A tricky, tricky hand, played variously in spades and no trump, from game to slam, with South usually, North sometimes the declarer. Tricky enough that I printed out 7 declarer plays, from those who went down to those who made in both spade and no trump slams. Who erred? And was it an error hard or easy to spot?
Well, first of all, anyone playing from the North hand above would have no chance in slam on a heart opening lead. And those playing from the South hand? Well, they shouldn't make, though, yes, slam on this 30-hcp phenom will make on a finesse of the 9 of clubs. Oh, I never said that you can't make slam on fewer than 33 hcp's. I always take care to acknowledge that you can sometimes -- on lucky breaks. Here slam is feasible on 30 hcp's because of a favorable lie of the honors in three suits, and that's a lot to ask of the cards, even if your wish will occasionally be granted.
Was anyone squeezed? It looks to me as if the answer is no. East would seem to be squeezed on three diamond and 5 spade leads. He can afford only one heart and one diamond and on the fifth spade can't afford anything. But the problem with that scenario is that declarer won't have a certain entry to the third round of clubs if diamonds are gone, so East could spare a club. If West holds up one round, declarer would be in a pickle. Indeed, in no trump, West could save the cards that would ensure defeat on getting in with the ace of clubs. I said "shouldn't make", not to suggest that the finesse of the 9 shouldn't be taken, exactly. I would laud the declarer who did so as an imaginative recognition of just what he needs (saving diamonds for the certain entry). But no one did take the club hook (of those I printed out), though one got a free finesse of a club lead from LHO after he had won with the ace. And so I'm saying that line shouldn't make.
So lemme go through some who made, some who didn't and take a look at who goofed, who played with unusual astuteness. I have six no making. Lemme see. Ah, yes. West had avoided the heart lead on opening, but couldn't resist the lead when in with the ace of clubs. Diamonds had not been touched, and since the finesse against the queen is on, would have been a better choice. This defender did hold up on the first round of clubs, so finessing the 9 of clubs was no longer an option. Far better feeding a finesse you can see is on than taking a chance on giving up a trick in another suit, which is what happened here. A diamond return would have sealed declarer's fate.
Six no making again? Ah, this is the defender who returned a club after taking the ace, allowing declarer 3 club winners, 3 diamond, 5 spades and heart. He too would have done better with a diamond, allowing a finesse that's on rather than . . well, that's on and obvious, rather than one that's not altogether likely, though at that point possible. One more making: Oh, no, that's a spade contract.
This one took an early diamond hook, which strikes me as foolish, because if you're going to take that hook, why not wait, preserving the ace of diamonds as a certain entry to the 3rd club honor. What did it for declarer . . oh, me. A flagrant goof by each defender, one not even noticed by declarer and so not costly, but followed by his partner's goof which was very costly. East sluffed a club on the third spade so that his 10 fell under the queen, the third club played. The ten? And declarer didn't notice that the 9 was high? That's not quite like the 5 or 6 suddenly being the top card. An inattentive declarer might not notice. But starting with K Q J 9 and not noticing the fall of the 10 is sheer negligence.
Actually, West had already made a "subtle" error in not holding up one round of clubs. He had an exit card in a diamond to the king, and declarer would have had to lose two hearts for down 2. But here's where West made a flagrant error. Declarer, not noticing that his 9 of clubs was high, now led the queen of hearts, preferring to count on his LHO's having the king of hearts and not covering. And it worked! West ducked! (East still had his 3 hearts.) Bid and made.
Please note that these are very wild swings, and very elementary misplays! Okay, one more spade slam made. Lemme see. This declarer chose to ruff the third round of diamonds, which I would personally prefer to taking the hook early in the hand. (I.e., if you're going to finesse, why not wait to ensure an entry to the third round of clubs. But the quick ruff does look safer than the finesse.) Now he ran spades, getting a club discard from RHO on the last round of spades (East could have afforded a heart), and now declarer had an easy time since his LHO played his ace on the first round of clubs. Three club winners, six spades (on the short-hand ruff), two diamonds and a heart.
Six no going down. Lemme see. And opening diamond to the jack. No problem. Declarer is still one trick shy unless he guesses right in clubs (or an opponent favors him). Club to the king, held up a round, spade ace, queen of clubs taken (here declarer still had an entry in diamonds, so he has access to a second club winner, but cannot finesse the 9 now.) Spade king, and here the record ends, evidently with declarer acknowledging that he only had 11 winners: two clubs, five spades, 3 diamonds and a heart. What's the swing from defeating 6 no and allowing it to make? Better than 20 IMP's (plus 10.53 to minus 9.90). So it's expensive.
Lastly, six spades, down 2. Lemme see. Oh, oh, oh! This was played from the North hand, and on the jack of hearts opening lead, declarer didn't have a chance. He still has to knock out the ace of clubs, so no matter what he does, he must lose two hearts and a club. But if it's any consolation, the difference between down one and down two on a slam making only on careless defense (of those I printed out) was a piddling 0.34 IMP's.
I printed out a couple in a no trump game making overtricks, but those are no longer of any interest.
Q J 9 8 4
A 4 3 
K J 2
4 2