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Friday, 19-June-2009
No boards played, no mistakes yet. Game time is 20:00 CET, two ten-board matches
Hob-nobbing with people I've actually heard of, here is a hand posed as a test to the innocent copy writer by a bulletin co-editor walking by…
- 94
- AK62
- K752
- A106
- AQ
- Q43
- A9863
- KQ4
In 6 after a neutral club lead you cash two top diamonds to discover RHO has three; LHO pitches a club. How do you continue?
After mature thought, I think this is a catch for the sophisticated player: you have to choose between playing your chances in order – 3-3 hearts then spade finesse – or conceding a trump, refusing the spade finesse and then playing for a squeeze on LHO.
If you play hearts and LHO does have four, the two card difference established when trumps were 1=3 is removed and the spade finesse is evens. If hearts are 5=1, the finesse is now odds on.
So, without any other information, the squeeze is not any better than the finesse. But of course you can test clubs – after heart to dummy and heart back – to gain more information. That however, isn't likely to help you. The count there will either be 3-3 (after LHO's club discard – though you may question the motives for revealing the count) or longer on the left, in which case if hearts do not oblige, again the spade finesse is better odds than the squeeze. So you may as well just try hearts and then spades.
