What is the Best Line

Pages: Page 4 of 4

Dealer: South
Vuln: Love All
Scoring: Pairs
  1. spadeA 2
  2. heartA K J 9 4 3
  3. diamondA J 10 8 4
  4. club—
  1. spadeJ 5 4
  2. heartQ 8 7
  3. diamondQ 2
  4. clubA Q 9 6 5
club diamond heart spade NT
N 4 7 6 2 4
S 4 7 6 2 4
E - - - - -
W - - - - -
Green square in centre
  1. spadeQ 10 9 8 7
  2. heart10 6 5 2
  3. diamond7 6
  4. club4 3

Contract: 6diamond
Declarer: North
Lead: spade10
  1. spadeK 6 3
  2. heart—
  3. diamondK 9 5 3
  4. clubK J 10 8 7 2
Double dummy analyser: makeable contracts
West North East South
Pass
Pass 1heart Pass 2club
Pass 2diamond Pass 3diamond
Pass 6diamond End
How good is this contract? If you expect it to bring in lots of match points because few others will reach the slam then you should play safely. Probably the best line for twelve tricks is to win spadeA, cash heartAK and ruff a heart with diamond9. If heartQ comes down then you play for an overtrick by guessing trumps. If heartQ does not oblige, lead a small trump and finesse the ten. Whatever happens you will be able to ruff another heart with diamondK, draw trumps and claim.

The problem with not cashing heartAK early on is that you can't tell how many times you need to ruff hearts in dummy. If the hearts are evil (5-2 or worse), then it will better if any top heart winners have already been locked away in the bank.

An alternative line that is appealing is to win the opening lead in dumy and immedialy play a diamond to the ten. If that loses and a trump comes back then you will have to pay for the hearts to be no worse 4-3, or 5-2 with the diamond coming down in two rounds., Any thoughts?
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