Play 6NT

[ahydra]

[hv=pc=n&s=sa6hq854dkq874cat&n=sk852hakdaj6cq743&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=1dp1sp1n(15-17)p4c(gerber)p4s(two aces)p6nppp]266|200[/hv]

 

IMPs. Lead: H6 (3rd or 4th to an honour, or 2nd from rubbish)

 

Hint:

This was much less exciting at the table after a club lead.

 

 

ahydra

[mikeh]

I'm a simple soul. I win and play a club to the 10. If Rho holds the Jack, I'm home

 

If not, I need some luck. I hope the lead was top of nothing, since I need Rho to hold the heart length, but I expect to run a double squeeze with spades as the suit they both need to guard. Say they return a heart. Win in dummy perforce, cross in clubs and cash the heart Q. Then run the diamonds and hope the cards like well for us. I do have the extra minor hope of the club king being doubleton. If the lead was from xxx I like my chances.

[gszes]

I'm a simple soul. I win and play a club to the 10. If Rho holds the Jack, I'm home

 

If not, I need some luck. I hope the lead was top of nothing, since I need Rho to hold the heart length, but I expect to run a double squeeze with spades as the suit they both need to guard. Say they return a heart. Win in dummy perforce, cross in clubs and cash the heart Q. Then run the diamonds and hope the cards like well for us. I do have the extra minor hope of the club king being doubleton. If the lead was from xxx I like my chances.

 

The neat part about crossing to hand with the club A is it also creates a Vienna coupe against west if they have the club K and the only spade guard:) and it costs nothing as we play for the other squeeze first and nothing good happens we still can nail lho. We just have to discard the club Q at trick 10.

[mikeh]

The neat part about crossing to hand with the club A is it also creates a Vienna coupe against west if they have the club K and the only spade guard:) and it costs nothing as we play for the other squeeze first and nothing good happens we still can nail lho. We just have to discard the club Q at trick 10.

While I didn't state that I was cashing the club Ace, it is implicit in playing for a double squeeze, not to mention Kx in clubs. Sorry if that wasn't obvious

[helene_t]

Nice one, Mike.

 

I was about to say that I will start with ♣10 towards the queen, but now I see that if W has ♣K he may be squeezed anyway so it is much better to play a small to the 10. There's also the small chance that E has ♣K doubleton.

 

OTOH if East can be trusted to double Gerber with KJxx in clubs, it is probably still better to play the ten to the queen.

[helene_t]

Btw I wonder if it would be better to play the diamonds first before taking the club finesse. In the seven card ending, if E has ♣K, 4+ hearts and on spade honour, the best he can do is to keep ♠H ♥9xx ♣Kxx to give us a guess in spades, but he may chose to discard a heart or a club instead, making it easy for us.

[rhm]

Btw I wonder if it would be better to play the diamonds first before taking the club finesse. In the seven card ending, if E has ♣K, 4+ hearts and on spade honour, the best he can do is to keep ♠H ♥9xx ♣Kxx to give us a guess in spades, but he may chose to discard a heart or a club instead, making it easy for us.

Not against competent defense.

What do you discard from dummy on the diamonds?

Presumably a club and a spade.

Then you want to go to the second heart and play a club to the ten.

East wins with the jack and returns a heart.

What do you want to discard on the third heart from dummy?

 

Rainer Herrmann

[Lovera]

For as said in post #1 let me think that for a double squeeze the unilaterals it being devided makes that W has club control and E heart control but for it works needs to rettify the count in club suit. Now if W returns club for A you can get at 11th tricks leading winner in heart and spade for the three card ending as usually

otherwise if W not is returning in club suit you can play a reciprocal squeeze rescouting all diamonds and where at the ending the club A and Q heart squeeze "reciprocally" each opp at the time.

[ahydra]

Lovera, you will have to explain to us what "rescouting" means. It seems to come up a lot in your posts. Do you mean "cashing"?

 

Anyway, the full hand (sorry for the delay):

 

[hv=pc=n&s=sa6hq854dkq874cat&w=sq743hj76dt3cj982&n=sk852hakdaj6cq743&e=sjt9ht932d952ck65&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=1dp1sp1np4cp4sp6nppp]399|300[/hv]

 

So the double squeeze line is what you need, and if you start with the normal-looking club to the 10, there's an element of a guard squeeze in there as well (East holds onto his CK, but that exposes partner's spades so that declarer can finesse the S8). A more fancy, but rather double-dummy-only, line is to transfer the menace by running CQ, covered and ducked, which leads to a classical double squeeze.

 

I should put my partner in slams more often. She got a club lead to the K and A and, for the first time I've ever seen, counted her tricks! After she counted to 12 she said to herself "OK, don't mess this up", and thankfully didn't :)

 

ahydra

[Lovera]

Lovera, you will have to explain to us what "rescouting" means. It seems to come up a lot in your posts. Do you mean "cashing"?

 

Anyway, the full hand (sorry for the delay):

 

[hv=pc=n&s=sa6hq854dkq874cat&w=sq743hj76dt3cj982&n=sk852hakdaj6cq743&e=sjt9ht932d952ck65&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=1dp1sp1np4cp4sp6nppp]399|300[/hv]

 

So the double squeeze line is what you need, and if you start with the normal-looking club to the 10, there's an element of a guard squeeze in there as well (East holds onto his CK, but that exposes partner's spades so that declarer can finesse the S8). A more fancy, but rather double-dummy-only, line is to transfer the menace by running CQ, covered and ducked, which leads to a classical double squeeze.

 

I should put my partner in slams more often. She got a club lead to the K and A and, for the first time I've ever seen, counted her tricks! After she counted to 12 she said to herself "OK, don't mess this up", and thankfully didn't :)

 

ahydra

Yes, it's like "drawing" but cashing is more right. The "reciprocal sq." works cashing all diamonds before because you have to retain spade A to get back in S for the Q ♥ after the Q ♣...