| Jack of Diamonds Variation – Part I
The Jack of Diamonds variation (often called "Omnibus") has regained much of its original popularity. It was introduced in the late 1920s, and thanks to the Internet, has found a legion of devotees! Basically, the player who is skillful or lucky and wins the Jack of Diamonds in a given hand is rewarded with a ten point deduction from his or her score! I have selected an illustrative hand from my book, which will feature one of the four techniques for capturing "His Nibs!"
The Endplay -- Jack of Diamonds
This is the prettiest and most difficult of all of the plays in Hearts. The timing has to be razor-sharp in order to execute a typical endplay. There is a kindred spirit to the "squeeze" play in Bridge, as you will see:
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| It was the first hand of the game, after a left pass. It should be noted that South has passed (to West) his Jack and Four of Diamonds, as well as the Heart Queen. It certainly took some intestinal fortitude to keep the Spade King; however, the three supporting Spades were safe enough. As for the Diamond suit, South correctly deduced that the Jack and one small spot card were useless, and the opportunity to void a suit was good technique.
The Club Deuce lead went to the Queen, Ace, and West's Eight. South took the safety of exiting with the Club Three, and East was in with the Ten. East now shifted to the Seven of Diamonds, and South dumped the Heart Ten (ignoring the alternative discard of the Spade King). West, not knowing where the Ace of Diamonds was (East or North?), played his King, as North dropped the Ten. The Jack of Spades was tabled, as North played his Three, and East agonized for a few seconds. He then rose with the Ace (an example of a "finesse" in this game), and uttered an absolute sigh of relief, as South unloaded the King.
The Spade Deuce was swallowed up by the Ten, as North's Queen was dead meat! The Nine of Spades drew two more low spots from West and North, as East ditched the Jack of Hearts. Finally, the Spade Eight dropped the distressed Queen, as East and West discarded Queen and Eight of Hearts. North now realized that he needed the Jack of Diamonds in order to offset some of the venom he had absorbed from the wicked Queen! There was a strong inference that West held the Jack, because East led the suit, and South was void. Reluctant to lead from his Diamond Ace, North tried the Nine of Hearts, which South ducked with the Six. The Five of Hearts followed, East tossed the Diamond Eight, and South ducked with the Deuce. The following position had been reached:
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| North knew that a Diamond lead was instant surrender, and in desperation tried the King of Hearts. South won with his carefully preserved Ace, and the three remaining Clubs were cashed (from the top). The Jack of Diamonds was netted for a profit of seven points! South was lucky, to be sure -- but he had allowed for the possibility of winning the balance of the tricks. For the record, had North played a Diamond, South would have dumped the Heart Ace, and escaped cleanly. As I said earlier, this is an example of a squeeze maneuver, similar to the "Soderlund" technique -- as a key card is forced on a side suit. | |
