Unravelling the Vise Squeeze
Consider this hand:
xx
AKQJ10
AQ8
KJx
Axxx
xx
xxx
AQxx
You are in 6NT after an opening weak two in spades by Lefty. Lefty now leads the Jack of diamonds.
Obviously (yeah right!) you have only one hope, that Lefty has led from the J109 of diamonds and can be vise squeezed. The hoped-for ending:
x
--
Q8
--
K --
-- --
109 K7x
-- --
x
--
x
A
When I read Reese, I was under the impression that the lead had to come from hand towards the tenace position in the suit where the vise was working. But of course it does not. Once the vise has worked, the lead can be the queen from dummy.
Now let's analyze this. The lead has be be in hand in this situation, or else there is no entry to the spade threat in hand. And if there was a winner being led from the board in this situation, there could be no spade threat on the board and also the Q8 of diamonds.
But consider this hand. It is from an article by David Bird in the November ACBL Bridge Bullein. (And the hand above is a modification of Bird's hand.)
xxx
AKQJ10
AQ
KJx
Axx
xxx
8xx
AQxx
Again you are in 6NT after an opening weak two in spades by Lefty, Lefty leads the Jack of diamonds, and again you have only one hope, that Lefty has led from the J109 of diamonds. The hoped-for ending:
x
10
Q
--
K --
-- --
109 K7x
-- --
x
--
8x
--
The spade threat is now in dummy, and the winner is in dummy. So Lefty must unguard diamonds. Now the lead of the queen of diamonds forces a diamond trick.
Taking the vise metaphor seriously, in the first hand the Q8 is like a vise over the 109 of diamonds. This then is a broken vise squeeze -- the queen is in one hand and the 8 is in the other.
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