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A special feature of the Monday Afternoon session at Doncaster is that we have an anonymous donor presenting a voucher for £10 to any pair which, on any board, is alone in bidding and making a grand slam. The effect of this offer is to tempt slam bidders to seriously think of 7 whenever this possibility presents itself.
Recently the following deal occurred and 2 out of 3 pairs bid 7NT, the other stayed in 6 but no pair actually made 13 tricks. The hand has been rotated a quarter turn for ease of reading and description.
S A2
H KQ92
D 973
C KT 97
S T9765 S J3
H J64 H T873
D T8 D QJ642
C 853 C J4
S KQ84
H A5
D AK5
C AQ62
South opened with 2NT and after a Stayman enquiry by North, the 2 ladies at my table used Gerber to be sure that no Aces or Kings were missing and then bravely ventured forward into Grand slam territory with a 7NT bid saying, jokingly I suppose “I could use the extra money this week.”
Assuming clubs break in a civilised manner, there are 12 tricks to be seen and that was what was made at the table.
In looking to make a grand slam in No Trumps with only 12 tricks in sight, the only realistic way to make 13, excepting an unusual or unlikely fall of the cards such as, for example in this case, precisely JT or JTx of hearts in one of the defenders hands, is a squeeze play. Squeeze preparation is simplified not only by the fact that the count is already rectified but also because the defenders are denied any opportunity to destroy the squeeze position.
In the present deal, West, a competent player, led the TS notwithstanding South’s declared Spade holding. Declarer can therefore be sure that West has led from 4 or more likely 5 spades headed by T97 and will realise that IF he has also 4 hearts he cannot survive a major suit squeeze ending. However,if it is East who has long Hearts what then? Can the threat card in Hearts still be put to some use? The answer is yes but only if West is unable to take over the responsibility of guarding the diamond suit and this requires him to hold no more than 2 diamonds. To operate either squeeze the King of clubs must remain unused in dummy until needed as the vital entry at trick 10 for the 4 card squeeze ending.
Assuming clubs break in a civilised manner, there are 12 tricks to be seen and that was what was made at the table.
In looking to make a grand slam in No Trumps with only 12 tricks in sight, the only realistic way to make 13, excepting an unusual or unlikely fall of the cards such as, for example in this case, precisely JT or JTx of hearts in one of the defenders hands, is a squeeze play. Squeeze preparation is simplified not only by the fact that the count is already rectified but also because the defenders are denied any opportunity to destroy the squeeze position.
In the present deal, West, a competent player, led the TS notwithstanding South’s declared Spade holding. Declarer can therefore be sure that West has led from 4 or more likely 5 spades headed by T97 and will realise that IF he has also 4 hearts he cannot survive a major suit squeeze ending. However,if it is East who has long Hearts what then? Can the threat card in Hearts still be put to some use? The answer is yes but only if West is unable to take over the responsibility of guarding the diamond suit and this requires him to hold no more than 2 diamonds. To operate either squeeze the King of clubs must remain unused in dummy until needed as the vital entry at trick 10 for the 4 card squeeze ending.
Playing the hand (as it might have been played)
Declarer must take the first trick in dummy to retain the communication link necessary to operate any possible squeeze involving the spade suit. The Ace and Queen of Clubs are played to see whether clubs are going to behave and the Jack falls from East. Now the hearts are played beginning with the Ace. West plays the 4 and East , who was torn between the need to inform his partner of his count and withholding information from the enemy by false carding, played the 7.
On the King of Hearts West played the 6 and East decides to false card with the 8. On this deal South could afford to play a third Heart and ditch a club before committing herself to her chosen squeeze and would do so in practice as this would totally clarify the position in the unlikely but possible event of the Hearts being divided 5/2. On this trick East perforce had to play the 3H and West followed suit with the Jack.
At this stage Declarer still has an incomplete count of the hand but is no doubt wondering about East’s antics with the Heart suit. East is an elderly Gentleman who was probably still on automatic pilot when following to the first heart and then desperately tried to recover by false carding on the second round of the suit. Yes, she concludes, East is the defender with 4 hearts and therefore only the red suit squeeze has any chance of success. The rest is history. Declarer came back to her 2 top spades noting with relief the immediate fall of East’s JS.(West cannot now have 3 diamonds) On her second master spade both South and East threw diamonds. Declarer then entered dummy with the TC. The North, South and East cards at this point with the lead in dummy...
Declarer must take the first trick in dummy to retain the communication link necessary to operate any possible squeeze involving the spade suit. The Ace and Queen of Clubs are played to see whether clubs are going to behave and the Jack falls from East. Now the hearts are played beginning with the Ace. West plays the 4 and East , who was torn between the need to inform his partner of his count and withholding information from the enemy by false carding, played the 7.
On the King of Hearts West played the 6 and East decides to false card with the 8. On this deal South could afford to play a third Heart and ditch a club before committing herself to her chosen squeeze and would do so in practice as this would totally clarify the position in the unlikely but possible event of the Hearts being divided 5/2. On this trick East perforce had to play the 3H and West followed suit with the Jack.
At this stage Declarer still has an incomplete count of the hand but is no doubt wondering about East’s antics with the Heart suit. East is an elderly Gentleman who was probably still on automatic pilot when following to the first heart and then desperately tried to recover by false carding on the second round of the suit. Yes, she concludes, East is the defender with 4 hearts and therefore only the red suit squeeze has any chance of success. The rest is history. Declarer came back to her 2 top spades noting with relief the immediate fall of East’s JS.(West cannot now have 3 diamonds) On her second master spade both South and East threw diamonds. Declarer then entered dummy with the TC. The North, South and East cards at this point with the lead in dummy...
North
S
H 9
D 97
C K
East
S
H T
D QJ6
C
South
S 4
H
D AK5
C
Declarer cashed the squeeze card (The King of clubs) to throw her spade loser. East meanwhile had to bare his diamond honours and hope for a miracle but West cannot help. Declarer played off AK of diamonds and her triumphant 5D took the 13th trick.
Mike Crook
Footnote:
Our more astute readers will notice that a contract of
7 Clubs is unbeatable on these cards. However, this is difficult to reach and particularly in a pairs competition where NTs will often prevail.
Our more astute readers will notice that a contract of
7 Clubs is unbeatable on these cards. However, this is difficult to reach and particularly in a pairs competition where NTs will often prevail.
Squeeze Play and the Lowly 5
By Mike Crook