DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

In a Board-a-Match Teams, an overtrick may determine the outcome. Today’s deal arose in such an event at the ACBL Fall Championships.

Say West leads the ace of hearts against your slam, and dummy ruffs. Six spades doesn’t look hard to bid — your opponents at the other table should get there — so all may depend on whether you can win 13 tricks.

You can try to set up dummy’s clubs with a ruff, but having ruffed the opening lead in dummy, you would run into trouble if trumps broke 4-1. Do you see an option?

Assuming East has length in the minors, you can draw trumps and cash the good hearts, pitching a diamond and two clubs from dummy. With six tricks to go, East is stuck. If he saves three or more diamonds, you set up dummy’s clubs. If he saves only two diamonds, you take the A-K, and your hand is high.

Actually, you could afford to cash your last trump. The “trump squeeze” would no longer operate, but a “crisscross squeeze” would make the overtrick. DAILY QUESTION

You hold: SA J 10 7 H None D AK 8 C K 9 8 6 3 2. You open one club, your partner responds one diamond, you bid one spade and he tries two hearts. What do you say?

Answer: Your partner has a good hand — his two hearts is unlimited — and he probably has five or more diamonds. Since slam is likely, jump to four diamonds to reassure him about the quality of your probable trump suit. If he has 8 2,A K 7 6,Q J 9 6 5,A 4, he will try for a grand slam.