[alphred]

Hi all

The table is:
Spades 9 7 6 4 3
Hearts K 5
Diamonds A 9 4
Clubs Q 10 7

My hand is:
Spades J 10
Hearts A Q 10 9 7
Diamonds K 3
Clubs A K J 9

No bids from opps. The contract is 4 Hearts.
Left hand opp leads the diamond Q.
How do I proceed?

Gtg thx all
Alphred

[johnu]

Matchpoints - Trumps from the top
IMPs - 2nd round finesse for ♥J

[alphred]

Thank you.
It was a matchpoint tournament.
It turned out that East had J 8 4 3 2 in Hearts and West the 6.
New procedure problems.

[miamijd]

alphred, on 2019-October-06, 07:51, said:

Thank you.
It was a matchpoint tournament.
It turned out that East had J 8 4 3 2 in Hearts and West the 6.
New procedure problems.

You were unlucky. Everyone will be in four hearts, so you have to play for the most expected tricks. Three rounds from the top wins if LHO has Jx or Jxx. The hook wins if LHO has x or xx. The former is more likely, so play trump from the top.

As a previous poster indicated, at IMPs, you should take the second round hook as a safety play, because then you still make if LHO has a small stiff in hearts. You make one fewer trick if LHO has Jxx or Jx, but it doesn't matter, since you still make ten tricks.

Cheers,
Mike