[inquiry]

June 5, 2004. 18 table tournment

Scoring: IMP


West North East South

 -     1♣    1NT  2♠
 Pass  4♠    Pass  4NT
 Pass  5♥    Pass  6♠
 Pass  Pass  Pass  

Opening Leas CLUB JACK
 

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1) 1♣ = quirky choice by partner, lead inhibitor?
2) 1NT = raptor, showing 5+ diamonds, exactly 4 hearts

Discuss your options and pick a line.

[Fluffy]

This one really looks like a ruffout squeeze, after the safety ♠ play of ♠A+♠J, Since East cannot attack ♥ you lose nothing but overtrick when ♠K is onside.

[BrianEDuran]

Hi

Spoiler

First off are we not playing RCK, but just showing aces? My partner bid 5H?

Well, the Jack of clubs scares me. Why not a heart, a diamond? Surely LHO has a lot of clubs, let say 6 cards, RHO is short. LHO also doesn''t have lots of trump, because there has to be a change for RHO to ruff. How is LHO going to get it??? He either has the K of spades or he was hoping to get a ruff off the top.

Assume the spades are split LHO=KX RHO=xx. Now what? I'd take the ace and lead a spade, and I don't see any sort of squeeze since North will pitch before RHO. End play seems out, since LHO should have three hearts.

So my contrustion is

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While I guess it about 60% to 40% the LHO has the K of spades, because of the lead and change for Kxx on the left (vacant spaces), I'm going to play for the end position were AT of diamonds opposit J of hearts and little diamond. This Rquires LHO not to play a diamond after the ace of spades and a spade. RHO will be left with KQ of diamonds and the Q of heart when having to follow to the last spade/club. Since they have a defence I should decrease the odds on this play which was 60% to 40%, but maybe its still better then the finess.

Brian

[luke warm]

only problem seems to be a diamond lead (assuming the ♠K doesn't drop), which kills the squeeze

win the club with whatever card you're known to hold, after rho's play... ♠A then Q, hoping for a club return.. win it and your last club, then the A, K of ♥, then running spades, coming down to

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throw the heart on the last spade...

[Fluffy]

Oh guys.. you never read me right? , riffout squeeze is a criss-cross squeeze wich one of the blocked menaces being a trump, you have ♥AK as entries to dummy, you don´t need ♦A for anything, actually a ♦ switch is what you would love, since it would make your squeze to catter to ♦5-3 and also clearifies the count (wich is the thing that can make you fail on a criss-cross squeeze).

[whereagles]

Fluffy means this:

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On the spade Jack dummy discs a heart and East has no good disc.

[luke warm]

if that's the actual position, how does taking the A,K♥, keeping the J in hand, not work? doesn't east still have to come down to ♥Q and ♦Kx in the end? iow, why doesn't the simple work given your take?

[Flame]

luke warm, on Sep 25 2004, 11:48 AM, said:

if that's the actual position, how does taking the A,K♥, keeping the J in hand, not work? doesn't east still have to come down to ♥Q and ♦Kx in the end? iow, why doesn't the simple work given your take?

You squeese doesnt work because west can keep the diamonds.

[luke warm]

if east has ♦K,Q,J what difference does it make? his last 3 cards are ♥Q and ♦K,Q... dummy has ♦A, 10... what does east throw on the last spade?

[Fluffy]

The ruffout squeeze covers with any ♦ holdign in west, including ♦Jxx.

[luke warm]

true, it's much surer.. just going by the posted hand

[inquiry]

Fluffy is correct of course, and you should see it from trick one. It makes little dfference where the spade king if east is 4-6 in reds. Don't cross to dummy to finessee spades, or you will go down.

Simply start spade and spade. Sure enough, West wins second spade as East shows out. Best defense is a heart back (on diamond back, fluffy already described the play, on spade back, win the spade and led diamond yourself) you win the ACE. If the full hand was...

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A heart return will beat you. But give West Jx of diamonds or xxx of diamonds, the ruff out squeeze (trump squeeze) will make EAST crumble. The actual hands were...

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