September 2008 - 60

I have to tell you about
a deal from the team
trials. I pulled off maybe
the rarest coup in bridge
annals - an entry shifting,
transfer, suicide squeeze (or
something like that). My
partner, Ralph Katz, was
speechless. He had no
idea that I was capable
of such a feat. Forgive me
for bragging, but I am not
normally the one on our team you
would think of in conjunction with
an incredible play. Take a look (hands
rotated):
 K 10 8 3
 A 10 8 3
Q
 Q 10 5 2

J74
Q92
N
Q94
6
W E
 A 10 9 4 3 2
8765
S
A
J9743
A65
KJ752
KJ
K86
Fred Gitelman, a great declarer,
opened 1NT as South and found
himself in 4 after Brad Moss
(North) bid Stayman. I was on lead as
West and could have tried for a ruff
by leading the A or tried to give a
ruff by leading the A. Two factors
argued against trying for a ruff. One,
I might have a natural trump trick.
Two, I had most of the points. How
would Ralph get in to give me a ruff?
I led the A. I didn't have much else
to do, so I continued a diamond. Fred
won the king, pitching a spade from
dummy. He made the normal play
of a heart to the ace and a heart to
60

By George Jacobs

the king. Now I had two more tricks
coming.
Fred led a club from his hand and
I won perforce (a very cool word for
"I had no choice") with the ace. I
stalled by cashing the Q. Now was
the moment of truth. I didn't have
any clubs or hearts to lead. Ralph had
shown me four diamonds, so playing
that suit would give declarer a ruffsluff. All I could lead was a spade.
In all the great Eddie Kantar and
Mike Lawrence books, they teach
you to strip out the hand and let the
defenders break a suit where you
have A-10-x opposite K-9-x. If they
lead low and the honors are split, you
will pick up the suit. If lefty has both
honors and leads one, you let it come
to your hand and finesse on the way
back. Well, golly - defenders can
read also. I thought my only chance
here was to lead the jack of spades
and put declarer to a guess.
Fred did not have the 9, so he had
no choice about his play, but I did not
know that. When he played low from

dummy, my heart sang. Of
course, I believed that he
was giving me credit for
not being smart enough to
do this (if you followed that,
please send an e-mail with
your Mensa scores). On this
trick, Ralph played the
9. He meant it to say
something about guarding
spades, but in my euphoric
state, I took it as the bridge
equivalent of a high five.
Now Fred cashed the K and got
the bad news. He knew that Ralph
had clubs guarded, but where was
the Q? Was there a squeeze? Just a
straight finesse? The tension mounted
at the table. Finally Fred led a low
spade and I made the play -the 7!
I wanted Fred to think that it was my
lowest spade aside from the queen so
he would take the finesse.
Unfortunately, my play of the 7
put the squeeze on Ralph! Watch
what happens if Fred plays the K.
He now runs hearts, pitching the
10 from dummy. His last two
cards would be the 6(!) in hand
along with a club, and the Q 10 in
dummy. Ralph would have to come
down to two cards from J 9 and the
Q. Oops!
Fred thought for a very long time
before taking the finesse for down
one. As soon as the play was over,
Ralph pointed out what I had done
(there is no squeeze if I keep the
7). So there you have it, boys and
girls - a play you may never see
again in your lifetime. Oh sure, it
would have been better if I did it to
the opponents, but bridge is a pure
game, and technical plays like this
should be enjoyed by all.
Ciao.
r
Bridge Bulletin
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2008
