Novice/Intermediate Declarer Problem of the Month
July, 1999
This problem is inspired by a deal that arose during a bracketed knockout at last month's Regional in Cherry Hill, NJ.
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NORTH  Q J T 6 K 7 A 8 5 3 8 4 3 |
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SOUTH A K 8 5 3A 6 4K 4A Q 9 |
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Contract: 7 (after a blackwood misunderstanding)
West leads the Q. Plan the play.
Solution Part 3
There are actually a a couple chances. And all you need is for east to hold the singleton or doubleton
K,
and for west to have five diamonds (or QJT9). A minor miracle, yes, but might as well
try. The second (less likely) chance is that west has led from shortness, and east now guards diamonds and clubs.
Let's assume our first scenario is true, and west has led from a diamond sequence, and east holds the
K doubleton, as in the following layout...
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EAST |
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SOUTH |
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Assuming (as we must) that the club finesse is working, there are twelve winners: 5 trumps, 2 hearts, 2 diamonds, 2 clubs, and a heart ruff
in dummy. Win the lead in HAND, and lead a trump to the Q; cash the JT to draw trumps,
play the KA and ruff a heart, finesse the
Q, ending in this position...
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NORTH |
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WEST |
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EAST |
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SOUTH |
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Cash the A, noting the fall of the king. Now just cash
the AK pitching one club and one diamond. On the first spade, west can safely discard a club, but on the
second club he is squeezed. If he discards the J, your
9 is good. If he discards a diamond, your A8
will take the last two tricks.
Note that if west has led from shortness, and it is east who guards clubs and diamonds, the same line is equally successful. Say this is the layout...
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EAST |
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SOUTH |
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After winning the Q lead in hand, drawing trumps,
KA, heart ruff, and club finesse, this is the position...
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EAST |
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SOUTH |
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Cash the A, and cash your last three trumps (pitching a club and a diamond). East can let go of
one club and one diamond, but one the final spade, he is squeezed.
Without getting into too much detail, the reason this squeeze functions regardless of whether east or west holds the stoppers is because the threat cards
(9 and 8) are divided between the North and
South hands. This gives declarer the ability to make a free discard on the squeeze card, while keeping intact threats in both clubs and diamonds. Say this was
the position with both threats in the North hand...
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NORTH |
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WEST |
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EAST |
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SOUTH |
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In this layout, the threat cards are the 8 and the
8. Now, when you play the squeeze card (K),
you must discard one of your threat cards (as opposed to the free or idle card in the previous layout) BEFORE east has to make his decision. So, if you
choose to discard the 8, east will discard the K;
and if you pitch the 8, east can safely throw his diamond stopper.
Click here to send questions or comments regarding this month's hand.