[Mbodell]

 gszes, on 2015-February-03, 14:25, said:

We have some highly talented programmers here but I have a question ==
what kind of calculations and why would you use to solve this problem ----
at the table ? If you can do these types of calculations in your head that is
great or else it seems to more of a case of trivial pursuit rather than any sort
of useful technique..
I realize there is genius out there but our game is supposed to be mental not
based on the ability to use a calculator or type programs faster than anyone else.
Localizing the problem down to determining if the club finesse or depending on 33
spades or the Q falling doubleton is mental try doing the rest that way its sort of
fun though frustrating at times.

I think you can get better at doing these mentally if you practice them offline. You obviously can take shortcuts much of the time rounding things off a lot since many lines aren't that close.

[Lovera]

I don't know how much is it good but i have quickly thinked that if spade are 3-3 with Q offside (2 points) ruffing third round and after running club (K offside 3 points than 5 in E) with A of diamond we could have 12 tricks.

[shellsnail]

At the table I will ruff, cash ace club, play queen club. finesse the spade queen, draw trump and claim 12 tricks.

caters for king club singleton offside + any break.
caters for Qxx, Qx spade onside. + any trump 3-2 or better.

The alternative of trying to finesse clubs only works with 4-2 spades q spade dropping or Kx club doubleton onside. I'm not doing any calculations at the table but intuitively this seems like a worse line. What's the verdict?