Thoughtless Defence :)

[OliverC]

Saw this hand played today (no names, no pack drill LOL). You really need to think out your defence: Love all, Dealer South. you are North, playing OCP:

North
K52
2
QJ763
A543

Bidding
South      West      North      East
No            No          1          1
X              2         2NT         3
All Pass

Partner leads the King and you can see this:

                     West (Dummy)
                      Q86
                      K75
                      1098
                      10976
North
K52
2
QJ763
A543
You encourage, but Declarer wins the Ace, and plays Ace and another Spade. Partner plays the 9 and then the Jack and you take Dummy's Queen with your King. How do you plan your defence?

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Clearly Partner started with a stiff King of Diamonds or the King doubleton and exactly J9 in Spades. They might have started with QJxx(x) in Hearts, so they probably have at least KJxx in Clubs. Declarer is likely to have least 4-card Hearts and either 4-card Diamonds or a 5th Heart. There's not much that can be done about the times when Opener started with AQ10xx in Hearts, but you can and must cater for the time when Declarer started with Axxx. Quick as a flash (about one nanosecond after taking the King) your 5 should hit the table, because the real danger to your defence is when Partner had the singleton King and Declarer might be able to either ruff a Diamond. If you don't take the trump off the table sooner rather than later, you may provide them with their 9th trick. In fact it doesn't matter if you try something like the Ace of Clubs first, because you have 2 chances to play a Spade. but play a Spade you must, before Declarer has a chance to ruff the 4th round of Diamonds.

At the table North cashed the QJ of Diamonds (Partner showing out on the 2nd round) and then led a 4th round, as if Partner might have a trump left (which they couldn't reasonably have, given the bidding). This gave Declarer (who had started out with A10xxx, AQ10x, Axxx, -) their 9th trick and something like an 8 IMP difference on a Board, in a match that was decided by less than that.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter whether or not you manage to determine exactly what Declarer's or Partner's shape is. You should, however, be taking Dummy's last trump out of the equation just on general principles, because it prevents Dummy from possibly contributing any further tricks to Declarer's total.