News

A Different Squeeze

L Subramanian

Today’s deal is from a pairs tournament which had twenty tables. Except for two pairs, who declared 6C, all others reached 3NT with the N-S cards. A rare type of squeeze came up and one declarer seized the opportunity to make eleven tricks, after a favourable lead.

Plan the play and see if you can make the same in the deal below

 

 

 

Bidding Explanation

N-S were playing precision. Ideally North should have rebid ♣C to describe a powerful two-suiter and 14-15 points.

Analysis

There are 11 tricks available even if the clubs break. i.e. 5 Clubs, 3 Diamonds, 2 Hearts and a Spade.

If they don't, then we will immediately be attacked in spades. If at all, we have to make 11 tricks, it can only be through a possible squeeze. For that we will have to rectify the count so that there is only one possible loser. (For elaboration on count rectification, please read Clyde E Love's excellent book on Squeezes).

Before we go ahead, you can take a look at the full hand and see if that helps you plan the play double dummy.

 

Play

Declarer won, cashed ♣K, and played a second club. When West discarded a high spade, he passed the trick to East who won with the ♣Q. East shifted to the ♠Q which declarer ducked (Rectification of Count).

Declarer won the continuation, discarding a diamond from dummy. He now played 2 more clubs, arriving at the following six-card ending:

 

On the last club, East and South discarded a spade each. Realising that if he discards the ♠K, his partner would be squeezeds when North cashes the two diamond winners, he gave up a heart

Now, declarer cashed AK and then played the A. Once theQ fell, declarer next finessed the ♥T to claim 11 tricks and a near top.

Discussion

After the initial few tricks, declarer had the complete count of West’s hand. Having worked it out to be 4-3-5-1 distribution, he could execute the play without difficulty.

Afterword

This squeeze is called a ’guard squeeze’, as West had to relinquish his heart guard, exposing his partner to a finesse.

Play out the deal with a deck of card to understand the beauty of the guard squeeze.

West blanked his queen of hearts on the last club, playing his partner for J-T-x-x in hearts which will enable the defence to restrict declarer to ten tricks.

Note that if east has Q-J-x-x in hearts, this squeeze fails.

Finally, there would have been no story if west had lead the unbid suit spade to start with. To lead a diamond, LHO’s main suit, instead of a spade was very foolish on the part of West. He lost valuable tempo on the lead and obtained the field bottom.

 

Disclaimer : All opinions are entirely those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the BridgeFromHome Team.

 

Registration Links

TournamentEventDeadline
HCL South Zone Teams Register for Event25th October, 2024, 8:00 pm
HCL South Zone Pairs Register for Event24th October, 2024, 8:00 pm
Gimatex Swiss Pairs Register for Event25th December, 2024, 9:00 pm
Total Page Visits: 1631 - Today Page Visits: 7
Sukrit Vijayakar

View Comments

  • There is NO squeeze if west discards whichever suit south discards . Last 3 cards for W - H- qx D- J , S — H - ATX , E - H - JXX. An alert W can count all S cards played & does not keep any .

Recent Posts

16th World Bridge Games – Day 13

Sukrit Vijayakar The curtains drew on the 16th World Bridge Games last night and this…

3 weeks ago

16th World Bridge Games – Day 12

Sukrit Vijayakar Today's highlights India had a disastrous session 3 and now trail in the…

3 weeks ago

16th World Bridge Games – Day 11

Sukrit Vijayakar Today's highlights The Indian Senior Team made it to the finals with a…

3 weeks ago

16th World Bridge Games – Day 10

Sukrit Vijayakar Today's highlights The Indian Senior Team have a slender lead at the half…

3 weeks ago

16th World Bridge Games – Day 9

Sukrit Vijayakar Today's highlights The Indian Senior Team continued building on its earlier lead to…

3 weeks ago

16th World Bridge Games – Day 8

Sukrit Vijayakar The Indian Senior Team continued its good work in the Quarter Finals, building…

3 weeks ago

This website uses cookies.