Bridge
10 August, 2026
Squeezing out a trick
Sometimes, you can pull off an advanced play more or less automatically.
Sometimes, you can pull off an advanced play more or less automatically. With both sides vulnerable, East passes and you open 1NT. Partner bids 2♦️, a transfer to hearts, then rebids 3♣️, which is forcing to game. You bid 3NT, denying 3 hearts, at which point North jumps to 6NT. West leads ♠️A and you see that partner has been just a little bit optimistic!
West continues with ♠️8 which you win in dummy with the king. Now you cross to ❤️K and lead ❤️10 to the jack, hoping fervently.
The good news is that the finesse wins, but the bad news is that East shows out. Now what are you going to do?
There is only one remaining hope – that West not only has all the hearts but also holds 3 cards in clubs, so that East has only two. If that's the case, when you cash the last spade and all your diamonds, West cannot keep both Qx of hearts and Qxx or Jxx of clubs. In fact that line of play works, because this was the full deal:
This is an example of a simple squeeze, which operates automatically because the potential winners lie over the hand that has to discard on the last diamond. The position after trick 8, with South on lead, will be:
You play ♦️10 and if West discards a heart you discard a club from dummy, or vice versa. In either case, you make your slam!
When there are two suits that might yield the extra trick you need, play off all your winners and hope that the same defender has to guard both suits.
Rakesh Kumar
The Southern Highlands Bridge Club runs three duplicate sessions every week (Mon 1:00 pm, Wed 6:30 pm, Sat 1:00 pm) at the East Bowral Community Centre. Highlands players and visitors welcome!
For more information: https://shbc.bridgeaustralia.org
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