A Blind Spot: Answer

Playing in a club qualifier for the Grand National Pairs (doesn't that sound so much better than "North American Open Pairs?"), this hand arose:

S: 98xx
H: K4
D: AK10xx
C: Kx
S: KJ
H: AQJ32
D: xx
C: Q10xx

Declarer Dummy
1H: 2D:
2H: 3H:
4H: Pass

2D: was game forcing unless 3D: is rebid.

How would you have bid the two hands?

It's OK, but I like this better:
Declarer Dummy
1H: 2D:
2H: 2S:
2NT 3H:
4H: Pass

That has the disadvantage, however, of almost ensuring a trump lead.

T1: S:3-x-A-J
T2: S:x-K-2-x
T3: C:x-x-K-A
T4: C:x-Q-x-x
T5: C:x-D:x-H:4-x
Over to you.

Spades are 5-2 (they lead 4th best and RHO didn't continue them) and clubs 2-5. How are the red suits? If hearts are 3-3, either of two lines works: (A) cash H:K, ruff a spade, run trumps and squeeze RHO in the minors. (B) overtake H:K, run trumps, and squeeze RHO in the minors. This would have been a double squeeze, only LHO has already unguarded diamonds. If hearts are 2-4, line A works, and if they are 4-2, line B works, only you'll lose a trump trick on the way. If hearts were 5-1, someone probably would have doubled. Note that Line A should have failed already because LHO should have ruffed the third club. He might have erred. Not playing against superstars, it's probably right to cash a high diamond. When LHO drops the D:J, play him for four hearts and take line B, the only winning line in the actual lie of the cards. It seems easy to miss line B; after all, we are promoting a trump trick for them unnecessarily. Did you have a blind spot to miss it?

What kind of squeeze is this? A submarine squeeze occurs when the squeeze card is a loser. A suicide squeeze occurs when the squeeze card is a defender's winner. What is it when the squeeze card is a defender's loser?

For lack of anything better, I think this is a submarine suicide squeeze; a defender is squeezing his partner on a losing trick.

Jeff Goldsmith, jeff@tintin.jpl.nasa.gov, Aug. 15, 1996