Author Topic: Double Bath Coup and a Triple Squeeze!  (Read 1442 times)

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Offline OliverC

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Double Bath Coup and a Triple Squeeze!
« on: January 02, 2022, 01:05:58 PM »
I really enjoyed this hand in a TM with Servet today:


North
 !S AJ
 !H Q7
 !D K10973
 !C K876


 !C 3 led


South
 !S Q103
 !H A63
 !D J54
 !C AJ95


Bidding:
South      West      North    East
1NT          No         2 !D      No
2 !H         2 !S        2NT      No
3NT         All Pass


Dummy's !C 6 could have won the first trick, but I took it in hand with the 9 and led the !D 4 to West's Queen, Dummy's King and East's Ace. East thought for a while and then switched to a Spade, taken by Dummy's Jack. I decided then that West had started with !S Kxxxx, !H Kxx, !D Q and !C Q10xx to justify his 2 !S bid and that he was vulnerable in 3 suits . To make sure I took the !D Jack and another !D (West showing out as expected).

So we now have

North
 !S A
 !H Q7
 !D 107
 !C K87

South
 !S Q10
 !H A63
 !D -
 !C AJ5

The key to making 12 tricks was now a bath coup in both Majors: I led the !H 7 to my Ace and the !S 10 back to Dummy's Ace and then ran the last two Diamonds, discarding Hearts from hand. On the last Diamond West, now down to !S K, !H K and !C Q10x had to let something go and discarded the !S King. Now I could cross back to the !C Ace in hand and cash the !S Q, squeezing him again in !C and !H .

...before the last Diamond:

North
 !S -
 !H Q
 !D 7
 !C K87

South
 !S Q
 !H 3
 !D -
 !C AJ5

The opportunities for triple squeezes don't come up very often. It was satisfying to spot the opportunity as early as trick 2, based on the bidding and the fact that East couldn't beat the !C 6 on the first trick and West obviously having the stiff !D Queen at trick 2.

Making 3 overtricks was a great result. At the other table the same contract got a !S lead. Declarer won with the !S Jack, took the losing !C finesse and when West knocked out the !S Ace at trick 3 Declarer was unable to recover and went one off.


https://tinyurl.com/y4px66sy
« Last Edit: January 02, 2022, 01:09:39 PM by OliverC »
Oliver