Funny to me, I guess

[kenrexford]

I just thought this waqs kind of funny, because I cannot remember it happening before. I'm sure it has, but nonetheless it was still kind of unique.

 

I made an extra overtrick on an entry-shifting psuedo-squeeze against immaterial cards today. LHO has the functional equivalent of Axx-Ax or Ax-Axx remaining in two suits (I could not tell which), and I had three tricks coming to me, including a single trump, with 8x in hand in a side suit, Q7 in dummy, all established. So, on the 8, LHO was pseudo-squeezed. If they for some reason thought that they needed to save down to Axx-A or A-Axx, which would be wrong, then I could play for either option. Having no other line, this seemed best.

 

So, if LHO pitched in the suit that I could in theory establish by winning in hand to lead a round of that suit, I would play the 7 under the 8, then this side card, and then win the return by ruffing to cash that established winner. If LHO pitched the suit that I could in theory establish in dummy, I'd overtake, ruff out that now-stiff Ace, and then cross back to dummy to enjoy my extra winner (which would have actually been the last two cards for two overtricks).

 

So, anyway, that was my line. LHO, in practice, did save down to A-Axx, and so I ducked the 8 to successfully establish the extra overtrick in that manner.

 

Not a true entry-shifting squeeze, of course, but a funny play in that you got to use that theoretical concept in a pseudo-squeeze.

[Cyberyeti]

This reminds me of another situation I profited from, 3N:

 

You have ♣KJ95, ♥J on the table

 

♣AQ10?, ♦9 in hand

 

LHO has only black cards

 

RHO has winners in both red suits.

 

You play the clubs 9 to A, Q to K, J dropping 10 and lead the 5, unless RHO has been watching the spots very carefully, he doesn't know if you have the 6 or 4 left and thus which winner to keep.

[kenrexford]

This reminds me of another situation I profited from, 3N:

 

You have ♣KJ95, ♥J on the table

 

♣AQ10?, ♦9 in hand

 

LHO has only black cards

 

RHO has winners in both red suits.

 

You play the clubs 9 to A, Q to K, J dropping 10 and lead the 5, unless RHO has been watching the spots very carefully, he doesn't know if you have the 6 or 4 left and thus which winner to keep.

I had that happen once where I had to do a transfer of the menace early on to set it up. However, I could not avoid transferring the menace to LHO, and I could not avoid playing my last card from hand before dummy, which means that it should not have worked. LHO fell to the pressure anyway.

 

The funny (insulting?) part was that the entire play of the hand was designed to give LHO this non-problem, with a transfer of the menace at that. But, it worked.