Here are two cute hands submitted by Bob Klein, one of my partners:
AQxxx
Ax
Axx
AQx
Both vul, RHO opens 2D weak. You double, ptr jumps to 4H, you bid 4S, ptr rebids 5H. Now you can bid 6H or 6NT. I tried 6NT to protect my AQ holdings from opening lead, but 6H could be right. Anyway, in 6NT the lead is a diamond. Dummy has:
x
KJxxxxxx
xx
Jx
AQxxx
Ax
Axx
AQx
You duck the diamond and he continues a diamond. (If he shifts to a spade, you have to guess what to do, but he didn't). Now you cash the ace of clubs and run the hearts. At trick 11, RHO has to keep a diamond, so has to pitch a black card, leaving him with just one black card and a diamond. You pitch your diamond, then LHO has to come down to 2 cards.
At trick 12, you lead the spade off the board. If RHO had the king, it shows up. If his last card isn't the spade king, you know his last card is a diamond, so since LHO's last 2 cards have to be the black kings he has been squeezed in the black suits and your ace will drop his king. This line loses if RHO started with the K of clubs, but is better than just guessing which king he holds.
In 6H, you have the alternative line of playing spade ace, spade ruff, heart ace, spade ruff with the jack before running the hearts in case RHO has Kxx of spades, but this loses when LHO has Kxxx of spades and also the K of clubs.
**** Well done Bob!
2. How would you like to have been dealt:
KQTx
void
AKxx
AKQxx
You open 1C, LHO bids 2NT for red suits, then partner jumps to 4S? Nice hand. You can fool around with 5NT to make sure ptr has the spade ace, but I just bid 7S which was of course cold.
**** I would have liked it a lot Bob...thanks!
See you at the table!
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1 comment:
On the first hand, if you don't want to guess between 6H and 6N, you can bid 5N to let pard decide. I think he'd pick 6H here.
In the play:
1) If you're planning to duck the diamond lead it doesn't matter which side declares.
2) The Vienna coup / positional double squeeze is, essentially, a guess that RHO doesn't hold CK. If it's possible he has only five diamonds, you need him not to hold either black king, but we can play him for a six bagger. That seems more likely than that he will hold a particular black king.
3) In 6H, you can win the first diamond, SA, S ruff, HA, S ruff, run a few hearts. In addition to picking up a short SK, you announce you have 11 tricks. Now, when you lead CJ, a foolish RHO might duck (since a cover would concede your 12th trick, and he might want to do it smoothly) and now you can finesse again to make seven.
If you are afraid LHO held up and you don't want to go down in humiliation, you finish the hearts for a club/diamond pop up squeeze.
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