A Different Kind of Squeeze

Prakesh Patel (Panja) a mentor, teacher and commentator on OKbridge as well as bridge correspondent of the Times of India, sent along this interesting squeeze hand.

North  K 7 6 5 2  A 5  7 2  K 8 4 3
West  A  J 10 9 8 2  J 9 3  J 10 7 2	East  Q J 10 4 3  Q 4 3  10 6 5  A 5
South  9 8 K 7 6  A K Q 8 4  Q 9 6

West	North	East	South
—	—	—	1NT
pass	2*	pass	2
pass	3NT	all pass
* Transfer to spades

Panja tells how he was thinking as he played the hand.

“Counting five diamonds (if diamonds didn’t divide 3-3, it was a poor score anyway) and two top hearts, I still needed two more tricks to make the game. The� A had to be onside and I had to guess the location of the� A as well. Of course, if I could drop the doubleton� A from East, that might obviate the need for the� A to be onside.

”If I played a low club from dummy to my queen, and it lost to the ace, I pretty much had no further chance. On the other hand, if I played a club from hand to the king and lost to the ace, I still had the extra chance of finding the� J10 with West.

”Accordingly I won the first trick with the� K and played a club to the king. It lost to the ace, and a heart came back as expected. When I cashed the last diamond, West was squeezed in a most interesting manner. He had to hold on to the� JT and the� A, so he could keep only two hearts. I could coolly play a spade and develop the� K for the ninth trick.”

————————–

Dorothy Eggersfor had been wondering what a 3 overcall over 1means. She found out the hard way – it was used against her.

North  Q 7  9 8 7 4  9 5 4  9 8 6 4
West  10 2  6 2  A K Q J 10 6 3 2  K	East  A J 6 5 3  A J 10  8  J 7 5 2
South  K 9 8 4  K Q 5 3  7  A Q 10 3

West	North	East	South
—	pass	pass	1
3	pass	3NT	all pass

The usual idea behind such an unusual call is to ask partner to bid 3NT if he has a stopper in the opponent’s suit. Usually the 3 bidder would have stoppers in the other three suits, including a running suit, but West realized that partner had to take only one trick before the opponents took five. The eight diamonds would take care of the rest.

And that’s exactly what happened. East had a stopper in clubs and bid the game. South led a heart, and declarer quickly took his 10 tricks for a 5.95 IMP pickup.