The simplest squeeze ending, aptly enough, is one of several variants known collectively as simple squeezes. While there are four different simple squeeze endings, I will refer to the simplest of these four endings as the “basic squeeze ending.” Then, we will examine other squeeze position as logical variants based upon irregularities from this basic squeeze position.
- BLUE must be satisfied;
- the threat suits are split between your two hands;
- the threat suit in the hand opposite the squeeze card contains an entry in its own threat suit (see §1.1.1).
| §1.1.1 | ♠ 2 | Analysis of BLUE (require #1) B: ♣ A+♥KQ in one hand L: 1 – loser left in 3 card ending U: ♥J – lies over the ♥KQ E: ♥A – entry to hand opposite the squeeze card Req #2 Threats (♣ K & ♥J) are divided between your two hands Req#3 Entry to threat (hearts) opposite the squeeze card (♠A) is in its own suit (♥A) | |
♠ -- |  | ♠ 5 | |
Lead South | ♠ A | ||
Let’s examine BLUE in this ending. In our examination of finesse endings in the Introduction, we didn’t have to deal with the “B” requirement. The reason is because on a finesse, there is just the one suit. However, a general requirement for squeezes is that one opponent be “busy” guarding against “both” threats. In this context, a threat is a card that will become a winner if the opponent throw away his guard in that suit. In §1.1.1, we have two clear threats: ♥J and ♣K.
If West were to discard either his club ACE or any heart, then one of our two threats would be come a winner. The “B” requirement has several facets. First, our side must hold both threats and one defender must be BUSY guarding against BOTH threats. The “B” requirement is fulfilled in this example since only one opponent (in this case, West) guards against both the ♥J and ♣K from becoming winners. After examining this hand, you should note that that if one opponent had the ♥KQ and the other had the ♠A that you would have to lose a trick. The reason for this is simple. The opponent with two hearts could keep both, and the opponent with the ♣A could keep it. In squeeze language, this means the squeeze would fail due to lack of the "B" requirment since no single opponent would not be Busy (“B”-requirement) in two suits.
Next, you should observe that in this three card ending there are two obvious winners: (major ACES), with three cards left. Three remaining tricks minus the two sure winners, leaves us with one one potential “loser.” This satisfies the basic squeeze requirement calling for one-and-only-one loser left in the ending (the “L” requirement). The upper hand requirement (“U”) is also fulfilled, because the threat suits are divided between the N/S hands. In this case, the ♥ threat is “above” (in the “Upper hand”) West’s guard in ♥’s.
Finally, in this ending the “E” requirement is also satisfied. The lead is currently in South’s hand, and when he is ready, he can enter the North hand with the ♥A. It is the presence of this ace that allows entry to the other hand, which meets the “E” requirement. Entry management is clearly the most complicated concept in advanced squeeze play, so we will elaborate more about the “E” requirement shortly. But first, we have to introduce one additional squeeze concept, the squeeze card.In a squeeze ending, you generally possess a winner in a side-suit. This side-suit winner is referred to as the squeeze card, because when you win the trick with it, your victim is squeezed out of his stopper in one or the other of the threat suits. In ending §1.1.1, the ♠A is “the” squeeze card. In virtually all squeeze positions (some modest exceptions that will be shown later) it is critical important that there be an entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card. Since the squeeze card is with South, the ♥A serves this purpose.
We noted that in this, the basic squeeze ending, that there exist three general requirements.
- BLUE is satisfied. As noted above, BLUE is satisfied in §1.1.1.
- The threat suits must be divided between your own the two hands. Since the ♥J and ♣K are in separate hands this is met.
- Finally, that the threats suit in the hand opposite the squeeze card have an entry in its own suit. In this case, the ♥ suit is the threat suit in the hand opposite the squeeze card, and the ♥A fulfills this last requirement of the basic squeeze position.
Please note that other types of simple squeezes exist, and will be studied shortly, in which BLUE is met, but these later two requirements are changed. That is, both threats can be in the same hand, or the entry to hand opposite the squeeze card is not in its own suit.
Since BLUE is met in $1.1.1, West is squeezed when the Spade-Ace is played. His forced discard of the club ACE or any heart, allows you to win the last two tricks with ease. That is all there is to the basic simple squeeze position. In fact, this squeeze is so easy, it is called the automatic squeeze. But I like the term "basic squeeze position" because even changes to the entry location without voiding BLUE reqiures either greater values between the two hands, or additional care in the play.
As an exercise, you should quickly review the individual requirements of BLUE. First you have two threats and West alone is Busy in both (B-requirement). Second, you have only one loser in the hand (L-requirement). Third, one threat (the heart J) is in the upper hand (U-requirement). Finally, the ♥A is an entry (E-requirement) to the hand opposite the squeeze card (which was the ♠A).
The entry requirement plays a major role in most squeeze endings, primarily because as the number of cards remaining dwindles, the entries available to move back-and-forth between hands decrease. In the next few chapters, we will investigate how changing entry conditions effects squeeze techniques. But first, we will examine how changes in the entry conditions associated with the basic squeeze position (§1.1.1) gives rise to two of the other three simple squeeze endings.But first, what should your goal be in virtually any squeeze position?
- Identify potential threats
- Identify potential squeeze card
- Identify entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card. I refer to the entry opposite the squeeze cards at teh "primary entry" It is primary because every squeeze hand requires an entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card (again there is a very small group of exceptions to list requirement that will be shown in a later chapter). In addition, in many endings, there will also have to be re-entry to the hand from which the squeeze card was played. We will refer to this re-entry as the "secondary entry". It is secondary, for two reasons. It is usually used after you have used the primary entry, and often no secondary entry is needed. Thus when compared t o the primary entry, it is of secondary importance.
The Basic Squeeze Ending
| §1.1.2 | ♠ 2 | Analysis of BLUE (requirement #1) ♠A Primary Entry: | |
♠ 5 | | ♠ -- | |
Lead South | ♠ A | ||
Figure §1.1.2 re-examines the basic squeeze position with emphasis towards identifying primary and secondary entries. As you can see by comparing §1.1.2 to §1.1.1, the basic squeeze position works equally well against either opponent, as long as he is Busy in both threat suits. For instance, in §1.1.2, the E/W hands have been reversed without altering the result when N/S plays their Spade winner.
Once again the squeeze card is the ♠A, and the primary entry (that is, entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card) is the ♥A. The same two threat exist, and one opponent, this time East, is busy guarding both threats. It is a burden too much for his bare. At first glance you might think that the U-requirement has violated, since the ♥KQ is behind the ♥AJ. However, South’s ♣K is now in the “Upper” hand, and this is sufficient to meet the U-requirement. Thus, in $1.1.1, the upper threat had an entry in its own suit, while in $1.1.2, the lead was already in the hand with the upper threat when the squeeze card is played, so an entry in the “upper threat suit” (this time, ♣’s) was not necessary. If East discards the ♣A when the ♠A is taken, South takes the ♣K, if he discards the ♥K or ♥Q, North wins the last two tricks in ♥’s.
Let’s examine a hand in which the basic squeeze ending arises, and thus the automatic squeeze can come to your rescue (P1.1). This hand arose late in a matchpoint game, in which south felt that they needed one more top score for a chance for first overall. South's 5NT bid was grand slam force, asking North to bid a grand slam with two of the top three ♠ honors: North's 7♠ bid confirmed that he held two of the top three ♠ honors. With fewer than two top honors, South would not have bid higher than six ♠’s. South realized that everyone would bid at least 6♠ and many would probably bid 7♠, decided to try to risk the small slam and try for matchpoint top in 7 NT. West’s opening lead was the ♥J. For those of you unfamiliar with matchpoints, or why someone would risk the Grand Slam Bonus for a measly 10 points extra, follow the following link for an explanation of matchpoint scoring and strategy: BBOInquiry short description of Matchpoint strategey.
Squeeze Problem 1.1
P1.1 | ♠ A K J T 9 7 6 |
2- two of top three spades, 3- risk notrump at matchpoints | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Lead ♥ K | ♠ Q 8 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Let’s quickly examine the hand to count our winners and determine our potential losers. We have 7-Spades, 1-Heart, 1-Club and 3-Diamond tricks off the top for a total of 12 trick: hence one loser. What chances do you have to make all thirteen tricks?
- Find ♣ K singleton,
- Find ♦ JT9 tripleton
Combined, the odds that either of these distributions exist is approximately 4%, so that if you knew nothing about squeezes the chances of making this grand slam would appear to be very poor. However, since “L” is right for a squeeze (one loser), let’s also examine if the other requirements for the automatic squeeze might be met.
You have two obvious threat cards, the dummy's fourth diamond and the ♣ Q. These threats, by being split between the two hands, satisfy the UPPER requirement against either opponent. The next question is what will be the primary entry?
Since you are very short of entries to your own hand, your last spade winner will serve as the squeeze card, so you will need an entry to the hand opposite that spade squeeze card. The “best” primary entry (entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card) in all squeeze ending is in the threat suit that hand contains (more on this later). Therefore, the primary entry to South’s diamond threat will be a high diamond, thus “E” is satisfied.
Since “LUE” is satisfied, the only other requirement is that one and only one opponent guard both threat suits. Clearly, only one opponent can hold the ♣K. Likewise, since E/W have only seven diamonds between them, only one opponent can hold as many as four (or more) diamonds. Thus, if the hand with four plus ♦ ’s also hold the ♣-King , then “B” will be satisfied and the ending is automatic squeeze.
So now you should be able to visualize the ending. South’s hand should come down to some diamonds, and the dummy a good spade (squeeze card), a diamond (or two) for entry , and the ♣Q (threat). All you need do is play the cards to reach the ending you visualize. Win the ♥A, cash ♠ J, K. On the second ♠ West throws a ♥. Take ♣A (after all, someday the ♣K will be singleton, but not today). Then overtake the ♠Q with the ♠A and play three more ♠’s, discarding three ♣’s from North to reach this position.
| P1.1a | ♠ 6 | here | |
♠ | | immaterial | |
here | ♠ | here | |
On the last ♠ South will discard the ♥2. If either opponent started with exactly the ♦JT9 South's hand will be good after taking the top diamonds. In addition, if either opponent held the ♣K plus any 4♦’s (as shown for EAST in this ending), he will be squeezed out of one of his minor suit stoppers. The odds that the ♣K will be in the hand with long ♦’s is approximately 50%, so the overall chance of making this slam by either the squeeze or by the remote lucky drop of honors in one or the other of the minor suits is slightly higher than 50%. That is essential all there is to the automatic squeeze! You should make a mental note that in this hand, it was necessary to cash the ♣A while you still have an entry to the North’s hand. If the ♣A was not taken prior to winning your last trump, the ending would have been quite different from the basic squeeze position ( §1.1.1 or §1.1.2).
| P1.1b | ♠ 6 | here | |
♠ | | immaterial | |
here | ♠ | here | |
When the last ♠ is played, South must discard before West. Whatever suit South discards, West can safely discard too. If both discards are ♣’s, cashing the ♣A makes the ♣Q high, but there is no entry back to North’s hand to win it, and N/S will lose a ♦ to West.
If the E/W hands in P1.1b were reversed, East would have to discard first, but South would need to guess whether West keep four ♦’s or one ♣, and discard accordingly. Cashing the ♣A early prevented this problem and cashing winner in the squeeze hand’s threat suit to avoid this re-entry problem when the squeeze card is played has a special name: VIENNA COUP. There are a number of rules to help you remember to cash the side-suit winner to effect this play. However, the good news is that while you were asked to note this problem, you don’t have to worry a lot about it!! All you need do is remember the basic squeeze position, and strive to reach it, and you will cash winners like the ♣A in this hand automatically. Thus, by simply play to reach the basic squeeze end position, your hands requiring the Vienna coups will take care of themselves!
1.2 Entry Alterations to the Basic Squeeze Ending:
Primary Entry in the squeeze hand’s threat suit.
We will eventually examine defects that exist in the one or more of the BLUE conditions. Such defects include having more than one loser, inappropriate entry conditions, the lack of an threat in the upper hand, or one opponent may not be busy in both threat suits. However, we will begin by investigating how a minor alteration in the basic squeeze ending such that the primary entry is no longer in its own threat suit affects the squeeze endings. It is important to realize that if “B,” “L,” and “U” are all correct, that there must be a primary entry to the hand opposite the squeeze suit, or there is no way to avoid the lose of the trick.
The first alterations in the basic squeeze position we will examine is that the primary entry will be in the threat suit held by the squeeze hand, without changing any of the other BLUE requirements. This small change leads to the other three simple squeeze variations. Such a change is not a true defect in the simple squeeze position, just as ending §0.2 was not a true defect in the finesseable position. However, the changing entry condition puts an extra burden on the ending, just as moving the ♠Q’s in §0.1 from the North hand to the South hand in §0.2 added the extra burden on the position by requiring N/S to also hold the ♠J. The extra burden in the case when the primary entry is in the threat suit held by the squeeze hand is that the squeeze hand now will need a secondary entry back to its own hand after the squeeze card has been played.
The following two endings will illustrate the point concerning the secondary entry. In both endings, only one opponent is busy guarding both threat suits (“B” is correct), there is only one loser (“L” is correct), and the threat suit (♥’s and ♣’s) are divided between the N/S hands (“U” is correct). However, the basic squeeze position is altered in that the threat suit (in this case ♥’s) opposite the squeeze card lacks an entry in its own suit, but instead is in the threat suit held by the squeeze hand (in these examples, ♣’s).
1.3 Flaw from basic squeeze position:
Primary Entry in threat suit in squeeze suit hand 2nd entry in same
| §1.2 | ♠ 2 | Analysis of BLUE B: 3♣'S + ♥A in one hand L: 1 – loser left in 4 card ending U: ♥K lies over the ♥A E: see below Squeeze Card (♠A) Primary Entry (♣A) Secondary Entry (♣K) | |
♠ -- | | ♠ | |
Lead South | ♠ A | ||
In ending §1.2 the ♥K and ♣9 are threats against West: taking the ♠A squeezes West. If he throws the ♥A, you win ♣K, then ♣A and ♥K. If West throws a ♣, you win three ♣ tricks starting with the ♣A. This squeeze works equally well against East if the E/W hands were reversed. Thus, if you can not reach the basic squeeze position (§1.1) because of a lack of entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card its own threat suit, redundant entries to both hands in the threat suit in the hand with the squeeze card comes to your rescue. This squeeze ending is automatic against either opponent. Notice, however, that the requirements for §1.1.2 are higher than that for §1.1.1 in that the threat suit with the squeeze hand must be strong enough to allow entries to each hand. The re-entry to the squeeze hand in its own threat suit was the secondary entry. The squeeze also occurs one trick earlier, in the four-card ending as opposed to the three-card ending.
1.4 Flaw from basic squeeze position:
Neither Primary Entry nor secondary entry in its own threat suits
What if the hand opposite the squeeze card has an entry only in the threat suit from the hand with the squeeze card, but there is no re-entry to the squeeze card hand in its own threat suit? That is, what if the secondary entry is not in its own suit? In this case, there are two possible remedies. The first is that a re-entry exists in the threat suit in the opposite hand. This gives rise to something called a crisscross squeeze: a name derived from the fact that after the squeeze card has been played, the player must carefully crisscross between each hand using the winners in the opposite threat suit to cash his winners.
CrissCross Squeeze
| 1.2 | ♠ 2 | Analysis of BLUE B: ♣KQ + ♥A in one hand L: 1 – loser left in 4 card ending U: ♣Q lies over the ♣K E: see below Squeeze Card (♠A) Primary Entry (♣A) Secondary Entry (♥A) | |
♠ -- | | ♠ | |
Lead South | ♠ A | ||
The ♠A squeezes East in ♥’s and ♣’s. On a ♣discard, North with the ♣A (dropping the ♣K), and South ♥A and established ♣Q. On the other hand, if East discards ♥J on the ♠A, South cashes the ♥A (dropping the ♥K), then enters North with the ♣A to cash the ♥Q.
Once again, this squeeze is automatic since it work against either opponent if the hands were reversed. However, in this ending, the side suit Ace’s must be cashed in precisely the correct order, or the squeeze fails. A good defender will try to mislead you by making it hard for you to determine which suit he has abandoned. The potential ambiguity that arises in the crisscross squeeze ending, makes it a much less desirable ending than the basic squeeze ending or the ending both the primary and secondary entries in the squeeze hand’s threat suit. Also, you should note that once again, that without the primary entry in its own suit, the minimum requirement is once again higher, in the form of the required secondary entry.
Positional Simple Squeezes
Finally, the hand with the squeeze card may not contain an obvious re-entry card in either threat suit. This does not have to be fatal to the squeeze position, as long as the hand opposite the squeeze card contains a winner and small in the squeeze hand’s threat suit. The specific endings are all similar to that shown in §1.4.
| §1.4 | ♠ | Analysis of BLUE B: ♣KQ + ♥A in one hand L: 1 – loser left in 3 card ending U: ♥K lies over the ♥A E: see below Squeeze Card (♠A) Primary Entry (♣A) Secondary Entry none obvious (but club ♣5 serves that purpose) | |
♠ | | ♠ | |
Lead South | ♠ A | ||
When south leads the ♠A, West must choose between throwing away the ♥A or a high ♣. In the first case, case North will discard a ♣ and wins the remaining tricks with ♣A and ♥K. If the latter case, North discards the ♥K and the ♣AJ wins the last two tricks.
There are two important requirements in this end position that need to be noted. First, unlike the earlier simple squeeze hands, the squeeze will not work if the E/W hands were reversed. This type of squeeze works only against one opponent, and is often referred to as a POSITIONAL SQUEEZE.
A less obvious requirement is that there must be an entry to the hand with the squeeze card one trick earlier so that the squeeze card can be played (in this case, the ♠A). In the earlier squeeze examples were arranged so that the lead could be in either hand since both hands contained a card in the squeeze suit. In the positional ending, every card in the hand opposite the squeeze card is busy working against West in the squeeze ending, so that there is no room in North’s hand for a card to lead to the squeeze card.
It turns out that this last ending (§1.4) is just a variant of another ending also referred to as a positional simple squeeze. In describing the basic squeeze position, we said the threat suits were divided between the two hands. It is, however, possible for both threat suits to reside in one hand as long as the squeeze card is in the opposite hand. In this case, there is no “U” threat against the opponent behind the hand with both threat suits, but there are two “U” threats against the other opponent. By simply exchanging the ♣J and ♣5 in example §1.4 we arrive at the positional squeeze position given in §1.5.
| §1.5 | ♠ | Analysis of BLUE B: ♣KQ + ♥A in one hand L: 1 – loser left in 3 card ending U: ♥K lies over the ♥A E: see below Squeeze Card (♠A) Primary Entry (♣A) Secondary Entry none obvious (but club ♣5 serves that purpose) | |
♠ | | ♠ | |
Lead South | ♠ A | ||
P1.2 | ♠ T 9 8 7 |
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Lead ♦K | ♠ A K 6 5 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The question is can the slam make if you have a natural trump loser with east or west having ♠Q-J-x? Yes, as long as hearts split 3-3 and the player with the winner spade also has at least three clubs. You plan to win ♠A-K, followed by ♣K-A-Q discarding a ♦, then 4 rounds of ♥s discarding south’s last ♦.
With this line in mind, you play ♠A on which west plays the ♠J. Three possibilities exist; west may hold ♠J, ♠Q-J or ♠Q-J-x. You play ♣ 7 to J and lead ♠10. If East shows out, you will win the ♠K and try to cash ♣'s then ♥'s. However, east follows with the ♠3. Based upon the principle of Restricted Choice (see appendix) you play low as West discards a small club. One more spade from dummy collects East's Queen, giving you five spade tricks to go along with your sure seven sure side card winners. Now the question is can you see a way to make an overtrick if hearts are not divided 3-3?
Let's check BLUE. You have 12 tricks, so the loser count is just one, so L is right. West's opening lead marks him with the ♦ Q making North's ♦ J a threat against him. Further, the ♦J is in the "upper" hand, so U is right. If hearts are 3-3, you have 13 tricks, or if West holds four or more hearts he is busy in the two red suits, making “B” right. Finally, the ♥K provides the necessary entry to either the long heart or long diamond after you play your squeeze card, so “E” is right. You need to unblock your spade suit, cash ♣ A Q, ♥Q, and then lead to the ♥A to reach this position.
1.2b | ♠ | ||
♠ | | ♠ | |
Lead South | ♠ 6 | ||
NEXT QUIZES
Quiz 1.1 | ♠ K 8 4 3 |
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Lead | ♠ A Q 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On this hand, you pushed perhaps too hard. Your agreement is that a reverse is forcing, so a jump reverse shows a short suit and support for partners suit, so that 3♦ was splinter in support of hearts. Your partners could have jumped to 4♦ to show short ♦ and enough to force to slam. During cue-bidding, partner has shown up with ♠K, ♣A and at least one of the two top heart honours. If you had thought about it, you would have realized that partner couldn’t hold both top ♥ honours and the ♣AK. The reason being is that with ♠K-x-x(x) ♥A-K-x-x ♦x ♣A-K-x-x(x) it is a toss-up rather or not he would consider his hand worth a game forcing leap to 4♦ instead of 3.
Evaluate BLUE and determine how you will play the hand. Then click Soution to see how you did. Solution to Quiz 1.1.
Quiz 1.2 | ♠ 9 |
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♠ Q 8 5 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If you strengthen your card reading ability, you will be more successful in your executing squeeze plays. After 6 tricks, you should have a fair view of the opponent’s hands and your chances for 10, 11 or 12 tricks. Evaluate your chance for each, and decide on your line of play.
At this point you are assured of ♥’s + 3♦’s + 1♦ ruff +2♣’s for 10 tricks. Since East won the ♠A you can presume that West has the ♠K. Further, you know that West held exactly 2♥ and 3♦ and his opening lead suggest he holds 3 or 4 ♠, so you should tentatively anticipate West holds 4 or more ♣’s, with or without the ♣Q. How do you win 11 or even 12 tricks?
Evaluate BLUE and determine how you will play the hand. Solution to Quiz 1.2.
Quiz 1.3 | ♠ K J 5 |
2. 0-7 HCP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lead ♥A | ♠ Q 9 8 3 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
East-West are playing precision. Essentially all opening bids are limited to 15 HCP except 1 ♣, which promises 16 HCP or more and 2NT which shows a big balanced hand. When you see dummy, you don’t rush to play the low ♥, instead you start to do a little simple math. There are 40 HCP in the hand and you and your partner hold 18 of them. That leaves 22 for the opponents. West’s opening bid was limited to 15 HCP, and EAST’s pass shows 0-7 HCP. Since they hold 22 HCP, you believe West has 15 and East has 7. If East had one more point he would have responded initially, and if West had one more point, he would have opened 1♣. You don’t know what good this information will be, but you keep it in mind, just in case it is useful.
On the ♥A, East signals with the ♥8. This is an easy situation. You know West has at least 5♥ and dummy has 4, so East probably has 2. East is just sharing that information with his partner. West continues with the ♥K and East plays the ♥4.At trick 3 West switches to the ♦J East plays the ♦7 as you win the ♦K.
Evaluate BLUE and determine how you will play the hand. Solution to Quiz 1.3.
Quiz 1.4
MP | ♠ K 3 |
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Lead ♣K | ♠ Q | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opening Lead ♣K, East plays the ♣7. Opponents playing standard count and attitude Five hearts looks hopeless. West can cash 2♣’s, and they will win the ♠A, plus you have a possible ♦ loser. Even though the contract looks hopeless, you have one small chance. What if West has a long ♣ suit and the ♣7 was a singleton? In this case, West with ♣A-K-T sixth will have to decide which of you have a singleton and which a doubleton ♣. West might be afraid to try and cash a second ♣, since the ♣ Q-J in dummy might provide you with two pitches for potential two ♠ losers. But, be careful. If you play the ♣3 at trick one, and EW are playing normal signals, West will know you still have the ♣9. So you have to false-card at trick one with the ♣ 9.
West thinks awhile but ends up leading the ♠9 to ♠3-A-Q. You hold you breath, but to you delight, East returns ♠J as you discard ♣ 9. One loser has evaporated, examine BLUE and figure out which threats and entries you have. Solution to QUIZ 1.4.
Quiz 1.5
MP | ♠ AKT9762 |
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Lead | ♠ Q | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Your partner’s 2♣ cue-bid was at least game invitational, so with sound values you leap to game. Looking at dummy, you wonder why your partner didn’t correct the contract to 4♠.
This is matchpoints, so you have to worry about how many tricks people in spades will win. At trick one, you can see that if ♠s split 3-2, people playing in spades are likely to win 12 tricks. North would win the expected ♣ lead with the Queen, cross to the ♠Q, play ♥A and ruff a ♥, then pull trumps. Then play ♣A and a club. The ♦A serving as an entry to the long ♣’s for a ♦ discard. So now you have to figure out a way to win 12 tricks in notrump if you want to assure a good matchpoint score.
Assuming ♠’s split 3-2, what is the best line to try and win 12 tricks so you can get a good matchpoint score? Can you find a squeeze? What will be the squeeze card? What will be the primary entry? What will be the two threats against West? Evaluate BLUE. Solution to Quiz 1.5
(( More problems coming as I change format, check http://bboinquiry.blogspot.com for announcements of additions. )))
♣ ♥ ♣ ♥ ♠♦ ♣ ♥♣ ♥ ♠♦ ♣
