A Subtle Pinch
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
Pass |
Pass |
1 ♦ |
Pass |
|
1 NT |
All Pass |
|
West led an unfortunate
♥ Q, which declarer won in dummy.
Declarer then finessed in diamonds, and ran diamonds. West had to find
four pitches. The first three were two hearts and a club. But on the
last diamond, West is stuck:
|
| ♠ |
A K 6 2 |
| ♥ |
J 6 |
| ♦ |
— |
| ♣ |
9 2 |
|
|
| ♠ |
10 9 7 4 |
| ♥ |
Q |
| ♦ |
— |
| ♣ |
K J 10 |
|
|
| ♠ |
J 8 |
| ♥ |
9 7 |
| ♦ |
— |
| ♣ |
A 7 4 3 |
|
|
|
|
West cannot part with a spade, or the
♥ Q, so he must
part with another club. Declarer can now lead a heart towards the
jack, and East/West can only take two club tricks before conceding the
rest.
Of course, this line fails when the spades were 3-3, but then West
might pitch a spade. When West pitches the ♣ 10
or ♣ J, declarer might figure the hand out.