Squeezed To Bits

14th May – Board 11: Love All. Dealer South.

As long as declarer gets over the first hurdle successfully then due to a lucky lie of the cards he should always prevail in his game contract.

	North: S A K 8 H 9 3 D Q 9 7 2 C A 9 8 6
West: S 7 5 4 2 H A J 4 D A J 10 8 C 4 3		East: S Q J 9 6 3 H 8 6 5 2 D 6 5 C Q J
	South: S 10 H K Q 10 7 D K 4 3 C K 10 7 5 2

West	North	East	South
			1C
No	1D	No	1H
No	3NT	End

East will lead the queen of spades I dare say and declarer will win and most likely play the ace of clubs. The sight of the queen (or jack) will not at first impress declarer because the odds would suggest that there is a club to lose but this fails to be the case when a second club is played. With nothing better to try than to run clubs West finds himself squeezed in three suits! He does best to discard a spade a heart and a diamond but now when declarer loses a heart to the ace (say) he can duck the spade return thus breaking communications between the two opponents before setting up a diamond trick, by which time West will be devoid of spades. If West discards three red cards then declarer can always set up two extra tricks in whichever red suit West has shortened himself in.