February 2014 - 61

Solutions to Test Your Play

Advanced Players

Problems are on page 59.
If East has the ♠K, you have
to ruff the heart. In the best of all
possible spade worlds, East will
have the K-10 doubleton. So let's say
you ruff with the 9 and West discards a
club. Now a club ruff, the ♦A K (pitching two clubs) and a diamond ruff, both
following.
East is down to the ♠K 10, the ♥K
and three minor-suit cards, probably
a diamond and two clubs, as West's
discard of a club at trick three hints
at fewer than five diamonds. After
all, East knows that you have either a
singleton or void in diamonds once you
turn up with two hearts.
Let's say that diamonds were 4-4 so
East remains with one diamond and
two clubs, West remains with the ♠6 2,
a diamond and three clubs and it's your
lead. This would be the position:

1.

♠62
♥-
♦Q
♣ Q 10 8

♠A8
♥ J 10
♦87
♣-

♠QJ54
♥-
♦-
♣KJ

♠ K 10
♥K
♦J
♣A9

You ruff the ♣J, and assuming no
ace falls on your right, ruff a diamond
and ruff the ♣K with the ♠A. Dummy
now has two hearts and a diamond,
and you have the ♠Q J 5 with the lead
in dummy. If you could ruff a heart
or a diamond low, you would wind up
losing one more spade trick. Alas, the
♠6 in the West hand is the killer, so
you have two spade losers. Notice that
your demise would have come sooner
had West discarded a diamond at trick

three preventing you from ruffing the
fourth diamond low.
Back to trick three: If you ruff the
third heart with the ♠9 and find East
with ♣A x, you can actually prevail
even if West discards a diamond from a
three-card holding at trick three! Ruff
a club, play the ♦A K, discarding two
clubs. Ruff a diamond high, ruff the ♣J
felling the ace, cash the ♠A and ruff
a red card high. Get out with a trump,
felling the two remaining trumps while
you still remain with a trump and the
♣K. This would be a minor miracle.
So what does it all mean? It means
you shouldn't play East for the ♠K 10
doubleton and the ♣A x, but rather
play West for the ♠K x and simply discard a club on the third heart. (If West
has the hoped-for K-x, East will have
the ♣A).
After West ruffs the heart at trick
three, there is nothing the defense can
do. If West exits with a diamond (as
good as anything), win the ace, discarding a club, cash the ♠A, felling the
king, and now it is easy enough to ruff
two clubs and discard yet another club
on a high diamond, taking care of all
five of your clubs. You eventually return to your hand by ruffing a red card
to draw the last trump.

diamonds and the ♣K J, he has already
been squeezed down to the blank ♣K
making the ♣10 your 13th trick after
you cash the ♦A Q and the ♣A. East
would also be squeezed if he started
with any six clubs along with five diamonds (pretty far out).
B. Cash the ♦K, lead a heart to the
10, cash the ♥A, ruff a diamond, cash
the ♥Q and play as before, cashing
your remaining hearts and then crossing to a spade to run the diamonds. You
are home if diamonds were 4-3 (three
discards coming), and you still have
a chance for a minor-suit squeeze on
East if diamonds are 5-2 as described
in the previous answer.
The trap on A is to try to ruff a spade
for your 13th trick, which requires
4-3 diamonds plus a trump outstanding when you try to cash the ♦A Q,
dooming you when diamonds are 5-2
as you no longer have the timing for a
minor-suit squeeze, not to mention the
risk that either defender holding three
hearts to the jack has two spades.
◾

The Longest Day
is coming!

Thanks to Neil Cohen, Austin TX, for
this one.
A. Cash the ♦K and return to
the ♥A. If hearts are 2-2 you have
13 tricks, so assume someone
shows out. Ruff a low diamond; play
your three remaining trumps discarding two clubs from dummy and cross to
a spade in a four-card ending. Dummy
has ♦A Q x and the blank ♣Q, and you
have a spade and the ♣A 10 x.
If diamonds were originally 4-3, you
have the rest. If East started with five

2.

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February 2014 Bridge Bulletin

61
http://www.alz.org/thelongestday
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2014
