"Simple" suit combination problem

You hold:

AK72

opposite

QT83

in trumps, and you need to hold it to no losers. How do you play it?

That's a relatively simple one, you say. Cash the A. If the nine drops on your right on the first round, after cashing one round, come down to the queen and push the ten through LHO's probable J654. If RHO played the 9 from J965, he deserves his trick. (Be on the lookout for this suit combination as defender. You'll earn massive props from expert opponents and lots of imps if you learn to drop the nine smoothly from J9xx.) If no jack or nine drops on the first round, take the second top trump. You'll be able to find out if J9xx is on your right - you finesse the ten. If it turns out that J9xx is on your left, too bad - you gave it your best shot.

Is it ever right to do something different? Here's the whole hand:

West started with the ace of hearts against 4S, low all around, then the ace of diamonds, low all around again, then a diamond to East's king. East led back the queen of hearts! This ran around to the king on the board. Are you still satisfied with the suit combination solution from above?

My partner thought for quite a while (which is more than most would) about the problem, but decided that any other play would be too anti-percentage. It turned out, though, that the reason that West went with the "granny-defense" of cashing his aces and the king of diamonds was that he had a sure trump trick - J965. Was pard right in going with the odds, or was the ace-cashing enough to tip him off to the winning play (low to the queen, then push the ten through planning on later finessing against the nine)?

I'm just starting on Twitter - you can follow DoubleSqueeze at http://twitter.com/dblsqz.

A New Bridge Tournament Resource

Most of you know that I blog for a living. I've been writing, among others, a travel blog called The Perpetual Tourist, for over two years now. I've just recently launched this blog on my very own website, Jianantonic.com. If you click over to that site, you'll notice a little link on the side that says "Bridge."

DoubleSqueeze.com will continue to feature interesting deals, play problems, analysis, and other commentary from the bridge table, but the Bridge page at Jianantonic will be a tournament resource. This is where I'll post information about tournament schedules, travel and lodging logistics, restaurant recommendations, and editorial comments. McKenzie and I travel to so many regionals and sectionals, as well as all the NABCs, that this page will soon cover most of the major tournaments in the ACBL.

My hope is that this website will become a valuable resource for players planning to attend a tournament for the first time, or who want to find an easier way to attend tournaments they've done before.

This page is still in its infancy, but I am constantly updating it, and soon it will include dozens of tournaments as well as a search feature to find information about particular tournaments. You can also comment on these pages to chime in with your own advice or ask questions about details I may have left out. Please check it out, tell your friends, and keep coming back. You can also follow me on Twitter -- @jianantonic.

Enjoy!