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Double Squeezes
This is a relatively rare squeeze, involving an end-game where both opponents are squeezed. One is squeezed in suits A and B, the other in suits A and C, and suit A is termed the "anchor" suit (that is, the suit in which both opponents are squeezed).
Related Play Problems Play Problem 113
Related Extracts from Past Wednesday Games
E-W did well to play this one in 3NT rather than 4♠. 11 top tricks are available in either contract, that is unless North walks into a rather pretty squeeze. Suppose that North finds a Diamond opening lead, which is ducked. North persists with a Diamond, and Declarer cashes 5 Spades. Here is the position with 6 cards left: North ♠ ♥ T ♦ KJ ♣ QT7 Declarer Dummy ♠ ♠ 4 ♥ KQ63 ♥ A8 ♦ T ♦ ♣ J ♣ A92 South ♠ ♥ J954 ♦ ♣ K5 When Dummy’s last Spade is cashed, South is squeezed out of a Club card, she has to hang on to those 4 Hearts. Declarer pitches a Heart from his hand, and then cashes the top three Hearts. Now it is North’s turn to be squeezed! When the third Heart winner is cashed she will have to unguard one of the minors and it will be 12 tricks for Declarer. This one has a fancy name, it’s called a Non-Simultaneous Double Squeeze, no less!
If North had been of an unsporting disposition she would have broken up the squeeze by shifting to a Club at Trick Two. Far from obvious.
12 tricks are normal, but there are a few ways whereby Declarer can make 13 tricks, though they are all anti-percentage. Our favorite such line goes thusly: Win the opening Heart lead on the board, and cash a second high Heart Cash A♠ Q♠, covered by the King, and ruffed A♣, then ruff a Club Cash the two Spade winners (yes, anti-percentage, there is still a defensive trump at large!) Cross to the A♦ Play the remaining two trumps. Both defenders must come down to two cards … East must hang on to the 9♠, so will pitch a Diamond, whereupon Dummy pitches that now-useless losing Spade … and West must hang on to his K♣, so must also pitch a Diamond … Dummy’s Kx of Diamonds now win the last two tricks. It’s your basic Double Squeeze.
Let’s say that North starts with a trump (good lead!). Dummy wins the trick with the Ace and Declarer can count 10 tricks if the trumps break. The extra tricks can come from Spade ruffs, and if Spades are 3-3 then 13 tricks will be made. The play unfolds as follows: Club opening lead won by Dummy’s Ace Spade to the Ace Spade ruff A♥ and K♥ are cashed Heart ruff Another Spade is led but North ruffs in front of Dummy. North does best to get out with her last trump, leaving this position: North ♠ ♥ T7 ♦ T65 ♣ Declarer Dummy ♠ Q ♠ ♥ ♥ 98 ♦ K9 ♦ AJ7 ♣ Q6 ♣ South ♠ K ♥ ♦ Q843 ♣ Now Declarer cashes his last two Clubs, and although, in reality, only one player (South) is squeezed, the end position plays just like a Double Squeeze. South must hang on to his K♠ and must come down to two Diamonds, and North must hang on to the T♥ and must also come down to just two Diamonds. So, it really doesn’t matter who has the Q♦ because after Trick Ten it will be doubleton.
4♥ is the most likely contract, but we've concocted an optimistic auction which arrives in 6NT by West, an unlikely contract which turns out to be cold. North’s best lead is the T♦, won by South’s King. But the joy is short-lived for the defense, because Declarer now has 11 top tricks, and the 12th comes from a squeeze, if Declarer untangles his tricks carefully. Let’s say that the K♦ wins the first trick, and a Club comes back. Declarer plays low (must preserve that Club threat card) and wins the Ace, cashes the A♦, crosses to the K♥, cashes the Q♦ (North showing out), and runs the Hearts. Here is the end-position with one Heart left to play:
West East ♠ K9 ♠ A32 ♥ ♥ 5 ♦ 7 ♦ ♣ Q ♣
South is the only defender who can protect the Diamonds, so she cannot hold on to 3 Spades. North surely has the K♣ (otherwise South’s Club shift was suicidal), and so, if she is the one with the 3 Spades, she’ll be squeezed in the black suits. Even though it’s not possible for both defenders to guard the Spades, the hand plays just like a Double Squeeze. Either North will be squeezed in the black suits, or South will be squeezed in Spades and Diamonds. Hence its name, the Either-Or Squeeze.
Against 3NT, if North fails to overcall 2♦, surely South’s opening lead will be the J♠. This gives Declarer better timing and now he is cold for 10 tricks, via 2 Spades, 2 Hearts, 2 Diamonds and 4 Clubs. But it could get even worse for the defense! Look at how the play might unfold: J♠ opening lead, won by North’s King Diamond return won by Dummy’s Ace A♣ is cashed, then the J♣ (North ducks this in case South has Qx) North wins the third round of Clubs Diamond is won by Declarer’s King The remaining two Clubs are cashed Here is the end-position with one Club still to be cashed: North ♠ ♥ Q64 ♦ JT8 ♣ Dummy Declarer ♠ A76 ♠ Q9 ♥ AKT ♥ 7 ♦ ♦ 54 ♣ ♣ 4 South ♠ J82 ♥ J85 ♦ ♣ On the play of the last Club, South cannot discard a Spade so must part with a Heart, after which Dummy discards a Spade and North a Diamond. South has been squeezed out of her Heart guard and now, after a Spade to Dummy’s Ace and a Spade back to the Queen, it is North’s turn to be squeezed, she must surrender the 11th trick in one red suit or the other. Yes, it’s a Non-Simultaneous Double Squeeze, and it was all North’s fault. First, her silence in the auction did not help Partner find the right lead (though this did also avoid risking an unseemly penalty), then she failed to break up the double squeeze (she must return a Heart when in with the K♣).
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