Puzzle 7F71 Main

Twelve Tricks Around

by Richard Pavlicek

The March meeting of Puzzlers Anonymous was about to begin, as Club President Professor Freebid took the stage with his usual opening lecture. Fourteen other members eagerly watched as he scribbled a deal on the chalkboard then reached for the microphone:

“Good evening, puzzlers. I show you Board 11 from the Thursday night game, on which Marlon and I bid to six notrump. This was certainly routine with 33 high-card points and no singleton or void, but it scored well because some pairs were enamored by the eight-card major fit and played the inferior six hearts. Either contract is of course cold for exactly 12 tricks.

South deals	A 8 5		West	North	East	South
None vul	Q J 6 5 4 3					1
	A 8		Pass	1	Pass	2 NT
	A 7		Pass	6 NT	Pass	Pass
Q 10 7 4 2		9 3	Pass
10 8		K 9 7
J 10 5		7 6 4 2
9 8 2		J 6 4 3
	K J 6
	A 2
Lead: J	K Q 9 3
6 NT South	K Q 10 5

“West led the diamond jack, and it was a simple matter to play ace and heart, claiming when the suit split normally. Besides the extra 10 points, six notrump also has the advantage of not necessarily failing against a bad heart break. After conceding a heart declarer would have 10 sure tricks with chances for more in three other suits, as well as squeeze possibilities.”

“But what if West has four hearts to the king,” interrupted Timothy Tenace. “Wouldn’t declarer by able to make six hearts on a trump coup when six notrump would fail?”

“Yes, that’s possible,” admitted the Professor, “but it would require favorable distribution and probably a correct guess by declarer, which is no different than the chances to make six notrump on the same layout. Conversely, if East has the heart stack, only six notrump has any hope. But of course the key advantage of notrump is to beat all the pairs in hearts when both contracts make.

“Speaking of favorable distribution,” the Professor continued, “South can also make a slam in either minor suit. Despite having fewer total trumps than the opponents, declarer has four top tricks in both clubs and diamonds, the former requiring a finesse. With the heart finesse providing four tops in the majors, that’s 12 easy tricks.”

“Wow!” Timothy exclaimed, “It seems the only slam that can’t be made is six spades.”

“Not so fast,” chided the Professor. West’s five trumps may look menacing, but six spades is still cold with open cards. After any passive lead, declarer cashes all his non-trump winners (with a heart finesse) to reach the following ending with South to lead:

win 4/5	A 8 5		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
	J 6		9. S	9	10	6!	7
	—		10. W	2	5	9	J
	—		11. S	10	?
Q 10 7 4 2		9 3
—		K
—		7
—		J
	K J 6
	—
	9
South leads	10

“South leads a diamond (optionally a club) and West ruffs with the 10 (best) but declarer does not overruff, pitching a heart. The forced trump return is won by South as cheaply as possible, then a club effects a devil’s coup to win the rest. If West instead ruffs low a Trick 9, dummy overruffs, then a variety of plays succeed; e.g., declarer can lead a heart and pitch his club to endplay West in trumps.

Members of the Club applauded with oohs and ahhs, as Timothy spoke up again, “Wow! Amazing… South can win exactly 12 tricks in every strain. The odds against that must be a million to one!”

“Well, an exact determination would be impossible with over 53 octillion bridge deals, but I have done empirical studies on millions of random deals. My analyses show the odds against at about 40,600 to 1 for a specific player, or 17,900 to 1 for any player, so it is more common than you guessed.

“Speaking of any player, what about North? One might surmise that on the same deal North also makes exactly 12 tricks in every strain, but this is not true. Your puzzle for the evening:

What is different about North’s makes on this deal?

“While you’re working on it, I’ll have a brandy — but nobody leaves this room without a solution!”

Puzzle 7F71 Main

Top Twelve Tricks Around

Solution

“The obvious answer might be that six spades by North could be defeated with a trump lead through South’s king-jack, but no. Declarer can cope just as easily by covering the nine (low if the three) to reach a four-card ending, limiting West to one trick.

“The difference is that North — and only North — can make a grand slam in diamonds. Suppose East makes the most promising lead of a spade through the king-jack:

7 North	A 8 5		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
	Q J 6 5 4 3		1. E	9	J	Q	A
	A 8		2. N	A	3	5	2
	A 7		3. N	7	4	10	8
Q 10 7 4 2		9 3	4. S	K	9	5	6
10 8		K 9 7	5. S	K	2	8	3
J 10 5		7 6 4 2	6. S	6	7	8	J
9 8 2		J 6 4 3	7. N	A	2	3	5
	K J 6		8. N	Q	7	2	8
	A 2		9. N	3	9	A	10
	K Q 9 3			Draw trumps and claim
	K Q 10 5

“Declarer wins three clubs (with a finesse) to pitch a spade, then ruffs a spade in hand with the diamond eight. South is eventually reached via the heart finesse to draw the remaining trumps and win the fourth club.

“The reason that seven diamonds makes only by North is that an original heart lead by East cannot remove the crucial heart-ace entry, except by leading the king, which gives declarer the whole heart suit. With West on lead, however, the heart lead is covered all around, leaving insurmountable communication to produce a 13th trick.

“Good night, Timothy. I hope this meeting has cured your chronic obsession with puzzles… but if not, see you next month!”

Puzzle 7F71 Main

Top Twelve Tricks Around

© 2003 Richard Pavlicek