The simple squeeze is the most basic form of a squeeze in contract bridge. When declarer plays a winner in one suit (the squeeze card ), an opponent is forced to discard a stopper in one of declarer's two threat suits.
The simple squeeze takes place against one opponent only and gains one trick only. That opponent must hold the defense's only stoppers in declarer's two threat suits. The simple squeeze requires that declarer has rectified the count: declarer must have already lost as many tricks as he can afford, and can win all but one of the remaining tricks with top cards. [1] Positional squeezes, described next, also require that the defense's stoppers be located favorably for declarer. Other requirements are also discussed in this article.
| Example 1 | ♠ | A J | |
| ♥ | K | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | K Q | N | |
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| South to lead | ♠ | 4 | |
| ♥ | 2 | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | A | ||
| ♠ | A J | Example 2 South to lead | |
| ♥ | K | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
N | ♠ | K Q | |
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | 4 | ||
| ♥ | 2 | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | A | ||
In Example 1, when the ♣A is cashed, West is squeezed in the major suits. West must discard before North plays. If West discards a spade, dummy discards the ♥K and declarer then wins the ♠AJ. If West discards the ♥A, dummy discards the ♠J and declarer then wins the ♠A and the ♥K.
The squeeze will not work if East's and West's cards are swapped as shown in Example 2. Here East can wait to see which threat card is played on the ♣A and discard accordingly; if declarer throws the ♠J, East discards a spade, and if declarer throws the ♥K, East discards the ♥A. (This example assumes that West holds at least one heart after following to the ♣A; else, South's ♥2 becomes a legitimate threat and the squeeze is automatic—see the next examples.)
The positional squeeze , is so called because its success depends on the position of the threats ♥K and ♠J relative to the defense's stoppers, the ♠KQ and the ♥A. Either the ♥K or ♠J, or both, must be in the upper hand: the hand that plays after the squeezed defender.
| Example 3 | ♠ | A J | |
| ♥ | 2 | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | K Q | N | |
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| South to lead | ♠ | 4 | |
| ♥ | K | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | A | ||
| ♠ | A J | Example 4 South to lead | |
| ♥ | 2 | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
N | ♠ | K Q | |
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | 4 | ||
| ♥ | K | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | A | ||
The positional squeeze which works against one defender only can be distinguished from the automatic squeeze , which works against either defender.
Consider the layout in Example 3, where the ♠J and the ♥K are divided between declarer and dummy. When South leads the squeeze card, the ♣A, West is squeezed. If West discards a spade, dummy throws the ♥2 and declarer then wins dummy's ♠AJ. If West discards the ♥A, dummy throws the ♠J and declarer then wins the ♥K and dummy's ♠A.
If the defense's stoppers are in the East hand instead of the West hand and the North-South hands are unchanged as in Example 4, then when declarer leads the ♣A and dummy discards the ♥2, East is squeezed. If East discards a spade, declarer then wins dummy's ♠AJ. If East discards the ♥A, declarer then wins the ♥K and dummy's ♠A.
This is still a simple squeeze, but it is termed an automatic squeeze to distinguish it from a positional squeeze. The fact that declarer's two threats are in different hands means that no matter which defender holds both stoppers, at least one of the threats lies in the upper hand (the ♠J if West is to be squeezed, the ♥K if East is to be squeezed).
A successful simple squeeze poses several requirements. The count must be rectified, the defense's stoppers in the threat suits must be held by one opponent only, at least one threat card must lie over the squeezed defender, and at least one threat must lie opposite the squeeze card. In addition to these requirements, one of three general types of entry positions must be present.
| Example 1 | ♠ | A J | |
| ♥ | K | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | K Q | N | |
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| South to lead | ♠ | 4 | |
| ♥ | 2 | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | A | ||
| ♠ | A J | Example 4 South to lead | |
| ♥ | 2 | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
N | ♠ | K Q | |
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | 4 | ||
| ♥ | K | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | A | ||
Earlier, Examples 1 and 4, illustrated positional and automatic squeezes; here, they also illustrate one way to satisfy a simple squeeze's entry requirement.
One of the threat cards is the ♠J. It lies opposite the squeeze card (the ♣A), and it is accompanied by an entry (the ♠A) in its own suit. The hand containing the squeeze card must of course have another card (here, the ♠4) that can be used to cross to the ♠A after the squeeze has taken place.
Another entry position in the simple squeeze gives dummy, for example, an immediate winner and a small card in declarer's threat suit. This position is termed a split two-card threat or split two-card menace. The split two-card threat "splits" the threat between declarer's hand and dummy.
| Example 5 | ♠ | A 3 | |
| ♥ | K | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | K Q | N | |
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| South to lead | ♠ | J 2 | |
| ♥ | — | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | A | ||
| ♠ | A 3 | Example 6 South to lead | |
| ♥ | K | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
N | ♠ | K Q | |
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | J 2 | ||
| ♥ | — | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | A | ||
In Example 5, the spade threat is the ♠J. The split two-card threat splits the spade threat's immediate winner, the ♠A, from the threat itself. Dummy holds an immediate winner in the suit where declarer holds the threat.
When the squeeze card, the ♣A, is played, West might discard the ♥A. Then dummy throws the ♠3 and cashes the ♠A and the ♥K. If West discards the ♠Q instead, dummy throws the ♥K. South plays the ♠2 to the ♠A, removing West's remaining ♠K, and takes the last trick with the ♠J.
Notice that the simple squeeze with a split two-card menace is a positional squeeze. It will not operate against East if West's cards in Example 5 are transferred to East, as in Example 6. In Example 6, the split two-card menace is still present but if dummy discards the ♠3 on the ♣A, East discards the ♠Q and declarer must still lose to the ♥A. If dummy instead discards the ♥K, East throws the ♥A and declarer must still lose to the ♠K.
| ♠ | A 3 | Example 7 South to lead | |
| ♥ | K | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | 2 | ||
N | ♠ | Q J 10 | |
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | K 9 2 | ||
| ♥ | — | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | A | ||
The problem in Example 6 is that declarer does not hold an entry to the ♠J threat after playing the squeeze card. The twin-entry threat converts the positional split-threat squeeze to an automatic squeeze. See Example 7.
Dummy holds winner-and-small in declarer's threat suit, as with the split two-card menace in Examples 5 and 6, but now declarer also has a winner (the ♠K) in that threat suit. This is a twin-entry squeeze and is automatic: with these cards in North and South, either West or East could be squeezed.
In Example 7, declarer leads ♣A and dummy follows suit. If East discards a spade, declarer wins the ♠A, the ♠K and the ♠9. If East discards the ♥A, declarer wins the ♠K, the ♠A and the ♥K. The same sequence occurs if West instead of East holds the guards in spades and hearts.
The third general type of entry position in the simple squeeze occurs when declarer has an entry in dummy's threat suit and dummy has an entry in declarer's threat suit. This situation is termed a criss-cross squeeze . It is regarded as a comparatively rare position. [2]
| ♠ | A | Example 8 South to lead | |
| ♥ | Q 2 | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | 2 | ||
N | ♠ | K 3 | |
| ♥ | K 3 | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | Q 2 | ||
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | A | ||
| ♠ | A | Example 9 South to lead | |
| ♥ | Q 2 | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | 2 | ||
N | ♠ | K | |
| ♥ | K 4 3 | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | Q 2 | ||
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | A | ||
Example 8 illustrates the criss-cross squeeze. Dummy's threat card is the ♥Q and declarer has an entry, the ♥A, in that suit. Declarer's threat card is the ♠Q and dummy has an entry, the ♠A, in that suit. When declarer cashes the ♣A, East is squeezed. South cashes the A in whichever suit East discards from, crosses to the other A, and cashes the remaining Q.
This is an automatic squeeze: it works regardless of which opponent guards the two threats. However, the position is usually ambiguous. After the squeeze has taken place, declarer is often uncertain which guard (in Example 8, the ♠K and the ♥K) is now a singleton.
For example, if East unguarded the ♠K earlier in the play, the situation might actually be as shown in Example 9. In this case, declarer cashes the ♣A and East throws a small heart. If declarer now judges that East has bared the ♥K, he will cash the ♥A. When the ♥K does not fall, declarer will subsequently be stuck in dummy, losing the final trick to the ♥K. A similar outcome can result if East bares the ♥K early in the play.
The possibility of this sort of ambiguity is inherent in the blocked entry position that characterizes criss-cross squeezes. A defender who can see what's coming can discard deceptively, putting declarer to a guess after the squeeze has matured.
| ♠ | A J | Example 10 South to lead | |
| ♥ | A | ||
| ♦ | 2 | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
N | ♠ | K Q | |
| ♥ | K 3 | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | 2 | ||
| ♥ | Q 2 | ||
| ♦ | A | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | A J | Example 11 North to lead | |
| ♥ | — | ||
| ♦ | 2 | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
N | ♠ | K Q | |
| ♥ | K | ||
| ♦ | — | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
| ♠ | 2 | ||
| ♥ | Q | ||
| ♦ | A | ||
| ♣ | — | ||
One particular entry configuration may require special handling. In the layout shown in Example 10, the threats (♠J and ♥Q) are divided between the North and South hands and East holds the guards in the threat suits. Furthermore, North holds a winner in each threat suit and South holds no winner in either threat suit.
Suppose that South leads the squeeze card, the ♦A, in the position shown. East simply discards either heart, because the South hand can neither retain nor regain the lead, and the North hand must eventually lose the ♠J to the ♠K.
The solution is to unblock the ♥A before leading to the ♦A. After the unblock, the position is as shown in Example 11. The unblock of the ♥A transposes Example 10 into Example 11, a simple automatic squeeze with the ♥Q positioned to exert pressure against East. Compare Example 11 with Example 4, which shows the same basic position.
The unblocking solution remains the same even if the East and West hands were interchanged.
The play, prior to the squeeze card, of the winner that blocks South's threat is called the Vienna coup. The term has long been regarded as unduly connoting brilliance: "In short, the aura of glamor which has always seemed to surround this play is wholly fictitious." [3]
In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents.
A squeeze play is a technique used in contract bridge and other trick-taking games in which the play of a card forces an opponent to discard a winner or the guard of a potential winner. The situation typically occurs in the end game, with only a few cards remaining. Although numerous types of squeezes have been analyzed and catalogued in contract bridge, they were first discovered and described in whist.
In contract bridge, the criss-cross squeeze is a variant of the simple squeeze in which both menaces are blocked. However, the blocking cards provide the necessary communication between hands after the squeeze has been effected. Unblocking in the correct order allows the squeezing player to cash the newly created winner; but this requires an exact count of the hand – or a correct guess.
In contract bridge, a simultaneous double squeeze is a double squeeze in which both opponents are squeezed by the same card, as opposed to non-simultaneous double squeeze where the two opponents are squeezed in different tricks.
An endplay, in bridge and similar games, is a tactical play where a defender is put on lead at a strategic moment, and then has to make a play that loses one or more tricks. Most commonly the losing play either constitutes a free finesse, or else it gives declarer a ruff and discard. In a case where declarer has no entries to dummy, the defender may also be endplayed into leading a suit which can be won in that hand.
The stepping-stone squeeze is an advanced type of squeeze in contract bridge. It is used when the declarer has enough high cards to take all but one of the remaining tricks, but does not have enough communication between the hands to cash them. It was analyzed and named by Terence Reese in the book "The Expert Game", also titled "Master Play in Contract Bridge".
A strip squeeze is a declarer technique at contract bridge combining elements of squeeze and endplay.
In contract bridge, the trump squeeze is a variant of the simple squeeze in which one threat is a suit that if unguarded can be established by ruffing.
Pseudo-squeeze is a type of deceptive play in contract bridge. The declarer goes through the motions of executing a genuine squeeze where none exists, in the hope that a defender misreads the actual position and misdefends. The pseudo-squeeze simply gives the defender able to recognize the possibility of a squeezed position a chance to go wrong.
A compound squeeze is a type of play in the game of contract bridge. In this squeeze one opponent is squeezed such that some form of other squeeze emerges involving either or both players. Usually this term is used to reference a pentagonal squeeze. In this form of squeeze both players guard two suits, and one player guards a third suit. On the play of a card the player guarding three suits must give up one of the shared guards . Now each opponent singly guards one suit, and there is a third suit that is jointly guarded. This means that a double squeeze matrix exists. Note that there are pseudo compound squeezes, where the triply squeezed opponent can select the 'correct' shared suit, such that the entry situation precludes the proper functioning of the double squeeze.
The trump coup is a contract bridge coup used when the hand on lead has no trumps remaining, while the next hand in rotation has only trumps, including a high one that would have been onside for a direct finesse if a trump could have been led. The play involves forcing that hand to ruff, only to be overruffed. A similar motive is met in coup en passant, where indirect finesse is used instead of direct.
These terms are used in contract bridge, using duplicate or rubber scoring. Some of them are also used in whist, bid whist, the obsolete game auction bridge, and other trick-taking games. This glossary supplements the Glossary of card game terms.
A triple squeeze is a squeeze against one player, in three suits; a more explicit definition is "three simple squeezes against the same player."
A guard squeeze is a type of squeeze in contract bridge where a player is squeezed out of a card which prevents his partner from being finessed. The squeeze operates in three suits, where the squeezed player protects the menaces in two suits, but cannot help his partner anymore in the third suit after the squeeze is executed.
Backwash squeeze is a rare squeeze which involves squeezing an opponent which lies behind declarer's menace. A variation of this, known as the "Sydney Squeeze" or "Seres Squeeze", was discovered in play at a rubber bridge game in Sydney, Australia in 1965, by the Australian great Tim Seres; it was later attested by famous bridge theorist Géza Ottlik in an article in The Bridge World in 1974, as well as in his famous book Adventures in Card Play, co-authored with Hugh Kelsey.
A clash squeeze is a three suit bridge squeeze with a special kind of menace, referred to as clash menace. The clash menace is one that might fall under a winner in the opposite hand, because it can be covered by another card in an opponent's hand. If the clash squeeze can force the opponent to discard his guard, then the clash menace can be cashed separately from the winner opposite. For example, consider this layout of the spade suit:
The Vice is an advanced squeeze in contract bridge. Its distinguishing motive is presence of a "vice" menace in one suit, where one defender holds cards of equivalent rank which split the declarer's pair of cards in front of him, where his partner has a winner in the suit. It was first attested by Terence Reese in the book "The Expert Game", a.k.a. "Master Play in Contract Bridge". In other words, the defenders have a "high" finesse position, equivalent to the one in diagram:
An entry squeeze is a move inn contract bridge
A knockout squeeze is a squeeze in three suits, one of which is the trump suit. The defender's trump holding is needed to prevent declarer from making a successful play involving trumps, including one as prosaic as ruffing a loser. Because the knockout squeeze does not threaten to promote declarer's trumps to winners it is termed a non-material squeeze. Other non-material squeezes include entry squeezes, single-suit squeezes and winkles.
The saturated squeeze is a type of squeeze play in the card game of Bridge.