Puzzle 7F24 Main |
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Somebody probably should have bid 3 NT; though odds against, it surely has better prospects than 5 on these tickets:
![]() | ![]() | West | North | East | South | ||
None vul | ![]() | 1 ![]() | Pass | 2 ![]() | |||
![]() | Pass | 3 ![]() | Pass | 3 ![]() | |||
![]() | Pass | 4 ![]() | Pass | 5 ![]() | |||
![]() | Pass | Pass | Pass | ||||
Lead: ![]() | |||||||
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5 ![]() | ![]() |
West, who does not have the A, leads the
10. On the lucky card lie South can make 5
, but curiously, if any seven were switched with the six of the same suit, South could be defeated.
What are the East-West hands?
Puzzle 7F24 Main | ![]() | Top Lucky Sevens |
At first glance it seems that none of the sevens can be significant, but let’s look closer. Consider the 7. For it to be significant, a probable layout is that East holds the protected queen and the six-spot, which allows declarer to transfer the sole spade guard to West by covering the 10 with the jack (or by leading the jack later). If the
7 and
6 were switched, this transfer would not be possible.
Now consider the diamond suit: North’s 7 would be a natural trick if East held 10-9 doubleton (South runs the jack) so this may be the diamond layout.
For the relationship of the 7 and
6 to be significant, the former must be a key entry to dummy. This seems unlikely with the
Q in dummy, so it must be necessary to spend the queen early in finessing — which suggests West may have the singleton
10.
But what about the heart seven? This is the most difficult to imagine, but it might come into significance in a bizarre squeeze scenario if one player held 10-9-8.
Consider this construction:
5 ![]() | ![]() | Trick | Lead | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
![]() | 1. W | ![]() | 2 | 6 | K | ||
![]() | 2. S | ![]() | 3 | 2 | 9 | ||
![]() | 3. S | ![]() | 4 | K | 10 | ||
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | 4. N | ![]() | 4 | 8 | 10 |
![]() | ![]() | 5. N | ![]() | 5 | J | ![]() | |
![]() | ![]() | 6. S | ![]() | ![]() | 3 | K | |
![]() | ![]() | 7. S | ![]() | K | J | 4 | |
![]() | 8. W | ![]() | J! | Q | A | ||
![]() | continued below… | ||||||
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The 10 is won by the king (optionally, declarer could cover in dummy). South leads the
J, ducked (best defense to limit declarer’s entries to dummy) then a diamond is led to the king. The
Q is led (East ducks and South unblocks the eight), then trumps are drawn with another finesse. South leads a heart, which West must win to continue spades; jack, queen, ace. This leaves the following ending:
![]() | ![]() | Trick | Lead | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
![]() | 9. S | ![]() | ![]() | 7 | ![]() | ||
![]() | 10. N | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | 6 | ||
![]() | 11. N | ![]() | A | 3 | 10 | ||
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Declarer succeeds | ||||
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South leads | ![]() |
On the 6 West is squeezed in three suits. Note the power of the
7! If West lets go another heart, the
7 can be established by force after South discards his spade loser on the
A.
Observe that this squeeze would not work if East held the 7 (and South the
6), nor if East held the
7 (and South the
6). If the
7 were switched with the
6, West could defeat the contract simply by cover the
J. And don’t forget that
7 entry to dummy.
Puzzle 7F24 Main | ![]() | Top Lucky Sevens |
© 1994 Richard Pavlicek