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BRIDGE BITES #84
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A SHOW-OFF
SQUEEZE
Brian Gunnell |
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♠ K87
♥
AKJ84
♦
6
♣ K982 |
Both Vulnerable
South West North
East
1♥
3♣
3♦
Pass 3NT Pass
6♦
Pass Pass Pass
Against 6♦
West leads the Club Three, won by East’s Ten.
Hoping for a
trump promotion, East returns a low Club, but
Declarer
ruffs high (West discarding a Spade) and draws
trumps.
There are 11
tricks on top, where’s the 12th?
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Dummy
West East
Declarer |
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♠ A92
♥
92
♦
AKQJT43
♣ 4 |
►
Needless to say, the Heart suit is the place to
look. Dummy does not have enough entries to allow the Hearts to be set up by
ruffing if the suit is 4-2. You draw trumps (East shows up with three, West
pitches a Spade on the third round), and now your two options appear to be:
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Either, ruff just one Heart,
hoping that the Queen comes down in three rounds
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Or, take the Heart finesse
Which is the better line of play?
►
We suppose that the finesse is the better of
the two choices. East has shown long Clubs, so West is more likely to have to
have Heart length, and also the Queen. But we don’t like either of these two
plans, there is a line of play which is 100% certain to succeed! Have you been
counting East’s distribution?
►
Yes, of course you have! East started with 7
Clubs and 3 Diamonds. Could he be 0=3=3=7 with
♥Qxx? It’s possible, so you cash the
♠A and when East follows suit, you know
that he cannot have more than two Hearts. Now, a Spade to Dummy and East
pitches a Club, and therefore started life with 1=2=3=7 distribution. What is
the route to 12 tricks now?
►
Just cash the ♥A,
ruff a Club, and rattle off your remaining trumps! West will be squeezed in
Spades and Hearts, as this is the full deal:
►
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♠ K87
♥
AKJ84
♦
6
♣ K982 |
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♠ QJT654
♥
T653
♦
52
♣ 3 |
Dummy
West East
Declarer |
♠ 3
♥
Q7
♦
987
♣ AQJT765 |
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♠ A92
♥
92
♦
AKQJT43
♣ 4 |
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When you play those remaining
trumps, keeping ♥KJ
in Dummy, West must hang on to a high Spade, which will leave room in his hand
for just one Heart. At Trick 12 a Heart is led and when West does not show up
with the Queen, Declarer can be sure that it is dropping from the East hand.
It’s called a Show-Up Squeeze, and there’s no guesswork required! After drawing
trumps, Declarer did well to cash the ♠A next. That way, if East is void in
Spades then the Hearts must be 3-3, and Declarer can revert to ruffing out the
♥Q. And
it was also necessary to cash one high Heart before running the trumps,
otherwise the “show up” does operate.
This was the end-position, with one trump left
to play:
►
Dummy
♠
♥ KJ
♦
♣ K
West East
♠ Q
♠
♥
T6 ♥ Q
♦
♦
♣
♣ AQ
Declarer
♠ 9
♥ 9
♦ 3
♣
West must pitch a Heart on that
last Diamond, Dummy, pitches a Club and East a Spade. At this point, Declarer
knows for sure that the Queen is falling, regardless of which hand it is in!
Post Script:
A flamboyant Declarer
could have flaunted his mastery of squeeze play by claiming after Trick 5, at
that point the contract was a stone-cold cert to make, one way or the other.
But that would have been a Show-Off Squeeze.
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