Riding the MTA

by Nils Traane

South to make 7♠
Opening Lead: ♠9

This nifty layout utilizes a double transfer squeeze, which is quite rarely seen.

Declarer wins the ♠A and finesses in diamonds.  Trumps are drawn, then the ♥J is led, covered and won by south, transferring the heart guard to west.  A trump is played off; west pitches a club, dummy a heart, and east a diamond.

On the next trump lead, west is squeezed in three suits, and must unguard a minor; dummy discards in the other minor, and so does east.  Declarer now leads the ♥9, covered and won in dummy; this transfers the heart guard back to east.

If west has unguarded clubs, then ♦A, club to the king, and the lead of the last trump squeezes east in hearts and clubs.  If instead west has unguarded diamonds, then the ♣A-K of clubs are cashed, and playing off the last spade squeezes east in hearts and diamonds.

Note: an initial lead of a lesser club would have defeated the contract.