Contract Bridge

There are two ways of looking at today’s deal. No doubt most declarers would look at their hand and dummy and see 10 top tricks with no way to score another. They would then cash their winners and finish with an overtrick.

A smaller group, though — particularly duplicate devotees — would see the deal as offering a legitimate opportunity to score an 11th trick without any risk of making fewer than 10. These players would recognize that if the cards were divided in any of several different ways, the 11th trick would materialize out of thin air.

The opportunists would win the opening spade lead with dummy’s king and immediately lead a diamond, losing to West’s queen. Declarer would take the likely spade return with the ace and lead a second diamond, this time losing to West’s ace. After winning the next spade with the queen and discarding dummy’s remaining diamond, South would then cash four club tricks.

East would discard a diamond on the third club but would run into a dead end on the fourth. If East discarded a heart, South would score the last four tricks with the A- K- Q- 8 of hearts, while if East discarded the king of diamonds, South would score an extra diamond trick.

Observe that the opposing diamonds could be divided in many different ways for the squeeze to work. All that is required is for the defender with the remaining high diamond to also hold four or more hearts. Even if the diamonds were divided 3-3, the defender who won the second diamond would have to be smart enough to cash the third high diamond (if he had the heart length) or lead a third diamond to his partner (if his partner had the heart length).

And even if the opponent was perceptive enough to do that, nothing would have been lost in the attempt.