Escaping form a suicide squeeze

[Fluffy]

[hv=d=s&v=n&w=sakq9hq1095dak4c103&s=s54hk7642d5caqj92]266|200|Scoring: IMP

S - W - N - E

1♥-X -ps-1NT

2♣-3NT-ps-ps

ps[/hv]

 

This hand comes from the match Portugal against Spain, on the open room The spanish pair Goded-Gonçalvez (that is me and my partner ;) ) faced Damaso-Pratas, Damaso finishing to declare on this contract.

 

I led the ♣Q wich went to the 3, 8 (high discouraging), and K.

Next came ♦AK on wich partner plays ♦2 and ♦J, showing ♦J1092. (you discard a ♥)

After some thinking Damaso played the ♣10 from dummy, partner playing the ♣4 and declarer the ♣5.

 

What would you had done now?

[Walddk]

It looks like declarer wants us to cash our four winners, hoping to squeeze partner in the process. So it's often right not to do what declarer has in mind. I can afford to cash another club. If partner shows out and pitches a heart now, the layout is an open book.

 

North needs to have spades guarded (four to the jack), else declarer has 9 tricks, since he is marked with ♥A on the auction. We know already that partner has four diamonds, so his shape is 4342, and declarer is 3154.

 

That leaves declarer with the singleton ace of hearts. It's ok to cash one more club (partner discards another heart), but then it's time to exit with a heart! If I cash my last club, partner will get squeezed, and if I exit with a spade instead of a heart, declarer will just set up his 9th trick in diamonds.

 

If it transpires that partner has three clubs, 4243, declarer therefore 3253, I can forget about defeating the contract. I can cash my four winners, but then North must throw both hearts, and ♥A will squeeze him in spades and diamonds later.

 

It won't help not to cash the last club. Then declarer can safely set up his 9th trick in diamonds.

 

Roland

[Fluffy]

mmm, can't you beat the contract if partner has 3♣?

[temp3600]

Let's hope partner had ♣874 !

 

Michael

[whereagles]

Gonzalo.. it's "escaping" :)

[Walddk]

mmm, can't you beat the contract if partner has 3♣?

Yes, if he has the 7. Then you can exit with ♣3, or a spade for that matter. If you did that at the table and it worked, I congratulate you. But if he really had 87x, he probably ruined it all by tossing the 8 at trick 1 and the 7 when declarer exited with a club to you.

 

And even worse: If partner had say 863, he gave the contract at trick 1 when he followed with the 8. Get a new partner!

 

Roland

[Fluffy]

Gonzalo.. it's "escaping" :)

Thx Nuno!, I sure make loads of spelling mistakes here, I can't improve my english without your help, so please, keep correcting them!.

[Fluffy]

And even worse: If partner had say 863, he gave the contract at trick 1 when he followed with the 8. Get a new partner!

 

Roland

Partner is only 16, I'll better help him improve than finding another yet ;)

[mikeh]

North needs to have spades guarded (four to the jack), else declarer has 9 tricks, since he is marked with ♥A on the auction. We know already that partner has four diamonds, so his shape is 4342, and declarer is 3154.

 

That leaves declarer with the singleton ace of hearts.

It won't help not to cash the last club. Then declarer can safely set up his 9th trick in diamonds.

 

We hold xxx A Qxxxx Kxxx and after our partner doubles 1♥ we bid 1N????

 

Sorry for all the question marks: it may be that most would choose 1N, but it frankly would never occur to me.

 

However, xx Ax Qxxxx Kxx I might well consider 1N, since 2♦ is not enough and 3♦ is too much.

 

With that hand, cashing one more ♣ severs the communication with partner and allows opener to concede a ♦.

 

So the ♠ exit is mandatory.

 

Of course, you are history anyway, should opener hold the ♣7. Hw wins, cashes a second ♠, crosses to his hand in ♦ and exits the ♣ 7, endplaying you.

 

However, if partner holds the 7, we duck and the ♥ through destroys declarer.

 

Finally, would we all pass 1♥ x with Jxxx Jxx J1092 xx? Those who play a means of showing garbage raises might (not would) raise, relying on the Law of Total Tricks and the opps reluctance to double 2Major into game for protection.

[han]

Rejecting the possibility that declarer has the stiff ace of hearts, the only possibility for beating the contract seems partner having the 7 of clubs.

 

Interestingly enough, that is not one of the options in the poll, so declarer must have been 3154. New way to solve bridge puzzles.

[Fluffy]

indeed it is an option, and that's the one I played for, but you don't need to escape with a low club now in order to beat the contrtact, but to wait and exit with a spade, declarer lacks entries in his hand, and has to stablish our 5th defensive trick if that's the case.

 

sadly it wasn't, here the full deal:

 

 

[hv=n=sj10xxhjxxdj1092c84&w=sakq9hq109xdakxc10x&e=sxxxhadqxxxxck7xx&s=sxxhkxxxxdxcaqj92]399|300|[/hv]

[han]

This is what I am thinking:

 

Exiting with a spade only works if declarer has the stiff ace of hearts. Otherwise, they will cash spades, cash the diamond queen and throw you in with a club so that you are endplayed. So if you are going to exit with a spade, you might as well exit with a heart. Even stronger, the fact that declarer hasn't endplayed us suggests that the heart ace is indeed stiff.

 

 

I hope that when playing real bridge, some of my losing options are going to be blocked in the future, just like in this poll. It will be much easier to find the winning play. <_<

[Fluffy]

Not true Han, when declarer plays third club, you let partner in with the ♣7, and if he hasn't got enough tricks to cash yet, he can just play a ♥ to get through declarer.

[han]

Ah I see, you are right of course.