Okay, you counted up your sure tricks and came to 12 in spite of the cruel
diamond break. Also, you noticed that the
Ì10 could be the 13th trick if
the
ÌJ fell, but of course you knew it wouldn’t be that simple. When you
tested hearts, you found that either West or East had the guarded jack
in that suit. That made the defensive hands look something like this variation
(black suit spots and distributions don’t matter much, and neither does
the location of the
ÊQ, as you will learn):
West East
Í 1098632
Í 75
Ì J985 Ì 43
Ë ---- Ë 108632
Ê (?)xx Ê (?)xxx
or something like this variation:
West East
Í 1098632 Í 75
Ì 85
Ì J943
Ë ----
Ë 108632
Ê (?)xxxx Ê (?)x
On the first layout, where West starts with the guarded ÌJ, there is what we call a non-simultaneous double squeeze: you finish off dummy’s diamonds, then cash the ÍKJ. In order to keep diamonds guarded, East will have to come down to two clubs. Now you discard your Ë9, which has done its job, then come to the ÊA and turn your attention to West. When you cash the ËA he will have to keep the ÌJ, and also will have to come down to two clubs. So the ÊQ will drop no matter who has it.
The second variation is even more interesting: you must keep the diamonds in the dummy for communication. Then when you cash the ÍKJ, East can keep only one club because he has both relevant red card stoppers. You drop a small diamond on the third spade, come to ÊA, and then cash the ÊJ taking a proven finesse while squeezing a diamond from RHO. Now you reenter dummy with a high diamond, and cash ÊK to put East through the wringer one more time. If he throws ÌJ, your 10 is good for trick 13. If he comes down to one diamond, you pitch your heart and overtake the diamond for a total of three spades, three hearts, three clubs and four diamonds!
Q.E.D.: and the mathematical theorem is proved!
You may feel as though you have been through the wringer yourself, but if you look back over this hand objectively, you’ll have to admit that the logic of the two lines of play were irrefutable. And – come to think about it – I’m certain that with a slight twist in history, Sir Isaac Newton could have discovered bridge instead of gravity!