THE SIMPLE SQUEEZE

********

The squeeze is a technique that you can use as declarer (and occasionally as a defender) in
order to win extra tricks. In this sense the squeeze is similar to other techniques that you are
already familiar with (like the finesse) which can be used to win extra tricks.

There are many types of squeezes in bridge and some of these are very difficult (even for
experts) to recognize and execute at the table. The most basic squeeze positions are known as
simple squeeze. This lecture will focus on simple squeezes.

RUMOUR: Only experts can execute squeezes.

This rumor is false. You don’t have to be a great bridge player to execute a squeeze. If you
have been playing bridge for any length of time you have almost certainly executed a squeeze
yourself. You may not even know what exactly a squeeze is, but you have done it before.

It’s hard to say exactly what a squeeze is. For now we will use this definition:

A squeeze involves forcing an opponent (or both opponents) to discard at a point in play
where any discard will give up at least 1 extra trick.

You already know what it feels like to be the victim of a squeeze. Remember all those times
that a declarer has run a long suit against you and you wanted to hold on to all of your cards,
but had to discard one of them? You have learned that it is not much fun to be the victim of a
squeeze, but you are about to learn that being the perpetrator of a squeeze can be great fun!

There are many possible squeeze situations in bridge and we give them names to make these
positions easier to read at the table. The first time you executed a squeeze it was probably
what is known as a simple squeeze. The simple squeeze is the subject of this lecture.

The first time you executed a simple squeeze may well have been in a deal like this one. You,
South, opened 1NT (15-17) which your partner, North, raised to 6NT. West led the ♥Q and
your partner’s dummy revealed that the contract was far from certain.

♠KJ8
♥ 10 5 2
♦AKJ
♣KQ72
North
♥Q
♠AQ6
♥K63
♦ Q 10 9 8
♣A54
Being a careful player you counted your tricks before playing a card from the dummy. You
had 3 spade tricks, 1 heart trick given the opening lead, 4 diamond tricks, and 3 club tricks.
There were 11 top tricks and the only chance for a 12th appeared to be a 3-3 club break.

East won the ♥A and returned a heart to your ♥K as West followed with the ♥8 You wisely
saw that there was no hurry to test the clubs. You had seen defenders discard poorly before,
so you decided to run the diamonds to give these defenders a chance to do just that. No club
discards yet, but you realized that it couldn’t hurt to play the spades before the clubs.

You finally caught your fish on the third round of spades when West foolishly (at least you
though it was foolish) discarded a club. Naturally you discarded the ♥10 (a sure loser) on
your last spade and you could not delay playing clubs any longer. When East discarded on
the third round of clubs the position was clear. West discarded a club from 4 cards to give
you an undeserved trick for your contract.

To your credit as a human being, you did not smirk at this point. To your credit as a
promising bridge player, you claimed the rest of the tricks – you had counted out the clubs
and knew that dummy’s ♣7 would win the last trick. Well done! 6NT making is a great result
on these cards – you gave west every chance to err and he eventually complied.

On most days you would now write down your fine score and go on to the next deal. On this
deal West, as you will soon find out, happens to be both a gentleman and a fine bridge player.
He says, “Nice squeeze,” and you politely thank him (even you suspect he is trying to cover
up his stupid club discard).

Well it turns out that West wasn’t really being stupid. You squeezed West. Given the early
play he could not prevent you from coming to a 12th trick. Here is the complete deal:

♠KJ8
♥ 10 5 2
♦AKJ
♣KQ72
West East
♠ 10 5 4 ♠9732
♥QJ98 ♥A74
♦54 ♦7632
♣J986 ♣10 3
♠AQ6
♥K63
♦QT98
♣A54

Pay particular attention to the East-West hearts and clubs. Once East wins the ♥A, West
becomes the only player with anything of value in both hearts and clubs. That burden will
prove fatal to the defense.
When you played you last spade winner, West was squeezed and had to surrender a trick
regardless of what he discarded. If West had discarded his ♥J then dummy’s ♥10 would have
become a winner. You would have discarded a club from the dummy and claimed the last 4
tricks (3 clubs and the ♥10). West’s actual choice of discarding a club didn’t work any better.
You discarded dummy’s ♥10 and took 4 club tricks as West no longer stopped that suit.

Be sure you understand what is going on here. South has only 4 of the last 5 tricks in top
cards (the SA and the CAKQ) South leads the SA, however, and West’s discard will establish
a 5th winner for declarer. Whatever suit West discards, the other suit is discarded from the
dummy.

This squeeze turned 4 tricks into 5 tricks!

Let’s back up for a moment and take a careful look at the simple squeeze. The diagram above
is a 3-card ending, the “smallest” possible simple squeeze position. The simple squeeze in the
deal we just saw took place in a 5-card ending. In fact, simple squeezes can take place as
early as the opening lead, but most of them take place when there are a few cards left in each
hand.

♠K
West ♥AJ East
♠A North Immaterial
♥KQ South
♥32
♣2

In the diagram above South is on lead and would like to win all 3 of the remaining tricks
South has only 2 sure winners, the ♣2 and the ♥A, by the lead of the lowly ♣2 will squeeze
West in hearts and spades, allowing South to win a third trick.

If West discards a heart, South will discard dummy’s ♠K and win the last 2 tricks with the
♥A and the ♥J. If, instead, West discards the ♠A, South will discard the ♥J and win the last
2 tricks with the ♥A and the ♠K. Regardless of West’s discard, the simple squeeze turns 2
tricks into 3!

Here are some useful terms for talking about squeezes. The ♣2 in the above diagram is
known as the squeeze card. The squeeze card is defined as the card that actually invokes the
squeeze. West’s spade and heart holdings are referred to as guards as their rank prevents the
dummy from winning extra tricks in these suits. The dummy’s ♠K and ♥J are known as
threats as they threaten to win tricks if West discards one of his guards.

All squeezes share these elements, squeeze cards, guards, and threats.

It turns out there are 4 conditions that must be present in order for a simple squeeze to
operate. In order to understand what makes this simple squeeze tick, you have to understand
these four conditions. Much of the remainder of this lecture will focus on teaching you about
the 4 conditions that are necessary for a simple squeeze to function.
Condition 1: 1 defender must hold the sole defensive guards in 2 suits.

In the diagram above West is the only defender who can guard both hearts and spades. If East
were able to guard hearts as well, then West could discard a heart on the squeeze card (the
♣2) and hold declarer to 2 tricks. East would not be immaterial if this was the ending.

Condition 2: There must be only 1 loser present when the squeeze card is played.

In the diagram above South has 2 winners (the♣2 and the ♥A). Since there are only three
cards left, South has 1 loser – perfect for a simple squeeze.

♠K
♥AJ
West ♦3 East
♠A North ♦AKQJ
♥ K Q 10
South
♥32
♦2
♣2

South now has an extra low card (in diamonds) and 2 losers in total. There is no squeeze here
– West can safely discard a heart on the ♣2.

Condition 3: There must be at least 1 entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card.

In the original diagram, South has the necessary entry in the heart suit.

Condition 4: At least one threat must be sitting over the player that is being squeezed.

In the same diagram both of North’s threats are sitting over both of West’s guards. Note that
if East is given West’s hand the squeeze will fail. Both of North’s threats are now sitting
under East. Dummy must discard on the ♣2 before East and East will discard from the same
suit.

If you want to be able to perform simple squeezes when you are playing bridge (without just
lucking into them), all you really have to know is these 4 conditions. Once you understand
the conditions that are required to make a simple squeeze operate, you can plan the play
accordingly in order to arrive at an ending in which a squeeze can work.

This involves doing things like losing tricks early in the play to make sure you have only 1
loser in the end position (in order to meet condition 2). This process is known in bridge
literature as rectifying the count. Making sure to preserve entries early in the play between
the declarer and dummy hands (in order to satisfy condition 3) is another example of the kind
of play that can be required in order to arrive at a successful squeeze ending.
We will return to a little more theory and then an example deal that was played recently on
Bridge Base Online. First, here are some more tips about squeezes that should be helpful for
you:

• Squeezes are delicate things. If any of the 4 described conditions are not met then it is
impossible that there is as simple squeeze in the cards.
• There are many other types of squeezes in bridge where the conditions for a simple
squeeze are not present. Strip squeezes, for example, require 2 (or more) losers
• The simple squeeze (i.e., a 1-loser squeeze where a single defender is squeezed in 2
suits) is by far the most common variety of squeeze as well as the easiest to recognize
and execute.
• Mastering the concepts of the simple squeeze is necessary before you try to learn
about more advanced squeeze positions. Future lectures on Bridge Base Online will
cover such topics.

Now that you know about squeezes, you have a powerful new weapon at your disposal. Do
not make the mistake of trying to use this weapon on every deal that you declare! Some
players have been known to gosqueeze crazy and look for squeezes on every hand.

You must learn when to recognize a possible squeeze deal in the same way that you already
recognize a crossruff deal. Playing a lot of bridge is the best way to learn this skill!

Counting your winners, losers, and the defenders' distribution is a basic part of every bridge
technique, including squeezes. Force yourself to count every deal you play!

♠K
West ♥ AJ East
Immaterial ♠A
♥ KQ
♥ 32
♣2

We examined this end position earlier. There is no squeeze here because both of the threats
(North's ♠K and ♥J) are under the cards that guards them in East's hand. North is actually
squeezed before East when the ♣2 is led. East will discard from the same suit as North to
hold declarer to the 2 tricks he was dealt.

When West is the one guarding the majors, however, the squeeze operates. when a squeeze
can only operate against one of the defenders (West in this case) we use the word positional
to describe it. The position can be said to be a positional simple squeeze.

Are there simple squeezes that are not positional in nature? In other words, a simple squeeze
that could work against either defender? In fact there are such animals and they are called
automatic simple squeezes(automatic is the opposite of positional).

♠K
West ♥ AJ East
♠A North Immaterial
♥ KQ South
♥ 32
♣2

Suppose we take the ♠K from the North hand in the diagram above and the ♥2 from the
South hand, and switch them. West will still be squeezed when the ♣2 is played. It is true that
the spade threat is now with South and thus under West's guard, but North's heart threat is
still sitting over west's guard so the 4th condition for simple squeezes (that at least 1 threat
must be over its guard) is met. The squeeze against West works just as well when the ♠K is
with South instead of North.

The bonus of putting the ♠K in the South hand comes when you move the heart and spade
guards over to the East hand. The ♣2 will now squeeze East and South will win all 3 tricks
(remember that East could not be squeezed when the ♠K was in the North hand). The
squeeze works here because 1 of the threats (South's ♠K) is now sitting over East's guard (the
♠A). Condition 4 is met and the squeeze operates! This is an automatic squeeze because it
works if either defender was a dealt the ♠A and the ♥K Q. In all automatic simple squeezes
the 2 threat suits are divided between the 2 hands.

To summarize, if North and South each hold 1 threat, it is possible to squeeze either defender,
but if both threats are with either North or South, then only 1 defender can be squeezed.

Here is an interesting deal I kibitzed on Bridge Base Online the other day. South played in
5♣ after East had opened the bidding with 3♠.

West North East South

West led the♠A and I quite admired the 5♣ bid when the dummy came down. I have changed
some of the spot cards in this deal, but North really held the ♣32 doubleton! North judged his
meager assets well here and rightly put considerable trust in his partner's vulnerable 4-level
overcall.

♠654
♥K4
♦A8765
4
♣32
West North East
♠ K Q J 10
♠A3
987
♥ J 10 9 8 ♥765
 ♦ Q J 10 9 ♦K
♣ J 10 9 ♣87
South
♠2
♥AQ32
♦32
♣AKQ65
4

West won the first trick as East signalled violently with the ♠K. West continued spades and
South ruffed. There was a certain loser in diamonds and you must assume that clubs are 3-2
for there to be a chance. The main problem is dealing with the possible heart loser and the
"obvious" solution is to ruff a heart in the dummy. That is exactly what the declarer did when
I watched this deal being played. When East had to follow suit to 3 rounds of hearts, declarer
was now able to draw trump and, finding that suit 3-2, easily make his contract, losing only a
diamond at the end.

Bidding and making 5♣ was an excellent result for North-South! You can see all 52 cards as
they were originally dealt. Note, assuming East's 3♠ was based on a 7-card suit, declarer's
play required East to hold pretty much exactly the distribution that he held in order to
succeed.

If East had been dealt 7222 distribution, for example, the line of play that declarer took would
have failed (as East would overruff the dummy on the third round of hearts). There is a line
of play available (that may or may not end in a squeeze) that will allow the contract to make
on this layout. Can you see it?

After ruffing the second round of spades, South should draw trump immediately and duck a
diamond to the defense. Suppose that East wins and returns a spade for South to ruff (If East
returns a heart South must win in hand to preserve the ♥K as a dummy entry). South then
crosses to the ♦A and ruffs a diamond. There are more than enough diamond winners in
dummy now to take care of South's heart loser and the contract is made.

The line of play just described is appealing because it allows South to make his contract
whenever diamonds and clubs are both 3-2. This alone makes this line better than the one I
saw when I watched this deal being played. In fact, this line of play is even better because it
will succeed (on a squeeze) whenever West has 4 diamonds provided clubs also break of
course).

Suppose that when the time comes for you to duck a diamond that west wins the trick and
continues the suit to dummy's ♦A. East's discard is a rude shock - the 4-1 diamond breaks
means you will not be able to ruff out the suit after all.

But look carefully - the conditions for a simple squeeze could not be more perfect!

♠6
♥K4
 West ♦876 East
♥ J 10 9 8 ♠ Q J 10
♦QJ South ♥765
♥AQ32
♣65

• Condition 1 is met - West is the only defender with guards in 2 suits (hearts and
diamonds).
• Condition 2 is met - you have only 1 loser (you have 5 of the last 6 tricks in top
winners).
• Condition 3 is met - you have a heart entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card (a
club).
• Condition 4 is met - one of the threats (diamonds) is sitting over its guard.

Since all 4 conditions for a simple squeeze are present, it's just a matter of playing the
squeeze card. Ruff a diamond (or a spade) back to your hand and play your last club - the
squeeze card! West is squeezed in hearts and diamonds. Whatever discard he makes will
allow you to score the last trick with either a diamond in the dummy or a small heart in your
hand.

There are a lot of ways the play could go on this deal. Some of the end positions that can be
reached on various layouts and defenses are more complicated formes of squeeze than the
simple squeezes that we have been studying.

Perhaps the most important lesson of this deal is that sometimes good general techniques
(like counting the hand, losing sure tricks early, and being careful with entries) will lead to a
squeeze ending, even if you did not visualize the possible squeeze at the start of the hand.

Sometimes squeezes have to be planned and executed very carefully, but sometimes they just
happen. However, if your general technique is sound you will find that they just happen
considerably more often!