Article Collection 7A43 by Richard Pavlicek
Article Collection 7A43 by Richard Pavlicek
Apparent Danger
5 
by South
None Vul |  3 2 5 A 7 6 2 A K Q J 10 5 | |
| K J 8 7 Q 10 4 Q 5 9 4 3 2 | ![[W - E]](t.gif) | A 10 9 J 9 8 6 3 10 9 8 4 3 — |
| Lead: 7 | Q 6 5 4 A K 7 2 K J 8 7 6 |
| West Pass Pass Pass | North 3 4 5 | East Pass Pass All Pass | South 1 3 NT 4 |
West led the 7 to East’s ace, and East returned the 10 which held; then a third spade lead was ruffed in dummy. South cashed one top trump to get the bad news (East pitched a heart), then paused to consider his options. The obvious play was to try for a diamond ruff in hand before pulling trumps, but the danger of an overruff was apparent. Another possibility was to finesse the J — surely a favorite based on the trump division. Which play would you choose?
An expert would choose neither. There is another chance that is better still, a double squeeze. After cashing one club, declarer should win his top hearts. (If West could ruff the second heart, it would be easy to overruff and proceed to ruff two diamonds, since West’s shape would be 4=1=4=4.) Next ruff a heart in dummy and lead the remaining trumps.
On the bridge certainty that West has the K, the squeeze is sure to work unless West started with four (or five) hearts, which is very unlikely (especially after East’s heart discard). As the cards lie the ending is really just a simple squeeze against East, but it would function just as well if West also could protect diamonds. To verify this, switch the 10 and the 10; note then that West must ruff the third heart to postpone the squeeze, but he will crumble when the last trump is led.
Greed Costs Slam
6 NT by South
| 3 2 K Q J 6 A Q J 7 4 3 2 — | |
| J 9 6 5 9 8 2 K 10 9 5 J 9 | | 10 8 7 10 4 3 8 Q 10 8 7 6 2 |
| Lead: 9 | A K Q 4 A 7 5 6 A K 5 4 3 |
| West Pass Pass Pass All Pass | North 1 2 3 5 | East Pass Pass Pass Pass | South 2 2 4 NT 6 NT |
South correctly won the opening heart lead with the ace and led a diamond to the jack. When the finesse worked it seemed routine to cash the ace (West might have K-x) and then give up a diamond if necessary. Oops! East showed out, leaving declarer with exactly 11 tricks and no recourse.
Would a different play really matter? You better believe it! Instead of cashing the A declarer should continue with a low diamond to West (discarding a club). The diamond suit, of course, cannot be established; but this technique corrects the count for a potential squeeze. The contract is now unbeatable.
Assume West leads another heart (nothing matters). Win in dummy, cross to the A and cash both top clubs, throwing diamonds from dummy. Cash the remaining heart winners (throwing a club) and West is squeezed. He cannot hold on to his stopper in both diamonds and spades.
Pushed Around, there was no in-between for South. With an exciting playing hand, he used good judgment to take the push to 6 . This reminds me of the poetic bridge tip attributed to Grant Baze: With six-four, bid one more! So often it is right.
6 by South
| None Vul | A K 2 K Q 10 4 3 4 3 Q 4 3 | |
| 10 9 4 2 A K J 9 7 5 J 5 2 | | Q 8 6 J 9 8 7 6 Q 10 8 6 8 |
| Lead: K | J 7 5 3 A 5 2 A K 10 9 7 6 |
| West 2 All Pass | North 1 3 | East Pass 5 | South 2 6 |
West led two top diamonds, and South ruffed the second round. Declarer had 11 top tricks, and with a normal heart division (4-2) he could establish dummy’s fifth heart as a 12th trick. In addition there was a chance that the Q might drop under the A-K. Accordingly, declarer drew the enemy trumps and tested the hearts. Oops. West’s discard on the second heart foiled that plan, and there was nothing lucky happening in spades either. Down one.
Too bad. Declarer missed a golden opportunity. After drawing the enemy trumps it costs nothing to lead one more trump and discard the 2 from dummy. This does not jeopardize any of declarer’s chances, while it forces East to make a fatal discard. East must come down to seven cards, so it is likely he would keep equal heart length with dummy and let go a spade (this would save the day if West held the J). Declarer now tests the hearts, and when the foul distribution is revealed his only remaining hope is to cash the A-K. Bingo! Now the queen drops and the slam is made.
Compound SqueezeThis was the most exciting deal, and several pairs went for all the marbles in 7 NT — not unreasonable with the North hand after South opened the bidding.
7 NT by South
| A 5 2 9 A K Q J 5 A K 9 4 | |
| J 9 4 3 8 3 10 7 2 10 8 6 3 | | Q 8 6 Q 10 6 2 6 4 3 Q 7 2 |
| Lead: 3 | K 10 7 A K J 7 5 4 9 8 J 5 |
| West Pass Pass Pass | North 2 3 7 NT | East Pass Pass Pass All Pass | South 1 2 3 NT |
West chose to lead a club, taken by dummy’s king, and declarer had little choice but to try the heart finesse. When this held, he had 12 sure tricks assuming the diamonds ran; but where is the 13th trick? With hearts splitting 4-2, the contract seems hopeless.
There is no simple or double squeeze because either opponent can protect the clubs and spades. Enter, the compound squeeze. After finessing the J, declarer cashes the K to discard a club from dummy. The diamond suit is then run, South throwing two hearts and a spade. East is caught in a triple squeeze and must find two discards — the best he can do is discard two spades (other variations are left to the reader).
The A is then cashed, followed by a spade to the king, and East is squeezed again (poor guy). East can delay the denouement by abandoning his club stopper, but now it is West’s turn to be crunched. The A neatly squeezes West in the black suits, so the optimistic grand is made.
Ruffout Squeeze
6 by South
| A K Q 3 2 Q 10 7 4 A 10 5 2 | |
| 7 8 3 2 K J 9 6 5 2 J 9 4 | | J 10 8 6 5 5 4 10 8 K 8 7 6 |
| Lead: 7 | 9 4 A K J 9 7 6 A Q 3 Q 3 |
| West Pass Pass Pass | North 1 4 NT 6 | East Pass Pass All Pass | South 1 3 5 |
Gabbai, South, opened 1 then jumped to 3 to show his extra strength. North was then propelled to bid 6 after checking for aces with Blackwood. This was an excellent slam, but the foul distribution of the East-West cards placed it in jeopardy.
West led a spade, taken by the ace, and declarer could see 11 easy tricks. The choice of lead made a singleton very likely, so declarer rejected the idea of drawing trumps and setting up the spades. Instead he tried the diamond finesse which lost safely to West. A club or diamond return would make it easy, but West led back a trump to set a trap: If declarer now tried to ruff a diamond, he would be locked in dummy.
Gabbai saw right through this. He led all but one of his trumps, throwing three clubs from dummy. East was forced down to six cards, and he kept J-10-8-6 and K-8. East still had everything under control; but declarer next cashed the A and this was the cruncher. If East let go a spade, dummy’s spade suit could be established with a ruff; so East threw a club. Declarer took the top spades (throwing a diamond) and then laid down the A. Bingo! Next case.
Amazing GraceThis deal is from a tournament about 10 years ago. Gabbai, South, playing with Bernie Chazen of Tamarac, demonstrated perfect technique to earn a top score and win the event.
3 NT by South
| Both Vul | A 7 3 2 J 10 7 9 5 4 K Q 6 | |
| 8 6 A K 9 3 8 3 J 9 7 4 2 | | J 10 9 4 8 4 2 K Q J 6 2 8 |
| Lead: 4 | K Q 5 Q 6 5 A 10 7 A 10 5 3 |
| West Pass | North 3 NT | East All Pass | South 1 NT |
West led the 4, which gave Gabbai eight sure tricks — four clubs (winning 10 first), three spades and one diamond — and she set about to establish a ninth by leading a heart. West won the K and returned a club to dummy’s queen, then the J was led to the ace.
West was now aware of the futility in clubs so he shifted to a diamond to East’s jack. Gabbai could win this and make her contract, but that would be lazy. With nine tricks you look for 10; with 10 look for 11, etc. The spade suit was the only chance for more, and a squeeze was necessary if that suit did not break 3-3.
Squeeze plays usually require that declarer can win all but one of the remaining tricks, so Gabbai ducked the first diamond lead.
East continued with the K, won by the ace. Gabbai then unblocked the K and returned to her hand with a heart to cash the A. East was forced to abandon his spade stopper to keep the Q, and declarer won the rest of the tricks.
Matchpoint Tricks and made 11 tricks — OK, there was one pair who missed game and another who bid a slam and went down.
4 by South
| K 8 4 3 A 6 4 3 8 4 2 K 5 | |
| J J 10 9 7 A Q 6 3 J 8 7 6 | | Q 2 Q 5 J 10 9 7 5 Q 10 4 3 |
| Lead: J | A 10 9 7 6 5 K 8 2 K A 9 2 |
| West Pass All Pass | North 3 | East Pass | South 1 4 |
The bidding shown featured a limit major raise. North’s 3 bid invited game, and South had more than enough to accept.
After winning the opening heart lead, most declarers drew trumps and tried a diamond lead from dummy, hoping to sneak a trick with the stiff king. Not a chance with the A in West. Others tried in vain to establish the long heart. There’s not much to the hand.
Or is there? An expert matchpoint player knows that every trick counts, and he always looks for a chance to beat other pairs. Opportunity knocks here.
Suppose declarer ducks the opening lead. Is there any player in the history of bridge who would next cash his ace? Hardly! You or I would continue with another heart, and guess what? We are history!
Declarer wins the K, draws trumps, and ruffs out his club loser in dummy. Next declarer leads all his remaining trumps, and West is caught in a dead squeeze — he cannot keep both his heart stopper and the A. That’s 12 tricks for a top board. Next case.
Holiday Flashback
3 NT by South
| None Vul | J 9 8 6 3 8 3 A 10 9 7 4 3 — | |
| A Q 10 4 K 10 7 5 J 6 A K 6 | | 7 2 9 2 8 5 2 9 7 5 4 3 2 |
| Lead: K | K 5 A Q J 6 4 K Q Q J 10 8 |
| West 1 NT Pass | North 2 3 | East Pass Pass | South 2 NT 3 NT |
Metz, South, had just taught his partner the Brozel convention, in which overcalls of 1 NT indicated two suits. North showed spades and an unknown minor suit. I wonder if Metz forgot to tell North she was supposed to have more than five points for this bid? Oh well, she caught Metz with the world’s fair. South bid 2 NT to ask which minor North held and then continued to his favorite contract — 3 NT.
West led the K then the ace as declarer threw two spades from dummy. West shifted to the J (a sweet card to see) and the gleam was restored in Metz’s eyes as he won the king. It was obvious that West held the missing high cards, so Metz next led a sneaky J from his hand. It worked! West ducked.
Metz now went for the tour de force. He cashed two clubs, discarding spades from dummy, then overtook the Q with the ace to run all the diamonds. Everyone was left with two cards: North had the J and a heart; South the A-Q; and West, not enjoying any of this, kept the A and K. Finally, Metz led a heart to the ace and had 11 tricks for a cold top.
Squeezed and EndplayedThe bidding deserves an explanation. South’s two-club opening was strong and artificial (a popular treatment used in conjunction with weak two-bids) and the two-notrump rebid showed 23-24 points. North’s four-club bid was Gerber (ace asking), and South’s four diamonds showed zero or four aces (obviously four). West doubled to show strength in diamonds, and North closed out the bidding in six notrump.
6 NT by South
| Both Vul | Q 9 5 K Q 6 5 4 9 6 K 9 3 | |
| 10 8 4 2 3 K J 10 2 10 5 4 2 | | J 6 J 10 9 8 2 8 7 3 8 7 6 |
| Lead: 2 | A K 7 3 A 7 A Q 5 4 A Q J |
| West Pass Pass Dbl | North Pass 2 4 6 NT | East Pass Pass Pass All Pass | South 2 2 NT 4 |
West led the two of spades and declarer played low from dummy, capturing East’s jack with the king. The ace and king of hearts revealed the bad news as West pitched a diamond.
Things did not look good at this point, but there was hope. West’s lead was likely to be from a four-card suit including the 10, so Davis returned to her hand with a club and led a spade to the nine. The spade queen and heart queen were cashed (West pitching a spade) and the South hand was entered with the club ace.
The spade ace was cashed and West was squeezed out of his long club. (If West instead pitched a diamond honor, declarer could duck a diamond immediately to establish her 12th trick.) Minerva then crossed to the club king and led a diamond. The finesse was sure to fail after West’s double, so she ducked the trick. West was endplayed, forced to lead a diamond into declarer’s ace-queen.
No Squeeze cue-bid to request that lead — so my partner dutifully led a spade. Observe that with any other lead 6 is easily made without the spade finesse by establishing dummy’s fourth club.
6 by South
| N-S Vul | A Q 10 K Q 6 5 K 3 Q 7 5 2 | |
| 9 7 4 3 10 9 J 9 6 5 9 6 4 | | K J 8 5 7 4 Q 10 8 7 K 10 8 |
| Lead: 4 | 6 2 A J 8 3 2 A 4 2 A J 3 |
| West Pass Pass Pass Pass | North 2 3 4 6 | East Pass Pass Dbl All Pass | South 1 3 4 Pass |
Declarer knew I held the K, so he tried finessing the 10 to no avail as I won the jack. I exited safely with a trump and declarer drew a second round. Next came the K, A and a diamond ruff; then a low club to the jack. Two more trumps were led, throwing a club from dummy, and the A was cashed.
At this point North remained with the A-Q and the Q; I held the K-8 and the K. Declarer led his last trump, throwing the Q from dummy as I threw the K. Whew! My partner’s 9 saved the day, so there was no squeeze; down one. Curiously, the contract can and should be made. Do you see how?
Knowing that the K was offside from my double, declarer should win the ace at trick one. Draw trumps, ruff out the diamond, and finesse the J as before. Next lead all the remaining trumps, coming down to the Q and Q-7 in dummy. If East keeps K-10, declarer can exit with a spade for an endplay; and if East blanks the K, it will drop under the ace.
Copyright © 2002 Richard Pavlicek. All rights reserved.