The Very Next Day


A Q 9 6
A 10
10
K 10 9 8 6 3
5 2 J 10 8 7 4
Q 9 4 2 J 8 7
5 4 3 2 Q 9 7
Q 7 5 J 2
K 3
K 6 5 3
A K J 8 6 Contract: 7 no
A 4 Opening lead: 5 of spades

The very day I decided to institute this category -- Keep the Same Number as Dummy (by and large, etc.) -- I came across the costliest failure to do so in this highest of all contracts (forgetting doubles, etc.). This has to be one of the luckliest of 7 no contracts, at least for this declarer. Not only must the Q of diamonds be onsides, but the Q and 9 both must lie in the short holding, or you don't have 5 diamond winners. Yet even spotting declarer five diamond winners, the defense still could have prevailed.
Declarer took the opening lead with the K of spades, went to the A and led the 10 of diamonds, covered and won by declarer, who now cashed three more diamond winners, leaving the 6 till later. He then went to the A of hearts, cashed the Q of spades, sluffing a heart and led the 10 of hearts, covered by East (unwisely as will be discussed shortly), won by declarer who now cashed the A of clubs, then the last diamond, then went to the K of clubs, dropping both the Q and J for his contract with the 10 of clubs.
It's a tricky situation. Is there a double squeeze? Or a bad discard? I had to write out the 5-card end game before I could come to a determination. This is what the hand looked like at that point:

6
10
------
K 10 9
------ J
Q 9 J 8
------ ------
Q 7 5 J 2
------
K 6
6
A 4

And you can see at a glance that it's a touch-and-go situation. West has to hang onto 2 clubs (after the A is cashed) and East one, or declarer could finesse the 10. Both want to hang onto a guard to their heart honor, and East must keep the high spade as long as the six is in dummy (and declarer has an entry to dummy). At this point declarer came to his K of hearts. (East's cover was unwise but not costly: unwise because if declarer has both the K & Q of hearts, there just aren't enough hearts left to promote a 9 in his partner's hand on the third round from this point, not costly because East's spot card is higher than declarer's; reverse the 9 & 6, and that would have allowed declarer his contract when West is squeezed on the lead of the last diamond!
Anyway, the hand looked like this and was still beatable:

6
------
------
K 10 9
------ J
Q 8
------ ------
Q 7 5 J 2
------
6
6
A 4

When declarer cashes the 6 of diamonds (it's not important whether before or after cashing the A of clubs), West is squeezed. He must hang onto 3 clubs, or 2 after the A is cashed, and thus must discard his now high heart hoping his partner can guard the suit. As it happens, East can guard the suit and should have no trouble discarding, since he's playing after dummy. So there is not a complete squeeze here. However. . .
When declarer cashed the 6 of diamonds, West discarded a club, dummy the 6 of spades and East the 8 of hearts! Wow! East's discard wasn't the killer, of course, since West had given up the ghost already. But one wonders how East would have discarded had West pitched his Q of hearts, for then it would have been very important that he pitch the spade when dummy does, keeping his now valuable 8 of hearts.
But West? His discard of a club, getting down to a bare Q when dummy is showing two is untenable. It could be that declarer has the highest spot card, in which case West would have been subjected to a simple squeeze at that point. But baring the Q has to be wrong. Even if declarer has the J (now bare), he can't take that finesse if West keeps a guard to the Q and of course doesn't cover. So West should have been keeping the same number of clubs as dummy holds, as East keeps the same number of spades (which is zero when declarer discards a spade), and that magnificent contract goes down.
This was a real humdinger of an example. Some hands are simply more interesting than others. We start with both defenders needing to keep the same number as dummy holds (in different suits). East makes a totally improper cover, which couldn't have benefitted the defense and could easily have destroyed it, and would have if the heart spots were switched between West and declarer. West would then have been subjected to a no-nonsense squeeze. West wasn't squeezed, however, had an out with the discard of the Q of hearts, not a certainty to beat the contract, but mandated by the need to keep the same number of clubs as dummy shows. East could do nothing to save the defense at that point, and yet it's perhaps worth noting that he kept a spade after dummy sluffed one and there were no more on the hand, leading one to wonder, had West pitched the Q of hearts, would East then have handed the contract over? By keeping a useless spade rather than a very useful 8 of hearts?