[FrancesHinden]

A number of good players, including Salsenminde at the other table, went off in this slam. Others made it (not everyone bid it). I'll give you our auction, although the auction isn't really relevant, people complain when you don't provide it.
Game all, dealer South.

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You get a low heart lead to the queen and your ace.
Plan the play.

[Endymion77]

Play a spade to the A to see if trump aren't 5-0, everyone follows?

[Lord Molyb]

play a spade to the ace, if both players follow, draw trumps (in 4 rounds if needed), cross into hand with a club and run the ♥J discarding a diamond. It loses to the king, a diamond comes back. Win the ace and discard a diamond on the ♥9. If the ♥8 drops you can claim, otherwise hope clubs are 3-3.
If trumps are 5-0, finesse against either player, crossing in clubs as needed.

[rhm]

Win, draw two rounds of trumps ending in hand and return the ♥J. I assume low heart means they play high from doubleton.
If unexpectedly West covers or the ♥J holds, draw the remaining trumps and play a diamond to the ten. If West can win with the ♦J you get a similar ending as below.

Assume East wins the ♥J with the ♥K.
Win the return in hand. Next draw the remaining trumps return to hand to cash the ♦A (Vienna coup) and the ♥9.
If the ♥8 has not dropped go to the ♣K and run trumps to execute a double squeeze with clubs as the common threat. Technically this is a simple squeeze since only one defender can guard clubs but you do not care.

This wins:

1) whenever the ♣J drops in three rounds.
2) East has the ♣J and either the ♥8 or the ♦K
3) West has the ♣J and the ♦K

Rainer Herrmann

[Fluffy]

I would play 2 rounds of diamonds hoping for ♦K third, or spades 3-2 (or a missdefence by LHO)

[000ffj]

I think normal way is play east has ♥k♥q and ♦k.
play 3 rounds spade,then play 3 round club to dummy,you can set up a heart to make it if club 3-3 distruibution,otherwise if east hold the 4th ♣,he will be squeezed with 3suiters,if west hold 4th♣,you can play ♥J to discard a ♦,east now in endplayed.
You will be more difficult if ♠ isn't 2-3 distribution,example when ♠ 1-4 distribution,dummy must discard a card on 4th ♠,I think give up 4th ♣is better still in this case,and come to this end

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declarer can play ♥J to discard a ♦of North after cashed the last ♣ to throw east in endplayed.

[ewj]

Must admit I would be tempted to just play the ♥J back. East would have to do well to return a ♦ holding the K...and if they did, well I'd probably hop up with the ace and play for my ♣ chances / squeeze. If they didn't play a ♦ I'd assume they held it, so I'd fall on my sword, if there was a minor suit squeeze all along

[dake50]

DA, D-out intending to ruff 2xD. Boards up.

[gnasher]

000ffj, on 2013-October-28, 00:49, said:

I think normal way is play east has ♥k♥q and ♦k.
play 3 rounds spade,then play 3 round club to dummy,you can set up a heart to make it if club 3-3 distruibution,otherwise if east hold the 4th ♣,he will be squeezed with 3suiters,if west hold 4th♣,you can play ♥J to discard a ♦,east now in endplayed.

East will duck this trick, avoiding the endplay.

[gnasher]

ewj, on 2013-October-28, 08:34, said:

Must admit I would be tempted to just play the ♥J back. East would have to do well to return a ♦ holding the K...and if they did, well I'd probably hop up with the ace and play for my ♣ chances / squeeze. If they didn't play a ♦ I'd assume they held it, so I'd fall on my sword, if there was a minor suit squeeze all along

I'd do that too. I can make it harder for East by throwing a club on this second heart.

Even so, he should be able to work it out. ♠Q, ♥AJ, ♦A and ♣A is 15 points, so if East has ♦K he will know I have ♣Q. That gives me eleven tricks, with the twelfth coming from a red-suit squeeze unless he talks me into playing the ♦A now. If he thinks a lot before playing the diamond it's probably right to run it.

[rhm]

gnasher, on 2013-October-29, 02:58, said:

East will duck this trick, avoiding the endplay.

I thought about this, but the endplay still works.
You have a 5 card ending where South holds 3 hearts and 2 diamonds and dummy a trump and 4 diamonds.
If East ducks we get 4 card ending where East holds 2 hearts and 2 diamonds.
Declarer can now simply play ace of diamonds and duck a diamond to East.
Dummy will be high.

So the endplay works when East has ♥K,Q and ♦K.

However, the chance that East has the ♦K is at best 50%
Giving up on clubs for this endplay does not compensate.
I consider my line clearly superior, though it would loose against this line, if East has the red honors and West Jxxx in clubs and the ♥8 does not drop.

Rainer Herrmann

[PhilKing]

gnasher, on 2013-October-29, 03:13, said:

I'd do that too. I can make it harder for East by throwing a club on this second heart.

Even so, he should be able to work it out. ♠Q, ♥AJ, ♦A and ♣A is 15 points, so if East has ♦K he will know I have ♣Q. That gives me eleven tricks, with the twelfth coming from a red-suit squeeze unless he talks me into playing the ♦A now. If he thinks a lot before playing the diamond it's probably right to run it.

That's how I defended it after declarer adopted this line (he threw a diamond on the ♥J), but after a long tank. Declarer rose ace nonetheless - running the diamond is just too big a position.

[Fluffy]

squeezes, endplays, squeeze breaking king underleads... I feel like I should move my ruff in the short hand tactic to I/As

[PhilKing]

Fluffy, on 2013-October-29, 03:38, said:

squeezes, endplays, squeeze breaking king underleads... I feel like I should move my ruff in the short hand tactic to I/As

FWIW, I agree with your "ruff losers" line.

[gnasher]

rhm, on 2013-October-29, 03:16, said:

I thought about this, but the endplay still works.
You have a 5 card ending where South holds 3 hearts and 2 diamonds and dummy a trump and 4 diamonds.
If East ducks we get 4 card ending where East holds 2 hearts and 2 diamonds.
Declarer can now simply play ace of diamonds and duck a diamond to East.
Dummy will be high.

So the endplay works when East has ♥K,Q and ♦K.

That assumes you've cashed a fourth trump, throwing away a club. I think I was commenting on a line where declarer plays ♥A, three rounds of trumps, three rounds of clubs, and ♥J.

[gnasher]

Fluffy, on 2013-October-29, 03:38, said:

squeezes, endplays, squeeze breaking king underleads... I feel like I should move my ruff in the short hand tactic to I/As

As I understand it you're planning to ruff both diamonds (unless the king comes down)?

Instead, how about ruffing one diamond, then running the trumps? That seems to work almost all the time that Rainer's double squeeze does, and also when East has ♦Kxx or ♦Kx. It's an improvement on the "ruff two losers" line, because that usually needs trumps 3-2.

This post has been edited by gnasher: 2013-October-29, 04:19

[gnasher]

PhilKing, on 2013-October-29, 03:29, said:

That's how I defended it after declarer adopted this line (he threw a diamond on the ♥J), but after a long tank. Declarer rose ace nonetheless - running the diamond is just too big a position.

So, having played a heart at trick two, with you defending I would have made it, but with me defending you would have gone down? That sounds OK to me.

[PhilKing]

gnasher, on 2013-October-29, 06:17, said:

So, having played a heart at trick two, with you defending I would have made it, but with me defending you would have gone down? That sounds OK to me.

No - you would have taken longer to play it, so I would have been able to switch to a diamond in tempo.

[MickyB]

What if East tanks, then wins the heart king and plays a diamond in tempo? [I was declarer vs PhilKing, declaring from the North hand - most, but not all, of his tank was before winning the heart].

[Fluffy]

gnasher, on 2013-October-29, 04:16, said:

As I understand it you're planning to ruff both diamonds (unless the king comes down)?

Instead, how about ruffing one diamond, then running the trumps? That seems to work almost all the time that Rainer's double squeeze does, and also when East has ♦Kxx or ♦Kx. It's an improvement on the "ruff two losers" line, because that usually needs trumps 3-2.

Looks like an improvement, but only if LHO is really good enough to duck ♦K 4th. I call this double squeeze with clubs as shared menace, but I supose some people will say that it is incorrect since only 0/1 player gets squeezed.