An Unblock & a Crocodile

Author: Larry Cohen
Date of publish: 03/24/2024
Level: Advanced

This deal is from the 2024 Vanderbilt final:

Vul:None
Dlr: East
♠ 108
♥ 9
♦ KQ94
♣ A98764
 
♠ A963
♥ J1076
♦ J83
♣ 103
  ♠ 75
♥ K85
♦ A10762
♣ QJ5
  ♠ KQJ42
♥ AQ432
♦ 5
♣ K2
 
  West    North    East    South  
    Pass   1♠
 Pass  1NT Pass  3♠
 Pass 4♠  All Pass  *5-5 Inv. 

It was written up and discussed, but not completely enough.

In 4♠, Bobby Levin received a diamond lead to the king and ace.

The defense accurately switched to a spade to the ace and a second spade won in dummy.

A heart to the queen was followed by the ♠A.  East needed to unblock the king, but failed to (more on this later).

Now, declarer accurately read the position. He drew the remaining trump and played the ♠K, ♠A and another club. If East still had the ♠K, declarer could ruff and play a heart. East would win and have to give dummy access to the rest.

East saw this coming and belatedly parted with the ♠K (as declarer drew trump). But Levin found an elegant answer. On the 3rd club, he let East win, and East had to play a diamond to the dummy (declarer throwing his hearts). 

So, East's only way out was indeed to unblock the ♠K under the ace -- and keep a heart for the endgame.

The Daily Bulletin called the ♠K unblock "double-dummy" but I disagree.

West should have helped. On the ♠A, he has the spots to play the ♠J to alert his partner to the need to unblock. East now knows to throw the ♠K under the ace, leaving:

Vul:None
Dlr: East
♠ --
♥ -
♦ K94
♣ A9876
 
♠ 96
♥ 107
♦ J8
♣ 103
  ♠ --
♥ 8
♦ 10762
♣ QJ5
  ♠ KQJ
♥ 432
♦--
♣ K2
 

Now declarer draws trump and plays ♠K, ♠A and a club. He can't leave East on play (East still has a heart).

So declarer ruffs the club and exits with a heart.

Now the aforementioned Crocodile. West must swallow his partner's 8 by rising with the 10. If he plays the 7, East wins the 8 and has to give dummy access.  Theoretically, the odds are 2:1 that declarer has the 8, so can West get this right? If playing "Standard" Count signals, then East's other card is sure to be the 8 (he would have played the 2,3 or 4 on the first round with an original holding of K5x).

The final word: What if East plays the ♠8 on the first round of the suit? Maybe they play upside-down count, so he falls into it. No humans I know are good enough to anticipate the entire Crocodile theme and unblock the 8 (and later the king) to take West off the guess in the endgame.