zierk@fluke.UUCP (Jon Zierk) (08/24/83)
Seeing all four hands, make seven Hearts against BEST defense.
S 5
H 85
D AK7
C AK85432
S KT7 S 86432
H 9 H Q762
D QT83 D J62
C QJT97 C 6
S AQJ9
H AKJT43
D 954
C --
It is considerably more difficult than it first appears. Remember that
the defense can see all four hands also.halle1@houxz.UUCP (08/30/83)
Seeing all four hands, make seven Hearts against BEST defense.
S 5
H 85
D AK7
C AK85432
S KT7 S 86432
H 9 H Q762
D QT83 D J62
C QJT97 C 6
S AQJ9
H AKJT43
D 954
C --
It is considerably more difficult than it first appears. Remember that
the defense can see all four hands also.
**********************************************************************
There is a mistake in this problem. The conditions should state that
a club was led. Otherwise, the hand can be defeated.
After much thought and trial, I suddenly realized that I had seen this before.
It is a very famous problem, the winner of a competition decades ago.
I don't have access to my reference book, so I can't give any more details.
Since I recall the solution, I will not post it, so as to give others
a chance, but I will add a hint: there are three distinct ways the play
can go, depending on the defenders' early play.
It is indeed a very difficult one.Anonymous@hp-pcd.UUCP (Anonymous) (08/31/83)
#R:vax2:-67700:hp-pcd:30500015:000:3066
hp-pcd!Anonymous Aug 30 08:57:00 1983
Original problem:
Seeing all four hands, make seven Hearts against BEST defense.
S 5
H 85
D AK7
C AK85432
S KT7 S 86432
H 9 H Q762
D QT83 D J62
C QJT97 C 6
S AQJ9
H AKJT43
D 954
C --
It is considerably more difficult than it first appears. Remember that
the defense can see all four hands also.
/* ---------- */
I have a partial solution, but I am posting it anyway in hoping that
someone can complete the solution.
Case 1: If the opening lead is a Club,
take it with A of C, and discard a Diamond from hand.
Play K of C.
Case 1.1: If East ruffs with low Heart,
then cover it. Lead Spades until West's K of S is forced
out, then ruff it in the board. Finesse a trump, and claim.
Case 1.2: If East discards a spade,
ruff it! (very important to shorten the trumps in hand.)
Play Spades to force out K of S and ruff it in the board.
Finesse a trump, and clean West's trump on the way.
Play the rest of Spades. A of D to the board. Another
Club ruff; the best East can do here is to discard a Diamond.
K of D to enter the board. The remaining cards look like the
following
S --
H --
D 7
C 85
S -- S --
H -- H Q76
D QT D --
C Q C --
S --
H AKJ
D --
C --
Lead anything from the board toward hand, you have the rest
of the tricks.
Case 1.3: If East discards a Diamond,
discard a Spade from hand.
Finesse a trump. A of D to the board. Finesse another trump.
Now play three rounds of trumps ending in the following
S 5
H --
D K7
C 32
S KT S 8643
H -- H --
D QT D J
C Q C --
S AQJ
H 3
D 5
C --
Lead the last trump, West is squeezed.
If West discards a Spade or a Club, you can claim then.
If West discards a diamond, cash K of D. The situation
is as the following
S 5
H --
D 7
C 2
S KT S 864
H -- H --
D -- D --
C Q C --
S AQJ
H --
D --
C --
Lead the last Diamond, and West is squeezed again.
Case 2: If the opening lead is 9 of H,
get a free finesse.
A of D to the board. A of C to discard a diamond from hand.
Now play K of C. The situation is similar to the above.
If East ruffs low, play as Case 1.1.
If East discards a Spade, then shorten trumps and play
as Case 1.2.
If East discards a Diamond, then squeeze West as Case 1.3.
Case 3: If the opening lead is a Spade or a Diamond,
it seems that the above line of playing does not work
due to lack of transportation. Anybody has solutions for
these two cases?rainbow@ihuxe.UUCP (08/31/83)
NORTH
S:5
H:85
D:AK7
C:AK85432
West East
S:KT7 S:86432
H:9 H:Q762
D:QT83 D:J62
C:QJT97 C:6
SOUTH
S:AQJ9
H:AKJT43
D:954
C:
The contract is 7H, make the contract against best defense.
Lets assume a club is led for the purposes of this analysis.
1. win Ac, pitch a diamond
2. lead Kc!
There are now three cases:
A. east trumps
B. east pitches a spade
C. east pitches a diamond
Variation A:
3. overruff
4. As
5. Q/Js ruffing in dummy when west covers
6. finesse Qh
7. draw trumps
8. claim
Variation B:
3. ruff Kc!
4. Q/Js ruffing in dummy when west covers
5. finesse Qh
6. play winning spades
7. Ad
8. club ruff
9. Kd
10. claim with AKJ of trump and the lead in dummy
Variation C:
3. pitch 9s
4. finesse Qh
5. Ad
6. finesse Qh
7. run trumps
8. the four card ending is:
North
S:5
H:
D:K7
C:8
West
S:KT
H:
D:Q?
C:?
South
S:AQJ
H:
D:5
C:
West must part with one of his minor
suit stoppers.
9. play Kd followed by other minor suit winner squeezing west again.
Other opening leads by west set the contract. South always needs four entries
to dummy to make the contract. A club lead gives him one he didnt have before.
A diamond or spade leaves him with only three. At first thought a heart lead
should allow declarer to make his contract also because the free heart finesse
means he now only needs three entries. Unfortunately upon careful thought,
South now has to commit himself to variation B or C before east does and
consequently goes down anyway. The order of using dummy's entries is
dependent upon what east pitches on the clubs. So if east doesnt pitch on
the clubs before north uses up one of his entries, the contract will be set.
In my opinion this was the most difficult problem I've ever seen judging
by the length of time it took me to solve. And I saw all four hands!!
I hope the problems dont get any tougher than this. I wont be able to
handle them. And since I never give up in any case, I'll be wasting entire
evenings which I wont appreciate.ching@hp-pcd.UUCP (Chao Liu) (09/01/83)
#R:vax2:-67700:hp-pcd:30500017:000:698 hp-pcd!ching Aug 31 12:30:00 1983 /***** hp-pcd:net.rec.bridge.ctl / houxz!halle1 / 2:05 pm Aug 29, 1983*/ After much thought and trial, I suddenly realized that I had seen this before. It is a very famous problem, the winner of a competition decades ago. I don't have access to my reference book, so I can't give any more details. Since I recall the solution, I will not post it, so as to give others a chance, but I will add a hint: there are three distinct ways the play can go, depending on the defenders' early play. It is indeed a very difficult one. /* ---------- */ Since I already posted an answer, could you tell us more about this famous problem? --Ching-Chao Liu HP Portable Computer Division Corvallis, Oregon
rainbow@ihuxe.UUCP (09/02/83)
North
S:5
H:85
D:AK7
C:AK85432
West East
S:KT7 S:86432
H:9 H:Q762
D:QT83 D:J62
C:QJT97 C:6
South
S:AQJ9
H:AKJT43
D:954
C:
A previous article stated that 7H can be made with a heart lead by the
following line of play:
1) take the free heart finesse
2) win AD
3) play AC
4) play KC, if east pitches a spade, ruff
5) play AS
6) play QS/JS ruffing when West covers
7) ruff a club (at this point there is no mention that east can pitch another spade)
8) cash winning spades? (east will now ruff the 9S!)
Down one I believe. A heart lead along with a spade or diamond set the contracthalle1@houxz.UUCP (09/05/83)
This problem is known as the "Vaniva Problem." It was composed by Sidney Lenz (the loser to Culbertson in that match) in 1928 in a contest promoted by Vaniva Shaving Cream. Based on the date, I would guess that this is one of the first ever double-dummy problems in contract bridge. (Source: The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge)