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SQUEEZE PAGE

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The Squeeze-Trim-Endplay: Hand

This hand was played by Paul Allinger and reported by Don Kersey, in his 1990 Bridge World article analyzing this type of play (which he called a one-threat squeeze).

1032
A3
AQ95
J953

9
K52
K8732
KQ72

Playing IMPs, you open 1, Lefty overcalls 3, and your partner closes the auction with a bid of 5. The opening lead was the A. Lefty continued with the Q, Righty playing the K.

The straightforward play is to draw trump and knock out the ace of clubs. This works if clubs are 3-2 (or if Lefty has four clubs or the singleton 10).

However, Righty shows out on the second round of trumps. Lefty presumably started with 7 spades and 3 trumps, so it is plausible that Lefty has a singleton club (though Lefty might have led a club with a singleton).

Can you find a squeeze-trim-endplay that makes the hand if Righty has A10xx of clubs? And, most importantly, how should you play the hand?

You have the ace and king of hearts, so one straightforward squeeze-trim-endplay is to end up in this position, with the lead in dummy: 

--
3
9
J95
     --
     Q10
     --
     A10x
--
K5
--
Q72
When you lead your last trump, Righty gives up a trick right away to discard a club, so Righty is squeezed out of his excess heart. You pitch a heart from your hand, lead a heart to the king, trimming the last heart from Righty's hand. Then you lead a club to the jack, endplaying Righty.

To get to this position, you cannot squander any entries to dummy. When you win the second diamond in dummy, you must lead a spade and ruff in hand. The third diamond gets you back to the board. You now lead a club, win with the king, and get back to the board with the ace of hearts.

The big problem with playing the hand this way is that if clubs are 3-2, you will go set -- Righty will have a heart to cash when he is in with his ace of clubs. It is good to find this squeeze-trim-endplay, but there is a better squeeze-trim-endplay.

Trumps as Control

In the above card position, repeated below, Righty is already trimmed. You just have to use your trump as a heart control. He has only two hearts, so you can lead a heart to the king, ruff a heart, then lead your jack of clubs for the same endplay.

A small advantage to playing the hand this way is that you do not have to end up in dummy. Therefore, you can afford to squander one entry to dummy. The huge advantage of playing the hand this way is that you play two rounds of hearts before committing yourself to a squeeze-trim-endplay. 

--
3
9
J95
     --
     Q10
     --
     A10x
--
K5
--
Q72

Usually, two rounds of hearts would not tell you anything useful. But on this particular hand, the second round of hearts reveals all. If Lefty follows, then clubs are 4-1 and you want to run the squeeze-trim-endplay. If Lefty shows out on the second round of hearts, then clubs are 3-2. Dummy still has a trump, so you can simply knock out the ace of clubs.

Actual Play

After drawing three rounds of trump, declarer led a club to the king, then cashed two rounds of hearts ending up in dummy. When Lefty followed to two hearts, declarer knew that clubs were 4-1. To get to the above position (minus the king of hearts), he simply ruffed a spade.

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Squeeze-Trim-Endplay Hands
Trump as Control


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