Lead: 
Q
Lead:Plan Your Play!
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Q
The first thing we need to do is count our tricks. We have 2
, 1, 5
, and 2
. That is 10 tricks. The hearts are likely 6-2, so we can safely ruff only one in the dummy — that line gets us 11 tricks. It looks like we need to establish the suit in order to get to 12 tricks.
Trick 1: Q A x x (+1)
The question is how best to do that –the key play is to duck a at trick two.
2: x 10 x(-1)
Now, the opponents can’t really hurt you. As long as trump are no worse than 4-1 and are 4-2, then we are home. Suppose the opponents return a trump.
3: x A x x (+2)
Now we draw one more trump (noting that they broke 4-1), ruff a to get back to the dummy, and ruff a — establishing the suit when it is 4-2.
4: K x x x (+3)
5: x x x K (+4)
6: x x x x (+5)
Now we finish drawing trump and use the K to get to the good ‘s in the dummy, making 12 tricks.
The complete deal is below.
On the actual lay of the cards, you can survive not timing the hand perfectly –but if you give up the second round of you open yourself up to a potential uppercut if are 4-1 behind you.
The idea of giving up a trick you don’t have to lose in order to establish a long suit can be very useful at IMPs. Keep an eye out for these kinds of plays in team games, they can help you bring in some difficult contracts.
**Additionally, there are some double squeeze options on this hand. Most of these have difficulty rectifying the count without opening up an uppercut position. These double squeeze options also have serious communication and positional difficulties, so the simple play of ducking the first round of will likely bring us home.
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