|
Exotic Squeezes
These don't fit into the mold of Simple, Double, Triple and Throw-In squeezes, and are more obscure variants. But great fun, nonetheless!
Related Play Problems Play Problem 123
Related Extracts from Past Wednesday Games
North leads a Spade, low from the board, and Declarer’s Ace takes South’s King. Now when the Hearts break 3-3 Declarer can count 9 tricks. There are some obscure lines which might lead to 10 tricks (see below) but we predict 9 at most tables.
With careful play, North can be put under pressure in the end-game. We are not convinced that the following line should be attempted in actual play, but the ending is most pretty and well worth a look: Spade to the King and Ace Finesse the Spade Ten Club to the Jack and Queen Spade return, won by the Queen Cash 5 Hearts, pitching 3 Diamonds from Declarer's hand On the run of the Hearts North must find two pitches and is squeezed in three suits. The first pitch of a Spade is painless enough but the second pitch will be fatal to the defense. Here is the position, with one Heart left to play: North ♠ J ♥ ♦ K7 ♣ 93 Declarer Dummy ♠ ♠ 3 ♥ ♥ 6 ♦ QT6 ♦ 2 ♣ A4 ♣ T8 South ♠ ♥ ♦ AJ9 ♣ K6
When Dummy's last Heart is played, both South and Declarer pitch a Diamond, and North is done for: - If North pitches a Spade, Declarer gets another Spade trick - If North pitches a low Diamond, she gets thrown in with a Diamond … now she can cash a Spade, but must then concede two Club tricks at the end - If North jettisons her K♦ (nice try!), a Diamond towards the Queen scores the extra trick - If North pitches a Club, Declarer leads the Club Ten from Dummy to score 2 Club tricks. It's a variation of the Guard Squeeze.
Against 3NT, West has a normal enough Spade lead which gives Declarer and easy route to 11 tricks thanks to the minor suit finesses. She just needs to get the Heart suit right for 12 tricks.
West’s Spade lead gave Declarer an easy route to 12 tricks, but actually 12 are possible on any lead. Suppose that West cleverly leads a Club, giving nothing away. Now Declarer cashes all of her minor suit winners, ending in her hand (and pitching a Spade on the 5th Diamond). This is the end position: Dummy ♠ 985 ♥ AT ♦ ♣ 9 West East ♠ KJ6 ♥ KJ6 Immaterial ♦ ♣ Declarer ♠ AQ ♥ Q92 ♦ ♣ A At this point, Declarer has 10 top tricks, but the play of the last Club generates two more! If West pitches a Spade, Declarer cashes the A♠ and exits a Spade … this builds a Spade trick and end-plays West in Hearts! If West instead pitches a Heart things are no better … this time, Declarer cashes the A♥ and exits a Heart, which builds a Heart trick and end-plays West in Spades!
It turns out that 3NT is a fascinating play hand! South leads a Diamond, which Declarer wins in his hand with the Queen. Assuming reasonable luck in Clubs, and the K♦ with South (sure seems like it!), Declarer can count 2 Spades, a Heart, 3 Diamonds and 5 Clubs. That’s 11, can a 12th be far away? Maybe, it all depends on Declarer’s card-reading skills. After winning the first trick, he will rattle off 5 Clubs, inflicting severe discomfort on poor old South. She must come down to 7 cards, let’s look at her dilemma (it’s really a trilemma, but SpellChecker objected to that): - She must come down to 3 Diamonds, otherwise Declarer will get her 12th trick in that suit. - If she doesn’t keep 4 Spades, then Declarer has an easy route to a 12th trick, just by playing a Spade to the King and then ducking a Spade - If she keeps 3 Diamonds and 4 Spades then that leaves room for zero Hearts! That means that she exposes her Partner to a finesse in Hearts for the 12th trick.
In reality, South will not come down to 4 Spades and 3 Diamonds, she’ll pitch at least one Spade, hoping that North started with 4 of them, after which it is hard to see Declarer not making 12 tricks. Squeeze enthusiasts will recognize this one right away, it’s a Guard Squeeze where South is squeezed in 3 suits, in one suit of which (Hearts here) she must retain a card to protect her Partner from a finesse.
3NT by West is surely the normal spot, with North leading the Q♠. The simple approach to this hand is to win the Spade in Dummy, play on Clubs, and when they behave to set up a Heart for a total of 11 tricks. But, if Declarer is of a more ambitious disposition he will see the potential for 12 tricks, as this will be the position with one Club left to cash: North ♠ JT ♥ AJ ♦ KJ ♣ Declarer Dummy ♠ K ♠ 82 ♥ KQ9 ♥ 5 ♦ Q5 ♦ A8 ♣ ♣ 3 South Immaterial
When the last Club is cashed, Declarer pitches a Heart from his hand and then sits back to relish North’s misery. She has three equally fatal choices: - If she pitches a Spade, Declarer scores an extra Spade, and 12 altogether, by playing a Heart at the next trick. - Similarly, if she pitches a Diamond, Declarer scores an extra Diamond trick, and 12 in total by playing a Heart next. - If she pitches a Heart, again a Heart is played, and North wins. Now, if she returns a Spade, the play of Declarer’s Heart winner squeezes North in Spades and Diamonds. And if she returns a Diamond, it will be run around to Declarer’s Queen.
In squeeze play, it’s often a good idea to concede the unavoidable loser(s) early in order to tighten up the position. But here that does not work. If Declarer loses his Heart trick (before running the Clubs), a Spade will come back, there will be no communication left between Declarer and Dummy (and therefore no squeeze), and 11 tricks will be the maximum.
Against 3NT, South leads a low Heart, and Declarer holds up to the third round. The play of the Heart suit will have strongly indicated that South started with 5 of them, so Declarer might be tempted to finesse against the possibility Qxx of Clubs with South in order to shut out her Heart winners. But that’s somewhat against the odds, we think, and is likely to sacrifice Declarer’s 9th trick. So, Declarer leads a low Club towards the board (the only way to handle a 4-0 break) and is rewarded when South shows out. The A♣ wins the trick, then the J♣ is correctly covered by North, requiring Declarer to use his last Dummy entry in Diamonds to pick up the Club suit.
Declarer has a Spade, a Heart, two top Diamonds, and 5 Clubs for 9 tricks. To be sure, she could cash the K♦ and take Diamond finesse for 10 tricks, but that risks defeat if North has the Q♦ and South the K♠. Having found the correct Club play, Declarer would be foolish to risk his contract in that way, especially as he has a completely risk-free way to try for 10 tricks. Yes, this far from obvious play is a sure-fire route to 10 tricks if the finesse works, and a safe 9 tricks if it does not. If the Diamond finesse loses, Declarer can win the Spade return with the Ace, overtake the K♦, cash the other Diamond, and pick up his 9 tricks. Nothing gained, nothing lost by the Diamond finesse.
Now, let’s see what happens when the finesse wins. Here is the play to first 8 tricks: Two Hearts ducked by Declarer A♥ wins the third round Low Club to the Ace J♣ covered by the Queen and King Successful finesse of the T♦ Club finesse, and the remaining Clubs are cashed. With one Club left to be cashed, this is the 5-card ending: North ♠ K84 ♥ ♦ 65 ♣ Dummy Declarer ♠ 97 ♠ AQJ ♥ ♥ ♦ AJ4 ♦ K ♣ ♣ 7 South ♠ T ♥ Q7 ♦ Q9 ♣ On the last Club South is squeezed: - If she pitches a Spade, Declarer then plays the K♦. When South follows with a low Diamond, it’s safe to play on Spades for the 10th trick. - If she pitches a Heart, again Declarer plays the K♦, and again when the Q♦ does not appear, South’s distribution is known. Declarer simply cashes the A♠ and sets up her 10th trick in Spades again. - If she pitches a Diamond, the K♦ will drop the Queen and Declarer will overtake in Dummy, making no fewer than 11 tricks.
Nor does it help South to pitch both her Hearts away and come down to two Spades and two Diamonds. Declarer will just cash the K♦, play A♠ and out a Spade, winning 10 tricks once again.
Suppose that South finds an opening Diamond lead. Now, Declarer does not have the entries to untangle his 11 tricks. No problem, he has a more exotic route to +460! Dummy’s A♦ wins the first trick and 8 Clubs are rattled off (Declarer’s J♣ must be unblocked). These will be Dummy and Declarer’s last 4 cards: Dummy Declarer ♠ K ♠ AJ ♥ J72 ♥ Q ♦ ♦ Q ♣ ♣ What will be South’s last four cards? She has to keep Qx of Spades, otherwise the K♠ can be overtaken and the J♠ will be the 11th trick. She must also hang on to the K♦, so her remaining card will be a high Heart. Now, Dummy’s K♠ is cashed, then a Heart is lost to South. The K♦ can be cashed, but South must surrender the last trick to Declarer’s A♠. It’s called a Stepping Stone Squeeze, in this case with South being squeezed out of exit cards and forced to act as a stepping-stone to Declarer’s stranded A♠.
Note that the squeeze does not function if Dummy’s K♠ is cashed prematurely, that card must be preserved as the only means of communications between the two hands.
© BES, Inc All Rights Reserved | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home ThisWeeksHands PlayArchives BiddingArchives Conventions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
