From                 Wednesday Game Archives

                                          Theme               Throw-In Squeeze

                                          Difficulty           * * * *

                                          Dlr West           None Vul               Hands Rotated

                                                                                                  for Convenience

North leads the A♣ and you unblock Dummy's King, just in case.  Then another Club, the Queen from Dummy, ruffed by East.  East returns the J♦, which you win with the Ace in your hand.  What a fiendish start to the defense!  Can you recover, and make 10 tricks?

SOLUTION

You can surely engineer a Throw-In Squeeze against West, if, as seems likely, he has both missing red Kings.  Cash the AK♠, and when the Q♠ from East on the second round, you can be sure that your end-play will work.  Cross to Dummy's Spade, cash the K♣ and then T♣, then remaining Spades, and watch the discards.  Clearly West started with 2-5-2-4.  He will pitch 3 Hearts, and his last 3 cards will be KJ♥ and K♦.  Now a Diamond throw-in and West must surrender 2 Heart tricks.

Keys to Success

   - Unblocking Dummy's Clubs at Tricks One and Two to create a later Club entry back to hand

   - Counting West for 2-5-2-4 distribution

   - Cashing the black suit winners to apply pressure against West

   - Throwing West in for a Diamond return