Board 26

Board 26
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A K Q J 9 ♥ Q 9 ♦ K 10 ♣ J 10 6 4

Partner opens one diamond in second seat. I respond one spade, and partner rebids one notrump. My instinct tells me this isn't quite worth a slam try, but let's try applying Culbertson's rule¹ just to make sure. To make slam virtually laydown, partner needs something like ace of hearts, ace-queen of diamonds, and king-queen of clubs.  Not only is that not a minimum, it's not even within his range. Suppose I give him a source of tricks, say ace-queen-jack fifth of diamonds.  He still needs the club ace and the heart king.  Again, not a minimum.  So I don't have an invitation.

The next decision is whether to look for three-card spade support or simply to bid three notrump. Extra high cards, running spades, high-cards in my short suits, and soft values in my side suit all point toward notrump. So I bid three notrump, which ends the auction.

	NORTH ♠ A K Q J 9 ♥ Q 9 ♦ K 10 ♣ J 10 6 4
	SOUTH ♠ 7 ♥ J 10 8 2 ♦ A Q 9 8 2 ♣ A K 5

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1 ♦
Pass	1 ♠	Pass	1 NT
Pass	3 NT	(All pass)

West leads the five of hearts. What card do you play from dummy?

----

Playing low would mark you with the jack, so you should play the queen. East wins with the ace and returns the six of spades--seven--three--nine. I wasn't expecting that. He must have a singleton ace of hearts. But what's the strategic goal of shifting to spades? If dummy had no entries, it might force me to cash spades before I was ready, either bollixing up a squeeze or simply forcing me to discard before I learn anything about the hand. But I suspect East led a spade just because it looked like the safest exit. Obviously he wouldn't want to play a diamond. But why not a club? A club might even be productive. I think it's a fair assumption East has the club queen.

My goal at this point is to take the rest of the tricks. One way to do that would be to drop the jack of diamonds, a 52% chance. But I think the odds the club queen is onside is much higher. True, the club finesse brings me only to eleven tricks. But the twelfth is always there provided I read the position correctly. I lead the jack of clubs--seven-five-nine. It appears East has Q732 and West has 98. I play another club--deuce--king-eight. I cash the club ace, and West pitches the three of hearts.

This is the wrong heart, by the way. After a fourth-best lead, you should play your lowest card next if you began with five, and you should play a card higher than the one you led if you began with six. (This is assuming you want to tell partner how many cards you began with, which isn't necessarily true of course.)   If you give present count, you create an ambiguity between four and five, since you would play up with either holding.  If you always play low, you create an ambiguity between five and six, since you would play down with either holding. In the suggested method, the ambiguity is between four and six, which is an ambiguity partner is likely to be able to resolve.

Anyway, I now have a classic double squeeze. East guards clubs, and West guards hearts. So no one can guard diamonds. I play a diamond to the king, run the spades, and claim. Making six.

	NORTH ♠ A K Q J 9 ♥ Q 9 ♦ K 10 ♣ J 10 6 4
WEST ♠ 8 4 3 ♥ K 7 6 5 4 3 ♦ J 4 ♣ 9 8		EAST ♠ 10 6 5 2 ♥ A ♦ 7 6 5 3 ♣ Q 7 3 2
	SOUTH ♠ 7 ♥ J 10 8 2 ♦ A Q 9 8 2 ♣ A K 5

As the cards lie, it doesn't matter.  But on a different layout, East might hold me to five by covering the jack of clubs with queen fourth.  After running the spades, I will be down to:

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ 9 ♦ 10 ♣ 10 6
	SOUTH ♠ -- ♥ -- ♦ A Q 9 ♣ 5

If East originally guarded both minors, he will already have been squeezed.  But what if West guards one? If he guards diamonds, I can squeeze him by cashing the ten of clubs.  If he guards clubs, I have to cash diamonds to squeeze him.  I need to guess, and, since covering the jack of clubs with queen fourth is an unusual play, I would probably guess wrong.

At the other table, North rebids two clubs over one notrump, checking back for a spade fit. South bids two diamonds, and North bids three notrump. The first two tricks are the same, but declarer doesn't draw the same conclusion about the club queen.  He just cashes his tricks, banking everything on diamonds coming home, which they do. Making six for a push.

¹Culbertson's rule: Invite a game or slam only if partner's perfect minimum makes the contract virtually laydown.

Me: +690
Jack: +690

Score on Board 26: 0 IMPs
Total: +76 IMPs