FASCINATING FINISH

Today’s hand is from an IMP match where declarer executed a fabulous squeeze of a rare variety, in a part-score deal. Enjoy the play.

Contract: 2NT by south. West leads the H2. Plan the play. Analysis: There are seven tricks on top and the eighth can come from the spade suit. Play: East followed with the jack which the declarer ducked. Declarer ducked again when east continued with the heart queen. East switched to a diamond which declarer ducked. West won with the jack and continued with the queen. Declarer ducked a record fourth time in a row. West exited in HK to dummy’s ace, east discarding a spade. Declarer played a diamond now to his ace and west found himself in trouble. He was forced to let go a club. Declarer cashed SA, and played a spade to dummy’s king, east pitching a club. He played the losing heart from dummy and discarded the ten of spades from hand, east pitching a club again. When west exited in SJ and dummy won the queen, east was squeezed in the minors. The complete hands were: Discussion: Declarer exerted pressure initially on west when he cashed the DA in the eight-card ending. When he exited in eight of hearts, a losing-card, towards the end, it turned the screw on east. Four ducking plays in a row to begin with, followed by a three-suit pressure on west, and finally the losing-card squeeze on east, in a single deal. Fascinating finish! Play out the deal with a deck of cards to understand the beauty of the play.