Simple Squeezes

This page belongs somewhere in between the Bridge Bear pages for beginners and pages for true intermediates. It is intended to provide a basic introduction to squeezes (an intermediate topic) with the small steps and repetitions favored by most beginners. This is appropriate for what some call "Improvers," those ready to move on to intermediate topics, but not ready for the faster pace of most intermediate books and articles.

What is a Simple Squeeze?

A simple squeeze is a play where declarer creates an extra winner by forcing a defender to make a discard he doesn't want to make. Declarer then adjusts his next play based on the discard the defender has just made.

What do I mean by a "discard a defender doesn't want to make"? That would be a discard that promotes one of declarer's cards to a winner.

Let's look at playing a position two ways – without a squeeze, or with a squeeze.

example 1

	Dummy ♠ A K Q 2 ♥ 5 ♦ - ♣ -
West ♠ J T 9 8 ♥ - ♦ A ♣ -		East ♠ ? ♥ ? ♦ ? ♣ ?
	You ♠ 5 4 3 ♥ A ♦ K ♣ -

The inventory for the 5 tricks remaining is...

West has the master diamond, so your ♦K is not (yet) a winner.

The same opponent also controls the fourth round of spades, so Dummy's ♠2 is not a skater (at least not yet).

Winning Four Tricks Without Squeezing

You could lead a spade to the dummy and cash your 3 spade masters, hoping for a 3-3 split. No luck. East discards on the third spade, confirming a 4-2 split.

At this point West would have two master cards – a big spade and the ♦A.

You can't lead Dummy's ♠2 because West would win the last two tricks. Instead you lead Dummy's ♥5 back to your ♥A.

West plays last on this next-to-last trick, so he can see which hand you will lead from for the last trick before he decides which of his master cards to keep. Of course, he keeps his ♦A to capture your ♦K.

At the beginning of this example, you started with 4 winners for the last 5 tricks, and 4 winners is all you got. This sequence is a failure because it would have been possible to win all five tricks.

Winning All Five Tricks with a Successful Squeeze

example 1 repeated

	Dummy ♠ A K Q 2 ♥ 5 ♦ - ♣ -
West ♠ J T 9 8 ♥ - ♦ A ♣ -		East ♠ ? ♥ ? ♦ ? ♣ ?
	You ♠ 5 4 3 ♥ A ♦ K ♣ -

To win all five tricks, you must start by cashing your ♥A, forcing West to make a discard before you decide which suit to lead next.

* If he discards his ♦A, cash your ♦K, discarding dummy's ♠2, and win the rest with dummy's spade honors.

* If he discards a spade, lead to the dummy and cash FOUR spade tricks, the last one being a skater.

Guards, Threats, and Squeeze Cards

That was a simple squeeze. One opponent holds important cards (usually called guards) in two suits – his ♦A and his fourth spade.

Meanwhile you have secondary holdings (usually called threats) in the same two suits – your ♦K and Dummy's lowly ♠2.

When you lead a winner in a third suit (♥A), that winner is called the squeeze card. West must then choose which guard to keep. Whichever guard he discards creates an additional winner for you.

Let's look in more detail at these 4 requirements for a successful squeeze.

example 2

	Dummy ♠ A K Q 2 ♥ 5 ♦ 7 ♣ -
West ♠ J T 9 8 ♥ - ♦ A 3 ♣ -		East ♠ ? ♥ ? ♦ ? ♣ ?
	You ♠ 5 4 3 ♥ A 2 ♦ K ♣ -

I've added an extra card to each hand. Now there are 6 tricks remaining, but you only have 4 winners. That's not "...except one" from our first guideline.

If you attempt to squeeze your opponent by leading what you thought was going to be a squeeze card (♥A), he has an idle card to discard, his ♦3.

He will not have to discard either of his guards, so the squeeze fails and he will win future tricks with both of his guard cards.

This illustrates why you need to count to see if there are too many remaining tricks left for your winners to be "all the rest of the tricks except one."

If you could somehow remove the one extra card from each hand (your ♥2, West's ♦3, and Dummy's ♦7), West would no longer have an idle card to discard. Then you would have 4 winners for 5 remaining tricks, and your squeeze would work.

Let's look at an example...

example 2 repeated

	Dummy ♠ A K Q 2 ♥ 5 ♦ 7 ♣ -
West ♠ J T 9 8 ♥ - ♦ A 3 ♣ -		East ♠ ? ♥ K Q J T 9 8 ♦ ? ♣ ?
	You ♠ 5 4 3 ♥ A 2 ♦ K ♣ -

You have 4 winners, but there are 6 tricks left – not the correct count.

You can't twist and flick your magic wand to increase your winners, but you may be able to play a loser to reduce the number of tricks remaining.

Suppose your right hand opponent has made a preemptive bid in hearts, and you know his last 6 cards are all hearts.

Now the squeeze can work. But not by leading your squeeze card, ♥A.

You must begin by leading your low heart, intentionally losing the trick. This is called "correcting the count."

You have counted the tricks remaining and counted your winners, coming to the conclusion that there are too many cards left for the squeeze to work. But when you lose a heart trick, the count would then be correct – 5 tricks would be left with you holding 4 winners.

Remember that RHO has only hearts left, so he will win the first heart trick and be forced to lead another one.

Your ♥A wins this second heart trick, and West is squeezed. He discards his idle ♦3 on the first heart, and the second heart forces him to discard one of his guards.

Of course whenever you lose a trick intentionally, you must be able to recapture the lead to execute your squeeze. In the above example, It would be a failure if RHO had a diamond mixed in with his handful of hearts. Then he could win your heart lead and return the diamond. His partner would win with his ♦A, and lead a spade, eventually winning the fourth round of spades. Ouch! Losing 3 tricks would be a very bad result – worse than simply cashing the winners you started with.

	Dummy ♠ 5 4 3 ♥ 5 ♦ 7 6 ♣ -
West ♠ J T 9 8 ♥ - ♦ A 3 ♣ -		East ♠ ? ♥ ? ♦ ? ♣ ?
	You ♠ A K Q 2  ♥ A ♦ K ♣ -

Let's see what would happen if both of your threats (♦K and ♠2) were in your own hand.

Because neither of your 2 threats are winners, the position no longer satisfies the first requirement. With 2 losers in your hand, and no winners in the dummy, you don't have winners for all the rest of the tricks except one.

Another way the look at it is... the second threat in your own hand means that you have an extra card, and so does West. So if you lead your intended squeeze card, he can discard his extra card (♦3) and keep both of his guard cards.

Our second guideline says that you don't have to have your two threats in different hands, as long as...

...at least one of them...

is opposite from your squeeze card.

So one threat in each hand is good, but let's see what happens with both threats in the hand opposite from your squeeze card.

Dummy ♠ A K Q 2  ♥ - ♦ K ♣ - You ♠ 5 4 3 ♥ A ♦ 4 ♣ -

Now the squeeze only works against the opponent who discards before you do – West (for this example).

You lead your squeeze card (♥A), and West must discard one of his guards. Only then do you decide which of Dummy's two threats to keep. (Of course you keep the one where he just discarded his guard.)

This doesn't work against East because Dummy must discard a threat card before East chooses which guard to keep. (He'll keep the one to capture the dummy's remaining threat card.)

As with all squeezes, whoever discards a threat card or guard card first, loses an extra trick.

Dummy ♠ A K Q 2  ♥ - ♦ - ♣ 2 You ♠ - ♥ A ♦ K ♣ 5 4 3

If West has both spades and diamonds guarded, you can squeeze him by leading your ♥A.

But after he discards his spade guard, you have no entry to Dummy's spade winners. So this squeeze is a failure.

In fact, Dummy's spades are stranded regardless of what happens with your squeeze.

Dummy ♠ A K Q 2  ♥ - ♦ - ♣ A You ♠ - ♥ A ♦ K ♣ 5 4 3

I've added the ♣A as an entry to the dummy. This seems to solve the problem because you can cross the lead to the dummy after West discards his spade guard.

However, the squeeze is pointless, because you already have 5 winners for the remaining 5 tricks.

What West discards is irrelevant because you will always discard Dummy's ♠2 on your ♥A squeeze card, leaving nothing but master cards in the dummy.

So... having an entry in the fourth suit doesn't help.

Dummy ♠ K 4 3 ♥ - ♦ K ♣ 2 You ♠ A Q 5 2  ♥ A ♦ - ♣ -

But the squeeze does work when you have transportation in a threat suit, like these spades.

You now have the correct count – winners for all the rest of the tricks except one.

When you lead your ♥A squeeze card, Dummy has an idle card ♣2 to discard, and if one defender (either one...) holds both guards, he will have to discard one of them.

Then spades provide entries to both hands so you can cash whichever threat has been unguarded.

How do I know the squeeze victim will have to discard one of his guards? After the squeeze card is played, there will be only 4 cards left. To guard both threats, a defender needs 5 cards – the master diamond and four spades. He can't keep that many cards.

Our fourth guideline is different from the other three.

Nevertheless, declarer goes through the motions for a squeeze, even without knowing what the result will be.

It's like taking a finesse. You only find out if your finesse wins or loses after you try it. Sometimes the bidding or the play will tell you where a critical card must be. Then you might know that a finesse is destined to win.

Similarly, declarer can sometimes figure out that a specific defender holds both guard cards. In such cases he knows his squeeze will work. Otherwise, he just tries it to see if it works.

When a finesse loses, you lose the trick and you lose the lead. Then the defense may use their newly acquired lead to cash additional tricks. So when the finesse fails, declarer may wish she'd never tried it.

A simple squeeze does not have the down side of losing additional tricks.

There's only one trick at stake, and declarer saves that one trick for last. If the squeeze works, she wins the last trick. If it doesn't work, the defense wins the last trick – a trick they were going to win anyway if declarer doesn't try the squeeze.

So... set your simple squeezes up properly with the correct count, threats, and entries. If you follow those three steps you will have nothing to lose. The fourth step will take care of itself, winning an extra trick when your squeeze succeeds and never losing more than the last trick of the hand – a trick you were destined to lose anyway if you hadn't tried the squeeze.

Planning a Squeeze from Trick One

example 3

	Dummy ♠ A K Q 2 ♥ 9 5 3 2 ♦ A 6 5 ♣ K 2
West ♠ J T 9 8 ♥ K J 4 ♦ K Q J T 3  ♣ 9		East ♠ ? ♥ ? ♦ ? ♣ ?
	You ♠ 5 4 3 ♥ A Q ♦ 9 4 2 ♣ A Q J T 3

You are declarer in 5N, after West opens the bidding with 1♦.

The opening lead is ♦K.

Taking Inventory

What a miserable contract. Oh well... Let's try to make it anyway.

You need 11 tricks, but you only have 10 winners.

Based on your opponent's opening bid, he has to have all the missing honors, so you know the heart finesse is going to lose.

And it's against the odds to have the spades split 3-3.

Your only other chance is a squeeze.

So let's add a 4-step squeeze inventory to our planning.

What is the count of winners and unplayed tricks? show answer

What tricks could you lose to correct the count? show answer

What are your threat cards? show answer

What will be your squeeze card? show answer

What will be your entry to the hand opposite your squeeze card? show answer

We've figured out from the bidding that West holds one guard card, ♥K. We can't tell if he actually holds a spade guard as well, so we'll just hope he does.

Now all you have to do is lose the first two rounds of diamonds and you will have corrected the count. So you hold up on the first round of diamonds, planning to hold up again on the second round.

West Tries to Mess Up Our Plan

Unfortunately, your pesky opponent sitting West doesn't lead a second round of diamonds. He switches to the ♠J.

Now what?

There are now 12 unfinished tricks, and you still have only 10 winners. You haven't finished correcting the count.

How do you finish correcting the count? show answer

Win whatever they return next (let's assume another diamond trick). Then proceed to squeeze your helpless opponent by cashing all the winners in your hand.

With the squeeze card still to play, the last four cards will be:

	Dummy ♠ K Q 2 ♥ 9 ♦ - ♣ -
West ♠ T 9 8 ♥ K ♦ - ♣ -		East ♠ ? ♥ ? ♦ ? ♣ ?
	You ♠ 5 4 ♥ Q ♦ - ♣ A

When you lead the ♣A, any discard from West gives you your 11th trick.

Notice that squeezes sort of play themselves. Once you have identified your threat cards, corrected the count, and preserved your entry to the other hand, all you have to do is cash your winners in the hand with the squeeze card.

You don't have to remember all their discards, or figure out their distribution.

On this hand, just watch for the ♥K. If it appears, cash your ♥Q. If it doesn't appear, cross the lead to the dummy and play your spades.

You will make an extra spade trick if either...

• West discarded his spade guard, or...
• the spades split 3-3.

Attempting the squeeze does not spoil making an extra trick when spades split 3-3. In that case, the result is the same as if West had a spade guard and discarded it. So, regardless of the spade split, playing the squeeze sequence comes out the same or better than not playing it.

Practice Hand

example 5

Dummy ♠ A K 3 ♥ A 4 3 ♦ 9 5 2 ♣ 8 5 3 2 You ♠ 8 6 5 ♥ K 2 ♦ A K Q J T 4  ♣ A Q

West	North	East	South
1♥	P	P	DBL
2♥	2N	P	6♦

The opening lead is a small diamond. Little Bear says, "That's odd. I expected a heart lead. Helping me pull trump feels like a gift. "

Take Inventory

You need 12 tricks, but you have only 11 winners.

Your clubs look like a finessing position. What are the chances the finesse could win? (hint: count hcp and review the bidding) show answer

West opened the bidding, and rebid his suit even though his partner passed. How many hearts does he have? show answer

If West has at least 6 hearts, what is the maximum number of hearts East can have? show answer

Without a squeeze you have no prospects for a 12th trick. So we turn our attention to a squeeze inventory.

What is the count of winners and unplayed tricks? show answer

What will you plan to lose to correct the count? show answer

The club finesse is a sure loser because West needs all the missing honors for his opening bid. So we'll use the ♣Q as a threat card and plan not to take the finesse.

But where's the threat card in the dummy? show answer

Good news! We know West has both guards, so we know our squeeze is going to work.

Little Bear scowls, "That's a pretty wimpy threat in the dummy." True, my Skeptical Fur Ball, but wimpy or not, West has to guard against it. And he cannot keep both of his guards.

What is the entry to the dummy's threat card? show answer

✓ West has both of them.

Making your contract

example 5 repeated

Dummy ♠ A K 3 ♥ A 4 3 ♦ 9 5 2 ♣ 8 5 3 2 You ♠ 8 6 5 ♥ K 2 ♦ A K Q J T 4  ♣ A Q

The opening lead is a diamond.

What is the full plan for making 12 tricks?

show answer

Dummy ♠ - ♥ A 4 ♦ - ♣ 8 You ♠ - ♥ 2 ♦ 4 ♣ Q

This is what the squeeze position will look like before you lead your squeeze card (♦4).

What will be West's last three cards? show answer

You have 2 winners for the last three tricks. If West discards his ♣K, your ♣Q will be your 12th trick. Or if he discards a heart, Dummy's small heart will become a skater for your 12th trick.

Summary

A simple squeeze can produce an extra trick by forcing a defender to make a discard that turns one of your lesser cards into a winner.

For a simple squeeze to work...

1. you must have winners for all the rest of the tricks except one.
2. you must have threats in two different suits, at least one of them in the hand opposite from the squeeze card.
3. you must have an entry to your threat card in the opposite hand.
4. the same defender must guard both of your threats.

You can use this 4-point checklist to plan a squeeze when taking inventory at the beginning of the hand.