Terry_Gao

Agree. Some variant of winkle squeeze, as described in wiki, in which a trick is offered to the defenders but whichever wins the trick is then endplayed. Often one defender would be forced to offer a finesse or ruff and discard while the other could overtake and thereby promote a trick in that suit for declarer.

[hv=pc=n&s=s2h9daj5c&w=shdqt7cq9&n=s3hd6cjt5&e=shtd8ck76]399|300[/hv] South is on lead in a ♠ contract, in need of 4 out of the last 5 tricks. He can achieve this goal by leading ♥9 and west has to pitch a ♣, then north ruffs, and leads ♣5, if east plays low, south ducks to west, pitching a ♦, and has west endplayed, if east puts up ♣K, south ruffs, and exits with ♦5, either east or west will concede the last 2 tricks. Does this interesting end game have a name, or is it a variant to a known end game?

Scrambling, of course! Were this 2NT natural, he'd have bid 2NT immediately. Were the first pass a trap, he'd have passed again. It's right, but not sufficient I think. 'Cause sometimes 2♥X is less profitable than 3NT or even 2NT.

4♠! Your pard needs little help for a game, and you have what he needs - strong ♠ support and a possible ♥ finesse. He seems to hold 8.5 to 9.5 winners.

In Zar Points, ♠AQJx ♥xx ♦Jxx ♣K10xx is worth 25 Zar Points (10 Distribution Zar Points + 11 High Card Points + 3 Controls + 1 Spade Suit Bonus Point). So he is more than a Zar-opener! :)