The first task in analyzing any hand is to count what tricks are available in each suit: on this hand, there are seven firm tricks in the majors, so in order to make 12 tricks, declarer will need five tricks from the minors. These five tricks can either be two in diamonds and three in clubs, or three in diamonds and two in clubs, and players familiar with squeeze technique should notice that East is under pressure in both minors.
A glance should tell you that neither a trump nor a spade lead changes anything, and that neither defender can break diamonds effectively. And in clubs, if East is on lead, he gives up a third trick immediately. But West can lead the ten-spot at Trick 1, and then continue the suit when he wins a trick with the ËQ. This breaks the communication between the two hands, and the contract is held to eleven tricks, because the squeeze against East cannot develop for lack of entry.
Here’s how the play should go with North declarer: he wins the trump or spade lead, leads a trump to South and then leads a diamond from the A106 towards the J532.
West cannot duck effectively, since his queen is doubleton, so his best play is to rise and shift to the Ê10.
(This is the point where I noticed that it was only necessary for West to lead clubs once to break the simple squeeze against East, and began to worry about the problem. But after extended thought, and a little bit of discussion with Bill and other players, I noted that the position could become a type of squeeze I had seen only about a half-dozen times in real life ... a criss-cross layout!)
Declarer lets the club lead run to South’s king, and then cashes ÍA, (if not previously played), finesses the Ë10 and then plays off all of South’s trumps.
The four-card end position becomes:
Í —-
Ì —-
Ë J5
Ê AJ
Í (West hand Í —-
Ì is irrelevant) Ì —-
Ë Ë K9
Ê Ê Q9
Í —-
Ì 3
Ë A
Ê 74
When South’s last trump is played and North discards the ÊJ, East is skewered by the criss-cross. If he parts with a diamond, South cashes that ace and then crosses to North’s ÊA to enjoy the ËJ. If East parts with a club instead, North’s ÊA is cashed, and declarer goes back to South via the ËA, with the Ê7 being good for the last trick.
A beautiful bridge position! And I got a kick out of Bill’s last question to me about this hand: “When do you begin to spot these possibilities at the bridge table ... especially in the limited amount of time you have to think about them?!”
I told him that the best we humans can do is to put as much information into the databank for comparison that we can, and then hope we can sort out the proper approach on any particular hand in time to avoid a late penalty!