead another club. Fails only when W began with 4+ clubs to the K and the dia finesse fails.

If trumps break 30
We are an entry short of being able to do NIGE1 play so we need to make sure we have enough entries in the north hand to tackle clubs and diamonds if needed
trick 3 win the heart Q
trick 4 win the heart J
trick 5 lay down the club ace (this caters to the singleton K with west)
trick 6 spade to the K
trick 7 club toward the QJx (assuming it holds)
trick 8 high trump to dummy (or low trump to dummy if u want to show off)
trick 9 another club toward Jx
this works anytime east began with the club K or clubs break 33 or west began with the singleton club K
If west began with 4 clubs to the K
trick 10 or 11 ruff club in dummy or ruff spade in hand leading a dia toward the Q when you ruff the 4th round of clubs. Fails only when west began with 4+ clubs to the K (or Kx) and the dia finesse fails

The important part of both lines of play give is to visualize the extra edge because they cater to extra club distributions that merely taking repeated club finesses does not and by timing the play properly we can test all of our possibilites in the club suit before we fall back on the dia finesse if needed.

I think if trumps are 3-0 it is better to stop cashing trumps. ♠K and ruff high. Now cash ♣A and cash 2nd trump and 3rd trump ending in dummy and play 2nd club towards QJx in hand.

[dow1978]

MrAce, on 2017-December-21, 14:42, said:

---

South plays 6♥, lead small ♠. (Sorry I do not know the auction)

Great!!!!

[gszes]

MrAce, on 2017-December-22, 21:42, said:

I think if trumps are 3-0 it is better to stop cashing trumps. ♠K and ruff high. Now cash ♣A and cash 2nd trump and 3rd trump ending in dummy and play 2nd club towards QJx in hand.

yes indeed that play caters to Kx clubs off side and only loses if the 2nd round of spades get ruffed a GREAT trade off. WHOknowswhathappened to Kx off side in my analysis when trumps break 30

[cherdano]

MrAce, on 2017-December-21, 23:11, said:

How can it possibly hurt to cash the 2nd trump, if trumps are 2-1 ? [/img]

Sometimes a second undertrick costs 3 IMPs, you know...