Puzzle 7F27 (Jun 95) by Richard Pavlicek

Perilous Pinochle

6 by South

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

West 2 NT Pass All Pass

North 1 4 5

East Pass Pass Pass

South 1 5 6

But there you are! Assuming best defense, can you make 6  looking at all four hands? West leads the queen of clubs.

With the heart finesse working, declarer can win 11 tricks simply by playing spades correctly (ace first, then finesse against East). The 12th trick will have to come from a ruff, or possibly a squeeze.

The opening club lead foils a squeeze against West — declarer must give up a trick to correct the count, then another club lead will destroy the critical club entry.

Negotiating a successful ruff is not easy either. If declarer tries to ruff a heart in dummy, he will be overruffed. If he ruffs a club in his hand, he cannot pick up East’s  Q by finessing. Or can he?

Solution

Win the  A, cash the  A, and finesse the  Q. Run the  10 (East must duck, else you can ruff a club easily). Next cash all of North’s winners, then ruff a club in your hand to reach the position shown in the diagram:

	9 8 — 6 —
— Q 10 — J		Q 7 — J —
	K J 5 —

Lead the  J to West’s queen and discard the diamond from dummy. East cannot gain by ruffing his partner’s trick, so he discards the  J. The forced heart or club return is ruffed in dummy, and East’s  Q is hopelessly trapped: If he overruffs, South does also; if East underruffs, South discards.

East hoped to win a trick with both his  J and  Q (a “pinochle” if you know the game). Alas, he had to throw the  J on partner’s heart, then watch his trump trick disappear as well.