halle1@houxz.UUCP (J.HALLE) (05/07/84)
S:652 H:AJ8 D:AQJ C:AT63 S:K83 H:KQT7 D:T64 C:Q74 CONTRACT:3NT dbl LEAD:9S east overtakes with the ten of spades. east opened the auction with a call of 1S. Whats your best line of play? ############################################### East has both minor kings and may or may not have the jack of clubs. With this knowledge it is necessary to construct hands in which you can succeed. One way is if you can drop a stiff king (possibly after squeezing east out of guards. Another possibility is a minor squeeze. The problem with the squeeze is that east will squeeze dummy before south knows what to do, so can defend accordingly. Thus no squeeze. But the drop is not really that unlikely given what you already know. Win the spade, run the hearts, squeezing east out of his sixth spade, and cash the club ace, dropping the king. Now cash the club queen. Lead the spade 8 (in case west still has the 7), and wait for two diamonds at the end. An improbable make, but the only chance. Note that you must take the spade right away or you will lose your throw-in card, since east will play A and another spade.