Give declarer a winning option?

I've been obsessing over this for a few days now, especially since the concept came up in two hands over a very short time frame.

Say declarer has Kx opp Jx. The goal for the defense is to take two tricks in the suit. Declarer has no pitches coming, so he will have to break the suit himself.

If the A is offside, declarer cannot avoid the loss of two tricks. That means we should exit passively and wait for declarer to break the suit.

If the A is onside, then leading a card through declarer's K gives him a losing option.

Does that mean that if you're declaring, and you know that the defense has the count, and they break the suit, therefore you should go up with the K? You have no recourse if left to your own.

In turn, does that mean that the defense, knowing that the A is offside, should present declarer a WINNING option and break the suit once in a while?

Palo Alto 1/26

MPs, partner deals

p - (1C) - p - (1H)
p - (2H) - p - (4H)

Partner leads CK, we see

------97------
------AK93----
------J54-----
------A832----
--------------AT32
--------------T65
--------------KT87
--------------T5
----------
---(closed
-----hand)
----------

Declarer wins the A, plays HQ, heart to the A, partner discarding a club. Leads a spade off dummy, 2, K, 8 (udca). Crosses to the HK, another spade, your play?

from a friend

They bid (1H) - x - (2H) - p - (2S) - p - (4H).

---------Kxxx
---------Kxxx
---------xx
---------xxx
J9xx
xx
KQJx
AKQ
---------
---------
--------- (closed hand)
---------

You start by cashing the CA, partner discouraging. Now what?

1/22 casual game

You reach 4H after 1S - 1N - 2H - 4H

98x
K9xx
Ax
Axxx

AKJTx
AJTx
QJ
xx

They start the CK. Your plan?

Stanford 1/11

Watched my friend play this one. You reach 4H after (1S) - 2H - (2S) - 4H

LHO leads a diamond spot (it was high, I don't remember the details, sorry)

xxx
Jxx
AQT9x
xx

Qx
QT87x
Kx
AKQx

Thanks to the lead, if diamonds are 3-3, we have a shot to make it. But even if they're 4-2...

Diamond to the J and K, CAK, club ruff, all follow. DA, DQ, RHO ruffs low, overruff. Club Q, LHO shows out (phew!), ruff in dummy. Top diamond, now RHO is down to AK of hearts and has no winning answer.

This needed friendly trumps, clubs 3=4 and diamonds 4=2, or just diamonds 3-3, but it worked!

Funny that we played this hand just last night, and just this morning I see a similar hand posted on BBF here:
http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/43811-try-this-4s/

casual game 1/6

Here's another one from tonight

Tx KJ9xxxx -- J642

RHO opens 1N (15-17), I'm going to make you bid 2C (clubs and another).

1N - 2C* - x** - 2D***
p - 2H - 3H**** - p
3N

*clubs and another
** stayman
*** pass or correct
**** asking?

Lead?

casual game 1/6

You reach 4H after 1H - 3H - 4H

LHO leads a heart, you get

x
KQ98
x7xxx
KJx

Jxxx
AJT7xx
Ax
x

Plan? RHO follows to the first heart.

Stanford 1/4

I got to 3N on these cards (don't ask)

-------K3
-------KJT873
-------J94
-------97
965-----------QJT
AQ9-----------52
Q873----------T652
542-----------QJT2
-------A8742
-------64
-------AK
-------AK86

Diamond lead, won in hand. Heart finesse, holding. Club back, repeat the heart finesse. LHO flies A, leads another diamond. Win in hand, cash CK. Cross to dummy's SK, run hearts. On the final heart, we have

-------x
-------x
-------J
-------

96------------QJ
--------------
Q-------------
--------------Q

-------A8
-------
-------
-------8

RHO can't pitch the club, so he parts with a spade. Declarer discards a club, and now LHO is squeezed.

Positional double squeeze!

Reno Regional 12/30

Had a few hands from the Reno Regional.

1.

w/w RHO opens 3S, raised to 4.

We have xx Ax ATxx KQTxx, we lead CK.

Dummy tables

---------Kxx
---------Jxx
---------QJx
---------Axxx
xx
Ax
ATxx
KQTxx

Dummy plays the A, partner the 5, declarer the 8. The missing spots are J852.

Declarer plays two high trumps, partner shedding the HK on the second round of spades. Declarer now plays a diamond from dummy to the K and our A. Now what?

Partner would not play the 5 from J52, so partner must have J5. We cash a second club, and now play A and a heart, beating the contract. It turns out if declarer just follows with the C2 at trick 1, we have a harder problem.

Our teammates reached 4S, and the defense did not cash correctly.

2. I've been over this suit combination before, but I really like it. Our opponents reached 6D with x opp AQT9xxx as trumps. The contract hinges on bringing the suit in for one loser.

Our declarer played low to the Q, which is the proper play*. Sadly, on that day, it was Jxx onside, so the anti percentage T wins and the Q fails.

*Low to the T picks up KJx, Jx, Jxx, Kx
Low to the Q picks up KJx, Jx, Kxx, Kx, AND Kxxx

3.

Partner opens, you reach an uncontested 3N on these cards.

Kxx
AJT9x
x
AJ9x

AJxx
Qx
QJ8x
Qxx

LHO leads the D2 (they lead fourth, but you've seen this guy lead 5th best already.) RHO wins the A, and now leads back the 9. So it really does look like diamonds are 5-3.

I was swayed by my D8, so I covered the 9. LHO hesitates a second... and then ducks. Shit! Damn 8! Why didn't I think longer? All finesses go into RHO, and by holding up (ducking the 9), we can sever the defensive communications.

After this start, I can no longer make, but let's say we properly hold up. The opponents cash a third diamond, and LHO clears the suit, diamonds indeed breaking 5-3.

We run the HQ, losing. RHO shoots back a heart.

We have 1 diamond, 4 hearts, 2 spades, 1 club. We need to develop one more trick. After running all the hearts, (pitch a spade and Qx of clubs, unblock!), we can either hook the spade or hook the club. But wait! Let's combine our chances. Attempt to drop the SQ doubleton, and if that fails, now you can take the 50-50 club finesse.

Did you notice something else? If RHO holds both these cards, he's toast. He will have started with Qxx Kxxx A9x Kxx or something like that (his shape is actually immaterial aside from the heart length. With shorter hearts, if he held the crucial black cards, he might have made a takeout double.) 3 diamonds, on the 4th diamond, he has to discard. Then 1 more discard on the hearts. So a total of 2 discards. If he shakes a spade, the Q is coming down, and we pick this up when we test for a doubleton Q. So he has to shake 2 clubs.

Can you read it? Did RHO go into the tank when pitching on the final heart?

I guess I'll never know.