Squeeze Defense

 

Executing a squeeze generally requires (a) communications between Declarer and Dummy, and (b) the correct loser count.  It follows that the defense's best weapons for disrupting an impending squeeze are to attack Declarer's communications and to refrain from taking winners too early in the play.  Here are some examples.  We'll explain how Declarer wraps up an extra trick via a squeeze, and give the reader a chance to work out how the defense might have broken up that squeeze.

 

Related Play Problems               Play Problem 59

 

 

 

27	♠ K65 ♥ T42 ♦ 764 ♣ 9874	5th November, 2011
♠ QJ7 ♥ J863 ♦ KJ53 ♣ AT	North West             East           South	♠ A94 ♥ AK75 ♦ AQ82 ♣ J3	Dlr     South Vul     None
© BES, Inc  All Rights Reserved	♠ T832 ♥ Q9 ♦ T9 ♣ KQ652	West    North   East     South                                     Pass 1♦        Pass    1♥        Pass 2♥       Pass    ??

 

We confidently expect a sizeable chunk of the field to play in the quite ghastly slam.  But even ghastly slams make once in a while and this is an example.  The play goes like this:

            ♣K is taken by Dummy’s Ace

            The ♥AK are cashed and the ♥Q obligingly drops

            Over to the ♥J

            ♠Q is run around (suppose North does not cover)

            The last Heart is cashed

            The Diamonds are cashed

 

With one Diamond still to be cashed, this is the end-position:

                                    North

                                    ♠ K6

                                    ♣ 98

            Dummy                                    Declarer

            ♠ J7                                         ♠ A9

            ♦ J                                           ♦ 8

            ♣ T                                          ♣ J

                                    South

                                    ♠ T8

                                    ♣ Q6

Declarer has taken care that his last red-suit winner is in Dummy.  When that winner is cashed, North pitches a Club, but South is squeezed:

-         If she pitches a Club, then the ♣J is the 12^th trick

-         If she pitches a Spade, then the ♠J is led from the board, squashing South’s Ten.

That’s an elegant (and very lucky) 12 tricks for Declarer.

 

And if North does cover the ♠Q with her King, earlier in the play?  South still gets squeezed:

                                    North

                                    Nothing useful

            Dummy                                    Declarer

            ♠ J7                                         ♠ 94

            ♦ J                                           ♦ 8

            ♣ T                                          ♣ J

                                    South

                                    ♠ T8

                                    ♣ Q6

Now when the ♦J is cashed:

-         If South pitches a Spade then the Ten drops under Declarer’s Jack

-         If South pitches a Club then she can be thrown in with a Club and end-played in Spades.

In this second version of the squeeze, though, there is some ambiguity, and it won’t be obvious to Declarer whether to play for the drop or the throw-in.  So, earlier in the play, North does well to cover the ♠Q with the King in order to arrive at the ambiguous ending.

 

 

1	♠ 7 ♥ AK6 ♦ A2 ♣ JT97632	7th April, 2010
♠ QT862 ♥ JT932 ♦ 97 ♣ 4	North West             East           South	♠ AK4 ♥ Q5 ♦ QJT863 ♣ A8	Dlr     North    Vul     None
© BES, Inc All Rights Reserved	♠ J953 ♥ 874 ♦ K54 ♣ KQ5	West    North   East     South             1♣       1♦        1♠? Pass    2♣       2♦        3♣ Pass    Pass    3♦        Pass Pass    4♣       All Pass

 

Some Souths might well prefer to bid 1NT at their first turn, but it probably won’t matter, as North will keep competing in Clubs until she is allowed to play there.

 

The play in Clubs looks as straightforward as can be, with Declarer losing a Spade, a Club, and eventually a Heart.  10 tricks for +130.  But not so fast!  Suppose that East, not unreasonably, starts with his top Spades.  Declarer ruffs the second round, knocks out the ♣A, wins the Diamond return in hand, and runs all her trumps.  Then, when Declarer crosses to Dummy’s ♦K, West is squeezed in the majors and Declarer has 11 tricks!  Yes, trying to cash that second Spade was fatal.  In order to break up the squeeze, East had to shift to one of the red suits and then continue the same suit when in with the ♣A.

 

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All Rights Reserved