OCP Forums
General Bridge Discussion => Interesting Play Hands => Topic started by: OliverC on November 13, 2017, 08:04:48 PM
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Defensive signalling and reading them correctly, is often one of the toughest areas of the game, but even when the signals of themselves are not crystal clear, it's worth considering the bidding in case that gives us a clue. The following hand was instructive from that viewpoint:
Game All, Dealer West
Bidding
West North East South
1 !D No 1 !H No
1NT All Pass
You are North, sat with:
North
!S K985
!H Q
!D AK9832
!C 86
Eszter, in the North seat, led the !D Ace at trick 1, and Dummy went down with
East (Dummy)
!S J103
!H A1085
!D 105
!C A1092
North
!S K985
!H Q
!D AK9832
!C 86
Partner shows out on the first Diamond and plays the !H 6. How do you continue? The 6 is not a very clear-cut signal, you might think, but there are a few things which make it an absolutely definite request for a Spade switch:
- Declarer didn't bid 1 !S over 1 !H , so they have a maximum of 3 Spades
- You hold the !H Queen and can see the !H 10 & 8 in Dummy, so there are no "higher" even Hearts that Partner could possibly play
- ...and this is perhaps the most crucial clue: Clearly Partner has 5+ Hearts from the bidding, because we can assume Declarer has at most 3-card Hearts or they would have supported them, but Partner is discouraging Hearts. If Declarer had !H K42 and South had !H J9763 sat over Dummy's A1085, it's unlikely that South would be discouraging Hearts. It's far far more likely that the !H 6 is a request for a Spade, therefore, rather than a Club.
We cannot ever beat this contract, but we can take the first 6 tricks. South was sat with 5 small Hearts and !S AQ64. Eszter switched to a Club at trick 2. and even though I ducked the 9, Declarer got the Clubs wrong, and overtook the 9 with the Queen. Declarer then led a second Diamond to Dummy's 10, but Eszter ducked this trick (rightly).
A small Club followed to Declarer's King and then a 3rd round of Diamonds. Eszter took the !D King this time, but instead of switching to a Spade (now that it was utterly clear that the !H 6 at trick 1 could not have been asking for a Club), continued with the !D 9 and Declarer had no problems wrapping up an overtrick.