posted June 2010

Shaf's Tourneys

Make a cool grand

The makeable table tells you that 7 is cold against any lead.   OK - assume a small spade lead from North.

QUIZ: How do you make the grand?

Solution:

You need to win the A, cash the A (discarding your spade) and ruff a spade.   This is mandatory.

Now play off all the trumps but one.   Dummy comes down to 10-8 and A-K.   What has South kept?

• If South has kept one spade and Q-x-x, then play A, ruff a spade, then a diamond to the high dummy;
• If South has kept two spades and Q-x, cash the top diamonds and your hand is high.

A typical trump squeeze.