Í KJ10
Ì Q4
Ë K8
Ê AJ10972
Í 8432 Í Q97
Ì J1083 Ì K652
Ë Q532 Ë 10974
Ê 3 Ê Q4
Í A65
Ì A97
Ë AJ6
Ê K865
The technique required in playing this hand is not really too complicated, but it is a little tricky because it involves two entirely different manuevers to set up the hand position which yields the 13th trick. The ÍQ is no problem because you can see where it is, so there are nine easy tricks in the black suits available, and three in the red suits. At first glance it appears that a squeeze will not be the answer, since East controls the heart suit and West has the ËQ.
But look more closely at those diamond spots: if at some point in the hand before you start running off the club winners you ram the ËJ through West’s queen, poor East will have the burden of guarding both red suits.
However, there is a second point to this hand: somewhere along the line you must also cash the ÌA, deliberately establishing East’s king as the controlling card in that suit. If you have done both maneuvers properly, the end position when you cash the final club will look like this:
Í —-
Ì Q
Ë 8
Ê 2
Í —- Í —-
Ì J Ì K
Ë 53 Ë 109
Ê —- Ê —-
Í —-
Ì 9
Ë A6
Ê —-
The Ê2 smashes East; if the ÌK is discarded, North’s queen is the 13th trick. If instead he throws a diamond, declarer’s ËA6 take the last two tricks.
Both of the maneuvers which set up this position have a name: the diamond play is called a “menace transfer,” since it shifts the burden from West to East in that suit. The ploy of cashing the ÌA is called a “Vienna Coup,” for reasons which have been lost in history, but probably refers to razzle-dazzle play by some expert Whist players in Vienna coffee houses back in the early days.
A cute little hand ... but to me the most important lesson to be learned is to watch the spot cards! In the end position, if you were to swap South’s Ë6 with West’s Ë5, the squeeze would not work. And little things like that are enough to make anybody wake up at 2 in the morning!