[lamford]

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This was, as far as I can see, an overlooked gem from the Camrose, shown to me by Jon Cooke, of the winning team. It was misplayed by Andrew Robson, and, in keeping with Shrove Tuesday, Jon gave me the hand a couple of days ago and asked to be "shri(e)ven" for his misdefence which I repeated when given the defensive problem. West led the two of diamonds, attitude, and East's jack lost to the king. How should Andy Robson play as South, and what defensive resource did his misplay permit? 1♦ is usually unbalanced.

[nige1]

Spoiler

Lamford writes 'This was, as far as I can see, an overlooked gem from the Camrose, shown to me by Jon Cooke, of the winning team. It was misplayed by Andrew Robson, and, in keeping with Shrove Tuesday, Jon gave me the hand a couple of days ago and asked to be "shriven" for his misdefence which I repeated when given the defensive problem. West led the two of diamonds, attitude, and East's jack lost to the king. How should Andy Robson play as South, and what defensive resource did his misplay permit? 1♦ is usually unbalanced.'
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jon and Paul: Thank you for this fascinating deal.
Presumaby, the defender's hands are something like this?
The solution is surprising, even at double-dummy

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At the table, as declarer or defender, only a genius would get this right

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in the Ancient Mariner said:

O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man!'
The Hermit crossed his brow.
'Say quick,' quoth he, 'I bid thee say—.
What manner of man art thou?

[lamford]

nige1, on 2019-March-07, 11:40, said:

Spoiler

Lamford writes 'This was, as far as I can see, an overlooked gem from the Camrose, shown to me by Jon Cooke, of the winning team. It was misplayed by Andrew Robson, and, in keeping with Shrove Tuesday, Jon gave me the hand a couple of days ago and asked to be "shriven" for his misdefence which I repeated when given the defensive problem. West led the two of diamonds, attitude, and East's jack lost to the king. How should Andy Robson play as South, and what defensive resource did his misplay permit? 1♦ is usually unbalanced.'
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jon and Paul: Thank you for this fascinating deal.
Presumaby, the defender's hands are something like this?
The solution is surprising, even at double-dummy

---

At the table, as declarer or defender, only a genius would get this right

The layout is almost like that. If you swap the two of clubs and two of hearts so that West is 4-3-6-0, then apart from immaterial pips it is right. Working out why South has to cash two clubs first (both on your layout and the actual layout) is interesting. And while on the subject of nomeclature, I think this is just an automatic triple squeeze? And you can now surely work out, as in Question of Sport, what happened next. Suffice to say that trick two contained an error by both sides.

[nige1]

lamford, on 2019-March-08, 06:33, said:

The layout is almost like that. If you swap the two of clubs and two of hearts so that West is 4-3-6-0, then apart from immaterial pips it is right. Working out why South has to cash two clubs first (both on your layout and the actual layout) is interesting. And while on the subject of nomeclature, I think this is just an automatic triple squeeze? And you can now surely work out, as in Question of Sport, what happened next. Suffice to say that trick two contained an error by both sides.

Spoiler

Decalarer took the ♠ finesse and RHO won ♠K

I 'phoned John Matheson (top Scottosh international) about this thread. He kibitzed the board but nobody appreciated its subtleties, at the time. Jon Cooke is an excellent analyst. I agree it's a triple-squeeze but it doesn't seem to be automatic because, if you swap the defenders' hands, then you don't need a squeeze

[cherdano]

Is there really a good reason to duck?

Btw, (double dummy) East can also win and continue spades.

[nige1]

cherdano, on 2019-March-08, 17:53, said:

Is there really a good reason to duck?Btw, (double dummy) East can also win and continue spades.

lamford, on 2019-March-08, 06:33, said:

The layout is almost like that. If you swap the two of clubs and two of hearts so that West is 4-3-6-0, then apart from immaterial pips it is right. .

According to Paul, the diagram on the left is close to the actual layout.
I wouldn't duck but a card-player of Michael Rosenberg's calibre might suss out the position.
If RHO wins ♠K and returns a ♠, GIB demonstrates that declarer can still succeed. e.g.
♠Q ♣J ♦ jettisoning ♠A.

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[manudude03]

cherdano, on 2019-March-08, 17:53, said:

Is there really a good reason to duck?

Btw, (double dummy) East can also win and continue spades.

The NI team discussed the line of taking the spade hook and a spade coming back, doesn't work for the defense. You play 2 or 3 clubs ending in hand and lead the ♦Q throwing the ♠A! West finds himself endplayed.

[lamford]

nige1, on 2019-March-08, 18:05, said:

According to Paul, the diagram on the left is close to the actual layout.
I wouldn't duck but a card-player of Michael Rosenberg's calibre might suss out the position.
If RHO wins ♠K and returns a ♠, GIB demonstrates that declarer can still succeed. e.g.
♠Q ♣J ♦ jettisoning ♠A.

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And that would indeed be the 100% single dummy line, assuming West has the ace of diamonds. I don't think it ever costs to duck, with hindsight. Who says GIB and Deep Finesse cheat?