Dummy | ||||
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Partner | ||||
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I will give you a hint: declarer's line was not exactly a success. He won the A
A
Q,
J
Okay, so what is your plan? Think about it before reading on.
At the table, I thought that declarer should have ducked the first trick. This rectifies the count for a simple squeeze in the majors. The full deal:
Dummy | ||||
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West | ![]() | East | ||
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Win the diamond continuation (tossing a spade from dummy), cash the major suit aces, and run the clubs, like so:
Dummy | ||||
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West | ![]() | East | ||
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On the 9,
Well, I was feeling pretty good about myself until I analyzed the hand with Goren in a Box, Matt Ginsberg's old software tool. Turns out that you can make the hand if you win the first trick. This made me realize that I really am dumber than I thought.
Cash the major suit aces and run all the clubs, and you get this:
Dummy | ||||
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West | ![]() | East | ||
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On the last club, West is forced to pitch his diamond. Now cash the K
K
Did you see that line? Heck, there's probably even another one that I'm missing; email me if you find it.
My objective is not to criticize declarer in this deal, or even myself, but to say that bridge truly is a tough game. I can't begin to imagine how many endplays, triple squeezes, and winkles have slipped by unnoticed in my lifetime. In the grand scheme of things, we all make dumb plays and we're all a little dumber than we give ourselves credit for.
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