ource: 51st EUROPEAN BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS Dublin, Ireland
How would you like your chances, as West, of making 6
![Heart Suit](http://youth.worldbridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/h.gif)
on this deal? North leads the seven of clubs, which you duck to South’s queen. South switches to a trump. Play on.
![](http://youth.worldbridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Franck-Multon.jpg)
Franck Multon faced the problem in Monaco’s Round 8 match against Austria in the Open series. While it takes a bit of seeing, the contract is now unbeatable as there is a squeeze, in which South is put to the sword in three suits and North in two. (Yes, South should perhaps have worked out to shift to a spade to break up the ending; as the cards lie, even a diamond is sufficient to destroy the timing.) Declarer draws trumps, North pitching spades, then plays a fourth round and South must discard either a spade or a diamond, leaving one of these two endings (this being the one achieved at the table):
South has unguarded spades, so declarer cashes the ace of clubs then plays ace and ruffs a spade. The last two hearts now squeeze North. On the last heart, to keep his spade guard, North has to come down to two diamonds. Dummy’s
![Spade Suit](http://youth.worldbridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/s.gif)
10 goes away, and now South is squeezed in the minors. If he keeps the club guard, the eight of diamonds makes the last trick.
![](http://youth.worldbridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Multon-H1b.jpg)
If South throws a diamond, it obliged North for the time being, to keep all four diamonds. On the nine of hearts, North throws the club and dummy a spade. South can pitch a spade now, but declarer continues with a club to the ace, followed by three rounds of diamonds, ruffing in hand. Now the last heart is cashed and North, who threw a spade on the club ace, must come down to a singleton spade to keep his diamond guard. Away goes dummy’s diamond and now South must also throw a spade to keep the king of clubs. So the ten of spades wins trick 13.
Multon thus earned his team a big swing. Yes, if South switches to either a spade or a diamond at trick two one of the above possible endings is eliminated and careful defence defeats the slam, but that does not detract from Franck’s play.
(As a footnote, while South was contemplating his discard declarer explained the forthcoming squeeze to him and South responded blankly ‘No squeeze!’ He knows better now.)