Hand 3

Hand 3

Contract: 3nt
Lead Qª

xxx

K10x

Jxxx

AKJ

S
Axx
QJx
AKx
10xxx

Against 3nt West leads the Q

. South holds up until the 3rd round and then plays a low heart to the king which east wins and cashes the 13th spade. South discards a diamond from both hands and east exits with a diamond which south wins perforce with the A.
Needing the rest of the tricks south successfully finesses J

and cashes the A. Now a heart to the J leaves the following position:

Against 3nt West leads the Q

None

None
Q
K
10x

South leads the Q and makes the remaining tricks no matter which suit West unguards. This is called a criss-cross squeeze as for instance if West throws a club South cashes the K and crosses back with the ¨K to cash 10 and if he throws a diamond he cashes the ¨K and crosses with a club to cash J hence "criss-cross"