LEARNING CENTER

Pass. I don't mind coming in (not vul) with 5-4, but it would need to be with better suits (maybe something like:

 x  
 xxx  
 QJ109x  
 AQJ9).
 

Declarer has AKQ9 or AKQ97. Knowing the rules of 3rd-hand play and digesting what has happened is crucial.

Partner can't have any diamonds above the 10. You see the jack, so the 10 is not "cheaper of touching." If he has the 10 and the Q (or 10 and the K or 10 and the A), he would have to put up the high one. He couldn't insert the 10 and risk declarer winning cheaply with, say Jxxx or AJxx, etc.

So, declarer is marked with the AKQ.  Also, declarer has to have the 9; partner would play the 9 (cheaper of touching) if he had it.

This means that during the defense you need to keep/protect diamonds and also that you'd better not lead the suit again.

Now you can turn over the first trick.

Low . Second hand low. (I've shown a "standard count" signal, not that partner is likely to care too much). Maybe partner has a singleton Q. Besides, you have no idea what to do if your ace wins. Furthermore, it might make it harder for declarer to get back and forth if you hold up. Dummy wins the trick as shown:

Win the A and play a low heart. If you selected #3, please go back and read the explanation from trick 1 that declarer has AKQ9.
Partner's 2 says he doesn't like spades. He is out of clubs and his highest diamond was the 10. Surely, he has good hearts. From the bidding and dummy and your hand, you know partner has some HCP (you had 8, dummy 9 and declarer about 16, leaving about 7 for partner). When he discourages spades, he has to be willing to see you shift to (play) the only remaining logical suit (hearts).

Why not hold up? Because declarer might be able to run for home with 9 tricks. This would give him 2 clubs in addition to the known 3 tricks in diamonds. If he has AJxx or A10xx, he would cash 9 tricks.

So, you need to win now and get the hearts going.

Partner will win the A and play a low heart. You will win the K and play more hearts for down 1.

When you shift to a low heart ("Bottom of Something") you are saying to partner that you have "something" in hearts and want to work on that suit. If you wanted a diamond instead, you would shift to a high ("Top of Nothing") heart.

You run the hearts and set the contract a trick. The full deal is below.

This is a very important deal; make sure to understand the many lesson points. In real life, when I use this deal in my intermediate classes, usually only 3 out of 25 East-West pairs set the contract.

Click here to Play Lesson Deal #2.