[661_Pete]

This is a BBO hand: I was East here, and the bidding was rather enthusiastic!

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Perhaps I'd have done better not to 'correct' my partner's 3♥ - with hindsight.

Against 5♣x, obviously a spade lead is best here, but understandably N led a ♦. Declarer played Q from dummy and ruffed South's K, then laid down A♣, discovering the 3-0 break and the missed opportunity to finesse.

I think it was at this point that declarer apologised profusely to me, and I responded with something like "all right but let's wait till the end of the hand". I think I shouldn't have said that - maybe it put partner off their play! I should have answered something like "no problem partner". Poor etiquette can be costly, as you'll see.

Anyway, declarer played a second trump, which South ducked, then a third trump to the K. I might not have done this, I tend to leave a single outstanding master trump at large, but it was probably the best move here.

South helpfully switched to a ♥, and now I saw that this rather dodgy contract could be made! So long as the hearts aren't 5-1, declarer puts up the 10. If North covers, win the Q, then throw two spades and a diamond on the established hearts. If North ducks (or if S has the J), win with the 10, ♥ to Q, ruff a ♦ and play off ♥ as before. Declarer loses just one trump and one ♠.

Alas! this wasn't what happened. Declarer played the 7 on the first ♥, North covered (naturally) with the 8 and all was over.

I feel that, even though as dummy and powerless, I was partly to blame. If I'd kept quiet declarer might have found the winning play.

[The_Badger]

Partner apologised...not soon enough, in my opinion. Laying down the ♣A is just awful bridge.

[johnu]

661_Pete, on 2018-November-16, 20:57, said:

If I'd kept quiet declarer might have found the winning play.

Probably not

[wank]

The_Badger, on 2018-November-17, 02:44, said:

Laying down the ♣A is just awful bridge.

not true at all. i'd call it very good technique to avoid a spade through the king when north has the king of clubs. if clubs are 2-1 he's pretty much 100% to get 2 spades away off dummy. finding them 3-0 onside on this bidding has to count as rather unlucky.

declarer essaying the 7 of H of hearts or playing a 3rd round of trumps wasn't so clever though.

[The_Badger]

wank, on 2018-November-17, 03:39, said:

not true at all. i'd call it very good technique to avoid a spade through the king when north has the king of clubs. if clubs are 2-1 he's pretty much 100% to get 2 spades away off dummy. finding them 3-0 onside on this bidding has to count as rather unlucky.

declarer essaying the 7 of H of hearts or playing a 3rd round of trumps wasn't so clever though.

I don't normally disagree with you on here, Alex, but losing to a singleton ♣K is 11% as I am sure you already know. But laying down the ♣A may work if ♣ are 2-1 or possibly 3-0 with North, but I think the bidding might have been different if that was the case, North dragging up some sort of response to his partner's 1♦ bid after passing in first position.

[661_Pete]

I suppose, thinking about it, cashing A♣ is a reasonable play to reduce risk of a spade lead through dummy. If N holds singleton K and declarer finesses, then there'd have been time for apologies! Though it's hard to blame partner.

If I'd been quick enough, perhaps I should have said "no no, you played it right"?

And also, on reflection putting S in with K♣, to tempt a ♥ lead, wasn't so bad either. Pity it then went awry.

[dokoko]

On the bidding you can safely assume ♠A in South.

On a spade lead, to make 5♣ you have to find ♣K.

After the actual diamond lead, declarer is home except:

a) ♣ void with North. To win he has to finesse in trumps, play hearts for 5 tricks or hope for a defensive error.
b) ♣K singleton with North. To win he has to cash ♣A. If he loses the trump finesse to North the spade switch should be obvious.
c) ♣Kx with North. To win he has to cash ♣A and hope for at least three hearts with North.
d) ♣Kxx with North. He has to find North with at least three hearts after either cashing ♣A or leading a low club from dummy and playing the ace when South shows out.

Unless you can rule out a ♣K with North (assuming South wouldn't have bid like he did without it), cashing the ace is the right play. I have no idea why South tried to help declarer or why declarer didn't want to make his contract. But in such company results are pretty much random.

[neilkaz]

johnu, on 2018-November-17, 02:52, said:

Probably not

I would run, not walk, but RUN to another partner. That play of the ♥7 rather than 9 or 10 is awful.

[rmnka447]

The play of the ♣ A isn't so bad.

But once S refuses to take the second round of trump. West can still make the hand playing on ♥. All it takes is the realization that South likely has the ♠ A and, in any case, can't play on ♠ without giving up a ♠ trick.

After the second round of trump, declarer doesn't have to use two trumps to remove the ♣ K but leaves it in place, thereby retaining 2 trumps in dummy that can be used to trump a ♥ and a ♠.

So at trick 4, declarer should lead a ♥ to the ♥ Q, and then a ♥ back to hand winning with A or K, if South follows. When both players follow, ♥ can't break worse than 4-2. Declarer can then ruffs the third round of ♥ (10 or 9 led) in dummy. If ♥ break 3-3, declarer has two good ♥ in hand on which to pitch 2 ♠ from dummy. If South ruffs the 2nd round of ♥, declarer has 2 high heart on which to pitch ♠. If South pitches on the 2nd ♥, declarer wins high and takes a ruffing finesse against North, pitching a ♠ if North doesn't cover.

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As for commenting at all on partner's play, you're right about not saying anything at all to partner. Obviously, your partner already was upset about the play that had been made. If anything, be encouraging or say nothing. With your partner already upset, your aim is to get partner back to concentrating on bridge and not on thinking about the "mistake". Something like "That's OK, keep playing, the hand isn't over yet." might do a world of good.

The biggest problem with criticizing a partner's play is not only how it affects the current hand, but how it carries over into subsequent hands. With my best partners, we have agreements to never comment on hands during a session other than to clarify a possible misunderstanding. You'd be surprised how much that helps us play our best.

[johnu]

rmnka447, on 2018-November-17, 20:52, said:

The play of the ♣ A isn't so bad.

But once S refuses to take the second round of trump. West can still make the hand playing on ♥. All it takes is the realization that South likely has the ♠ A and, in any case, can't play on ♠ without giving up a ♠ trick.

After the second round of trump, declarer doesn't have to use two trumps to remove the ♣ K but leaves it in place, thereby retaining 2 trumps in dummy that can be used to trump a ♥ and a ♠.

So at trick 4, declarer should lead a ♥ to the ♥ Q, and then a ♥ back to hand winning with A or K, if South follows. When both players follow, ♥ can't break worse than 4-2. Declarer can then ruffs the third round of ♥ (10 or 9 led) in dummy. If ♥ break 3-3, declarer has two good ♥ in hand on which to pitch 2 ♠ from dummy. If South ruffs the 2nd round of ♥, declarer has 2 high heart on which to pitch ♠. If South pitches on the 2nd ♥, declarer wins high and takes a ruffing finesse against North, pitching a ♠ if North doesn't cover.

With play as described, after 2 rounds of trump, you can't make against best defense unless hearts are 3-3 (or you take a 1st round finesse against the jack on the actual lie of the cards because you need 3 spade pitches), which they aren't. As long as South doesn't ruff a heart, he can wait until a spade is led and win the trick, and then draw a 3rd round of trump and cash a 2nd spade winner.

[661_Pete]

I think we've covered all the suggestions as to how best play the hand - thanks. For me, the lesson learnt is, best to keep silent during the play.

During the auction, on the other hand (in the BBO 'casual' sections) a bit of comment or explanation on the bidding, other than what's permitted by Law, is generally OK if the opponents don't object. It happens all the time!

And if partner makes any sort of apology, perhaps the best response is "no problem partner" ("NPP"). I'll try to remember that!