rainbow@ihuxe.UUCP (08/04/83)
It appears that I made a small mistake in the original presentation
of the problem. Its been some time since I heard about this hand and
my memory is not what it used to be. My apologies. The previous version
of the hand can be made easily by a squeeze in spades and diamonds. As
I recall this was not the actual case because of a lack of transportation.
So in the modified hand I've given South only 1 spade. This I believe is
now the correct version of the problem.
North
S:AJ42
H:KT2
D:
C:AKQJT9
West East
S: S:KQT98765
H:J987654 H:
D:987654 D:KQ2
C: C:87
South
S:3
H:AQ3
D:AJT3
C:65432
North/South arrived at a nice peaceful contract of 6C. But East decided
to sack at 6S. North wouldn't be denied and bid 6NT making South the
declarer. What leads by West will allow South to make the hand? There are
more than six such leads and less than thirteen.halle1@houxz.UUCP (08/05/83)
At last, the correct version of the problem. (I didn't spot the mistake, either.) For those who are interested, this problem appeared about a year ago in the NYTimes, and shortly after in many other columns. The solution appeared in Dec (I think) 82 Bridge World. But don't look it up. It's really a fascinating problem to try to solve. Hint: it's harder than you think!
ching@hp-pcd.UUCP (Chao Liu) (08/18/83)
#R:ihuxe:-28000:hp-pcd:30500006:000:1197
hp-pcd!ching Aug 17 12:54:00 1983
Re: followup on test your play R1
North
S: A J 4 2
H: K T 2
D: -
C: A K Q J T 9
West East
S: - S: K Q T 9 8 7 6 5
H: J 9 8 7 6 5 4 H: -
D: 9 8 7 6 5 4 D: K Q 2
C: - C: 8 7
South
S: 3
H: A Q 3
D: A J T 3
C: 6 5 4 3 2
Contract: 6NT
Proposed solution:
1. If opening lead is diamond, then no problem.
2. If opening lead is low heart, play 10H from the board and 3H from hand.
Next, run the clubs ending in the following situation
North
S: A J 4 2
H: K 2
D: -
C: -
West East
S: - S: K Q T
H: J 9 8 H: -
D: 9 8 7 D: K Q 2
C: - C: -
South
S: 3
H: A Q
D: A J T
C: -
Now, play 2H from the board toward hand.
2.1 If East throws a spade, play AH from hand. Give East a trick of spade.
You can still enter North by KH and claim the rest of spades.
2.2 If East throws a diamond, play QH from hand. Give East a trick of
diamond. South has the rest of the tricks.
Either way, South can get 5 out of the last 6 tricks.
3. If opening lead is JH, one set.
One observation: if South had had H: A Q 9 instead of H: A Q 3, then
he would have made 6NT against any lead.