Quiz 8D53 Main

Diamonds to Graphite

by Richard Pavlicek

PavCo Diamonds (PAVD) shares are up 80 percent, and operations are in full swing at our Jwaneng mine. In fact, our diamond supply is so abundant that our research department has developed a technology to transform these cubic crystals of carbon into graphite.

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Or better yet… Save on postage and visit one of our kiosks at most major shopping malls. PavCo Diamonds now has contracts with 12 mall chains to provide on-the-spot transformations. Just bring in your diamonds, and we guarantee you’ll be delighted with the finest pencils in exchange. How can you lose?

While we’re on the subject of diamond contracts, test your declarer play on the following six problems at IMP scoring. And don’t fret! If you turn them into graphite, we’ll understand that too.

Choose your play on each problem then click “Score Me” to see how you did. Explanations follow the quiz.

Are you ready? Then get the lead out of your butt, and try to sparkle!

Problem 1

IMPs	7 5 4 3		West	`North`	East	`South`
E-W vul	J 7 6 2		1 NT	Pass	3 ¹	Pass
	A Q 2		Pass	Dbl	Pass	3
	A J		Pass	Pass	Pass

Lead: Q		East plays 10	1. weak sign-off
Lead: Q		East plays 10

	J 2
	A 10 4
	9 8 6 5 4 3
3 South	K 7

Your play? A. Win A (play K), lead spade
B. Win A (play K), finesse 10
C. Win A (play J), lead spade
D. Win A (play J), finesse 10
E. Win K, lead J
F. Win K, finesse Q

Problem 2

IMPs	5 4 3		`West`	`North`	`East`	`South`
None vul	5 4					1
	A Q J		1	2	2	3
	Q J 10 7 6		3	Pass	Pass	4
			Pass	Pass	Pass
Lead: A		East plays 10
Lead: A		East plays 10

	2
	A J 10 6
	10 9 8 7 5
4 South	A K 4		West continues K, you ruff and finesse J which wins.

What next? A. Ruff spade, finesse Q
B. Lead 4 to ace, finesse Q
C. Lead 4 and finesse J
D. Win A, run clubs
E. Lead the Q
F. Lead 6 to ace, finesse Q

Quit
Top Diamonds to Graphite

Problem 3

IMPs	A		West	North	East	South
Both vul	K 8 7 6 2			1	Pass	1 NT
	9 5		2	3	3	4
	A K 8 6 3		Pass	5	Pass	Pass
			Pass
Lead: J		East plays 8
Lead: J		East plays 8

	6 4 2
	4 3
	A K Q J 10
5 South	7 4 2		You win the A (brilliant).

What next? A. Win A, lead heart
B. Draw trumps, lead heart
C. Draw trumps, duck a club
D. Win A-K, lead 3
E. Win A, lead 3
F. Lead the 3

Problem 4

IMPs	A 3		`West`	North	`East`	South
N-S vul	J 5 3			1	2	3
	9 8 7		3	4	Pass	5
	A Q J 5 2		Pass	Pass	Pass

Lead: 3		East plays 2
Lead: 3		East plays 2

	7 5 4 2
	A K 2
	K Q J 10 5
5 South	4		You win Q and finesse J which wins.

What next? A. Win A, lead 3
B. Lead the 3
C. Lead 9 to king
D. Lead 9 (play 5)
E. Win A, ruff club
F. Ruff a club

Quit
Top Diamonds to Graphite

Problem 5

IMPs	J 10 2		`West`	`North`	`East`	`South`
None vul	Q 4 3					2 NT¹
	A K 10 8 4		Pass	3	Pass	3
	9 7		Pass	4	Pass	6
			Pass	Pass	Pass
Lead: 7		East plays 3
Lead: 7		East plays 3	1. 20-21 (18 for clowns)

	A 9 8
	A 10 9
	Q J 2
6 South	A Q J 3		Obviously you can’t bid, so maybe play is your thing.

Your play? A. Win K (play J), run J
B. Win K (play J), finesse 9
C. Win K (play J), finesse Q
D. Win K (play 3), run J
E. Win K (play 3), finesse 9
F. Win K (play 3), finesse Q

Problem 6

IMPs	A K 8		`West`	North	`East`	South
N-S vul	K 8 7 6 5 4				1	5
	9 8		6	6	Pass	Pass
	4 3		7	Dbl	Pass	7 ¹
			Pass	Pass	Pass
Lead: K		East plays 5
Lead: K		East plays 5	1. Lucy in the sky with diamonds

	J 2
	A 3 2
	A Q J 10 7 6 3 2
7 South	—		Wisely you ruff the K.

What next? A. Win A-K, run 9
B. Win A-K, ruff spade
C. Lead J to king, run 9
D. Lead 2 to king, run 9
E. Lead 2 to king, run 9
F. Cash the A

Quit
Explanations
Top Diamonds to Graphite

Problem 1

IMPs 7 5 4 3 Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
N-S vul J 7 6 2 1. W Q A! 10 K!
A Q 2 2. N 3! 9 J Q
A J 3. W 2 J 3 7
A Q 8 6 Table K 10 9 4. N 4 10 2 6
K Q 8 3 9 5 5. E 9 4 Q 2
K J 10 7 6. W J Q 7 3
Q 2 10 9 8 6 5 4 3 7. N 5 K 4 8
J 2 8. S 9 10 A 4
A 10 4 9. N 7 5 5 A
9 8 6 5 4 3 10. S 8 K 2 6
3 South K 7 West is endplayed

Leading spades at every chance (toward J to limit East to one entry) eventually allows West to be endplayed.

Problem 2

IMPs 5 4 3 Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
N-S vul 5 4 1. W A 3 10 2
A Q J 2. W K 4 8 5
Q J 10 7 6 3. S 7 4 J 2
A K J 7 6 Table Q 10 9 8 4. N Q! K 8 2
K 9 2 Q 8 7 3 5. E Q 6! 6 5
4 K 6 3 2 6. E 3 A 5 6
9 8 5 2 3 7. S 9 8 A 3
2 8. N 4 3 A 2
A J 10 6 Draw trump, claim
10 9 8 7 5
4 South A K 4

Contract is assured if you keep trump control and don’t lose a club ruff. Pitch a heart if a third spade is led.

Quiz 8D53 Main Top Diamonds to Graphite

Problem 3

IMPs A Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
N-S vul K 8 7 6 2 1. W J A 8 2
9 5 2. N 3! 5 2 10
A K 8 6 3 3. W 2 5 4 10
K J 10 9 5 Table Q 8 7 3 4. S 3! A 2 5
A Q J 10 9 5 5. W K 9 3 4
3 2 8 7 6 4 6. N K 9 4 10
Q 10 J 9 5 7. N 6 7 J J
6 4 2 Win the rest
4 3
A K Q J 10
5 South 7 4 2

Immediate club duck and subsequent heart lead-up provide the only hope to succeed in this precarious contract.

Problem 4

IMPs A 3 Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
N-S vul J 5 3 1. W 3 7 2 Q
9 8 7 2. S 4 8 J 3
A Q J 5 2 3. N 2! 6 10 9
K 8 Table Q J 10 9 6 4. S 2 8 3! 9
10 9 7 4 Q 8 6 5. E 4 J A 8
A 6 3 4 2 6. W 10 3 6 A
K 10 9 8 7 6 3 7. S 4 K A 6
7 5 4 2 8. N A 7 5 10
A K 2 9. N 5 10 K! K
K Q J 10 5 10. S 5 6 9 J
5 South 4 11. N Q ?
East is squeezed

After the brutal trump lead you need a favorable layout, and only exact technique allows East to be squeezed.

Quiz 8D53 Main Top Diamonds to Graphite

Problem 5

IMPs J 10 2 Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
N-S vul Q 4 3 1. W 7 K! 3 J!
A K 10 8 4 2. N 2! 5 9 Q
9 7 3. W 6 A 9 Q
Q 4 3 Table K 7 6 5 4. N J 6 8 3
K 6 5 J 8 7 2 5. N 7 5 Q 2
7 6 5 9 3 6. S A 4 10 7
10 8 4 2 K 6 5 7. S A 5 3 2
A 9 8 8. S 2 5 10 7
A 10 9 9. N 8 K 9 6
Q J 2 10. N 4 8 10 ?
6 South A Q J 3 West is squeezed

Entries must be used keenly for this overbid, eventually squeezing West in clubs and hearts (with Vienna coup).

Problem 6

IMPs A K 8 Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
N-S vul K 8 7 6 5 4 1. W K 3 5 2
9 8 2. S J! 3 A 4
4 3 3. N 9 4 3 2
10 7 6 3 Table Q 9 5 4 4. N K! 9 2 10
10 Q J 9 5. N 8 5 10 6
— K 5 4 6. S A 7 4 K
K Q 10 9 8 7 6 2 A J 5 7. S Q 8 5 J
J 2 8. S J 9 6 5
A 3 2 9. S 7 6 7 9
A Q J 10 7 6 3 2 10. S 6 10 8 ?
7 South — East is squeezed

If East has 3+ hearts, you must squeeze him. Exact play (double guard squeeze) needs only two of Q-10-9 in East.

Wojciech Papuga Wins!

These six problems were published in 2018 as a long-running contest, which is now closed. Congratulations to Wojciech Papuga (Poland) who achieved the best score in this difficult sextet. Scoring was based on how many of the first eight plays on each problem matched my recommended plays, so the best possible score was 48 (8×6). Equivalent plays or transpositions were accepted as correct.

There were 38 participants, and only one attempt was allowed for each. Only those scoring 32 or higher are listed below. Ties are broken by the date and time of entry (earliest wins).

Honor Roll
Rank Name Location Score
1 Wojciech Papuga Poland 46
2 Ding-Hwa Hsieh Missouri 40
3 Perry Groot Netherlands 40
4 Sjaak Smetsers Netherlands 40
5 Jonathan Mestel England 38
6 Gareth Birdsall England 32
7 John Lusky Oregon 32

Honor Roll
Rank	Name	Location	Score
1	Wojciech Papuga	Poland	46
2	Ding-Hwa Hsieh	Missouri	40
3	Perry Groot	Netherlands	40
4	Sjaak Smetsers	Netherlands	40
5	Jonathan Mestel	England	38
6	Gareth Birdsall	England	32
7	John Lusky	Oregon	32

Quiz 8D53 Main Top Diamonds to Graphite

IMPs	7 5 4 3		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
N-S vul	J 7 6 2		1. W	Q	A!	10	K!
	A Q 2		2. N	3!	9	J	Q
	A J		3. W	2	J	3	7
A Q 8 6		K 10 9	4. N	4	10	2	6
K Q 8 3		9 5	5. E	9	4	Q	2
K J 10		7	6. W	J	Q	7	3
Q 2		10 9 8 6 5 4 3	7. N	5	K	4	8
	J 2		8. S	9	10	A	4
	A 10 4		9. N	7	5	5	A
	9 8 6 5 4 3		10. S	8	K	2	6
3 South	K 7			West is endplayed