Re: Deep Finesse gets this right

On Apr 24, 6:52 pm, Bob <rfr...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Steve Willner wrote:
> > But it's harder when you can't see all the cards....
>
> >    Dealer East
> >    NS Vul
> >    IMP Pairs
>
> >            North
> >            K75
> >            AK62
> >            76432
> >            3
> >    West               East
> >    JT62               -
> >    QT97               J4
> >    QT                 AKJ8
> >    764                AQJ9852
> >            South
> >            AQ9843
> >            853
> >            95
> >            KT
> >    West   North  East   South
> >                  1C!    1S
> >    Pass!  2S     3C     Pass
> >    Pass   3H     Pass   3S
> >    Dbl    All Pass
>
> > 1C was strong and artificial; West's pass showed any bad hand (less
than
> > a decent 5-count).  NS have no two-suited methods over the strong
club;
> > their bidding was natural.
>
> > Q1. What do you think of the bidding, especially by EW?
>
> > West led C-4 (count leads).  East played C-A and three rounds of
> > diamonds, declarer ruffing with S-9 and West discarding H-7 (low
> > encourages).  Declarer drew three rounds of trumps ending in dummy and
> > ruffed a diamond; the only additional trick for the defense was West's
> > high trump.
>
> > Deep Finesse says the double-dummy result is 8 tricks.  As far as I
can
> > tell, the defense achieves this only by switching to hearts before
> > playing the third round of diamonds.
>
> > Q2. Can defenders beat the contract without a peek?  How?  Assign the
> > blame, if you will.
>
> I, poor defender, would be tempted to play diamonds. Unlikely, but
> partner might have a singleton. With a doubleton, it might give
> partner a trump promotion. These are not likely, but declarer having
> three hearts 108x or worse is a hope too.
>
> Hindsight, but I wonder if an inference can be drawn from the diamond
> plays. Perhaps West should signal Q10 for a diamond continuation and
> 10Q if the diamond continuation doesn't help his trump holding. Beyond
> my ability at the table, but I could imagine experts doing it.

West would lead a diamond with a singleton.