The word "squeeze" emerged in the late 16th century, originating from the earlier English word squise. This was an alteration of the obsolete verb quease, which traces back to the Middle English queisen & the Old English cwȳsan, meaning "to crush!”
The Simple Squeeze
Rahul wrote to tell us an interesting anecdote about a recent hand he played. He didn’t cry, but he probably wasn’t very happy until his imagination took over. Here is his edited commentary.
“I saw this criss-cross squeeze at the table today, but sadly I was the defender. Unfortunately, this was for the second doubled overtrick so no fun. Still, I thought it might be a nice hand for the site to show how these gambits actually work in practice. The possibility came up on Board 12, and the auction went 1NT by West, 2♠ by North, P-P; Double by West, all Pass. A small ♥ was led.”
The Play of the Hand
The early play goes ♥ to J & A, then a ♦ Q covered by the ♦ K & won by ♦ A in Dummy. A low ♠ fetched West’s K and a ♦ was returned to ♦ J in Hand. Declarer next knocked out the boss ♠ Ace & ruffed the return of the ♦ in Hand. Now you're only missing 21 HCP and lefty has already played 7, so the NT opener on your right had better have the other 14. Your remaining cards:
DUMMY
♠ -
♥ 1086
♦ -
♣ A753
HAND
♠ T975
♥ K
♦ -
♣ J9
The Fun Begins
Declarer can cash all her four remaining spades. at trick 10 RHO has to discard from ♥ Qx ♣ KQ. If they throw a club, you will win the ♣ A, ♥ K, ♣ J. If they opt to throw a ♥ you take ♥ K, ♣ A, ♥ 10. Our declarer did run the spades (a good technique, as the Squeeze put pressure me & I might be ready to cry. But after I threw the ♣ Q, she just played for the ♥ Q to fall & was quite content to score up her +870!
Wait, There’s More
We have come to learn as we play, Duplicate is a game that can be creative, imaginative, & occasionally a brilliant study. In addition to the Crisscross Squeeze, there is the Double Squeeze which could if we expanded our first example, involve both opponents, Daffy & Sylvester. Readers of Victor Mollo’s clever works have maybe come across the Jettison Squeeze, where the variation of the simple squeeze requires Declarer to flamboyantly fling away an Ace or King in order to unblock a valuable suit. And only those players with far too much time on their hands will recognize the perspicacious pitch of a few losers (as bait) in Rectifying the Losers gambit, to prepare for an imminent squeeze. And this next maneuver is about as rare as praise from partner, a squeeze that operates against 3 main suits in succession, quite aptly named the Triple Squeeze.
Another rarity, the Vice Squeeze, first described by British expert Terence Reese in his book, "Master Play in Contract Bridge,” is a stratagem that operates against a defender's doubleton of touching rank, usually the QJ holding. It is a first cousin of the Guard Squeeze, a sequence of play where an Opponent is forced to relinquish a card that sets up a marked finesse against her partner. Usually Declarer holds say ♣ A102, Dummy has ♣ K43. The squeeze card forces LHO to bare her ♣ J, which subsequently falls to the ♣ K, on the next play, & now Declarer can pick up the ♣ Q65 from her RHO by finessing the ♣ 10.
Hugh Kelsey wrote extensively on this advanced bridge topic of Squeezes, as did David Bird, Clyde Love, Dr. Julian Laderman & a few others. If you want more information on this material, you can try Google, Wikipedia, or maybe invite Rahul out for a cup of coffee.
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