From                 3rd October, 2007, Board 3

                                          Theme               Throw-In Squeeze

                                          Difficulty           * * * *

                                          Dlr East            N-S Vul               Hands Rotated

                                                                                                for Convenience
 

Against 4♥, West leads the Diamond Nine to East’s Ace.  East switches to a low trump.  You play low from hand, and West’s Ten forces Dummy’s King.  Another trump to the Ace draws the outstanding enemy trumps, West playing the Queen.

Ten tricks are easy enough with the aid of two Diamond ruffs on the board.  It looks like the A♣ is offside, though that’s not a certainty.  How do you propose to score the all-important overtrick?

SOLUTION

The opening lead tells us that the Q♦ is with East.  If the A♣ is also with East then 11 tricks are a certainty with the aid of a Throw-In Squeeze (aka Strip Squeeze).  Here is the sequence of plays:

            Diamond to East’s Ace

            Two rounds of trumps, ending in Declarer’s hand

            Diamond ruff

            A♠ is cashed

            Spade ruff

            Diamond ruff (West showing out)

            K♠ is cashed, Declarer pitching a Club

            Spade ruff, East showing out

This is the full hand:

	♠ AK43 ♥ K952 ♦ T ♣ K972
♠ QJ862 ♥ QT ♦ 94 ♣ QJT6	North    West          East            South	♠ T95 ♥ 74 ♦ AQ653 ♣ A85
	♠ 7 ♥ AJ863 ♦ KJ872 ♣ 43

Here’s the end position:

                                    Dummy

                                    ♠

                                    ♥

                                    ♦

                                    ♣ K972

           East                                        West

           ♠ Q                                         ♠

           ♥                                             ♥

           ♦                                             ♦ Q6

           ♣ QJT                                    ♣ A8

                                    Declarer                                 

                                    ♠                                             

                                   ♥ J                                           

                                   ♦ KJ                                         

                                   ♣ 4                                         

Now, it’s a simple matter for Declarer to cash the J♥ and inflict the squeeze on East.  If East pitches a Diamond then the J♦ is the 11^th trick.  And, if East pitches a Club, then a Club throw-in forces East to lead a Diamond at Trick Twelve.

Keys to Success

   - Assuming that the A♣ was with East (as made likely by the bidding)

   - Cross-ruffing the Spades and Diamonds

   - Counting out East to be 3-2-5-3

   - Watching East's discards and inflicting the Throw-In Squeeze

Postscript

There was no guessing involved here.  As the Spades and the Diamonds are ruffed, the count on those suits becomes clear.  That plus the 2-2 Heart split provides a perfect count on the hand, after which all that Declarer had to do was to count East’s Diamond discards in order to get the end-game right.  Note the importance of not cashing the K♦ early, that card was needed to make the end-play work.

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