Johann Wolfgang von Goethe controversially said, "Mathematicians are like Frenchmen: Whatever you say to them, they translate into their own language, and forthwith it is something entirely different."
In yesterday's deal, declarer could make his contract if he worked out — or guessed correctly — which opponent held the club queen. A mathematician would get a count of the deal, learning that the suit was splitting 5-1 or 6-0, and would know the correct way to proceed. Similarly, today's declarer also has to find the club queen. It is the same problem, but with a different solution — unless you guess well.
Against six spades, West leads the diamond king. How would you locate the club queen?
With 21 high-card points, you will almost certainly be making the final decision for your partnership. So you should start with a simple one-spade response to receive both distribution and point-count information from your partner's rebid.
After winning the first trick and drawing trumps, you could exit with a diamond. You would ruff the third diamond and cash your heart tricks, hoping to get a count of the deal. But that does not help here. Instead, after pulling trumps, take your three heart tricks, discarding a diamond from the board. Then lead the diamond jack.
West wins with his queen, but is endplayed. If he leads a red card, you ruff on the board and discard a club from your hand. Or, if he shifts to a club, he finds the queen for you. Voila!
In yesterday's deal, declarer could make his contract if he worked out — or guessed correctly — which opponent held the club queen. A mathematician would get a count of the deal, learning that the suit was splitting 5-1 or 6-0, and would know the correct way to proceed. Similarly, today's declarer also has to find the club queen. It is the same problem, but with a different solution — unless you guess well.
Against six spades, West leads the diamond king. How would you locate the club queen?
With 21 high-card points, you will almost certainly be making the final decision for your partnership. So you should start with a simple one-spade response to receive both distribution and point-count information from your partner's rebid.
After winning the first trick and drawing trumps, you could exit with a diamond. You would ruff the third diamond and cash your heart tricks, hoping to get a count of the deal. But that does not help here. Instead, after pulling trumps, take your three heart tricks, discarding a diamond from the board. Then lead the diamond jack.
West wins with his queen, but is endplayed. If he leads a red card, you ruff on the board and discard a club from your hand. Or, if he shifts to a club, he finds the queen for you. Voila!