CSGibson, on 2012-December-18, 23:46, said:
I would take the club hook while in dummy with the ace of diamonds. My plan is to try and get a 12th trick out of the club suit (initially), which I can do if clubs are 3-3, Kx onside, Tx or 9x on the right, which looks feasible since no opponent bidding was mentioned, and RHO looks to be long in diamonds. If the club hook wins, I will pull trump (up to 4 rounds if necessary), come back to the J of diamonds, and make my decision on what to do (strip squeeze or Kx) based on the carding and my table feel. If the club hook loses, I have some squeeze possibilities (someone has to keep a spade), so I should be able to read the club suit if it is possible to make the hand.
I think it is better to strip West of red cards before taking the club finesse. West black suit return may be helpful:
Consider for example the following layout:
After
♦J to the ace, simply draw trumps ending in dummy and play a club to the queen.
What can West return when in with the
♣K?
A club return from West now is fatal and any spade but the king exposes him to a black suit squeeze.
Win the spade ace(diamond discard from dummy), ruff a spade,
♦J, ruff a spade and cash the
♦K)
West best return is the
♠K, but few defenders are good enough to find this.
If West is good enough for this return declarer could be up to the job as well.
Ruff the spade king and play the
♣J followed by another club to the ace.
This trump squeezes East between diamonds and spades.
Rainer Herrmann