Puzzle 7F23 (1994) by Richard Pavlicek

Duck Soup

3 NT x by South

	4 3 2 3 2 K Q J 10 2 9 8 3
A A K J 9 7 6 5 4 8 7 7 6		K Q J 10 9 8 — 6 5 4 J 10 5 4
	7 6 5 Q 10 8 A 9 3 A K Q 2

West 3 Dbl

North 3 NT All Pass

East Pass

South 1 NT Pass

West leads the  K and East makes the excellent discard of the  K. West accurately cashes the  A (else you have an easy endplay) and exits safely with a diamond. Make 3 NT!

Eight tricks are easy, and your thoughts focus on the club suit. You cannot develop an extra club trick on your own, but East might be caught in an end position.

Suppose you win the  K and lead the  9 (10, ace). As you run the diamonds, East must discard two spades, then you can endplay him by exiting with a spade. Right? Wrong! East cashes his other spade and exits with the  J to block the club suit. This is a dead end.

Solution

	4 3 3 K Q J 2 9
— A J 9 7 6 5 4 7 —		Q J 10 9 — 6 5 J 10
	7 6 Q 10 9 3 Q 2

Now the cute play: Lead the  3 and duck in dummy to force West to win the trick. (Be sure to add this technique to your arsenal; it comes up at least once every 98 years.)

West must return the gift with a heart return (an even trade). If he elects to cash the  A, East will be caught in a traditional club-spade squeeze as the remaining diamonds are cashed.

What if West returns a low heart without cashing the ace? Then East is ripe for a delayed-duck squeeze: Declarer can establish a spade trick after East comes down to only one spade to keep his club stopper.