august.indd

English 54 Squeeze or Drop Ram Soffer The following intriguing deal occurred on the penultimate day of the 2012 European championships in Dublin. Board 5, Dealer North, Vul N/S ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ KQ7 AKQT9 AJ2 94 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A542 J5 854 AK53 Let's follow the developments in the match between France and Germany, two teams fi ghting for a ticket to the Bermuda bowl. The French E/W pair didn't get excited by their 31 combined HCP, stopping in a game contract and duly scoring 460. At the other table, Michael Gromoeller, sitting East for Germany, opened a weak 1NT and eventually became declarer at 6NT. South led a passive ♥ 7. Everyone can see that declarer has 11 top tricks, and that a 3-3 spade break would give him the twelfth. However, a 36% chance does not satisfy an expert declarer. Are there any squeeze possibilities in this hand? First of all, a simple squeeze may be possible if the same defender holds the long spades and the sole diamond guard ( ♦ KQ). In this case declarer should duck a club early and then simply play out his winners in clubs and hearts, discarding minor suit cards from the dummy. Then there are some possibilities of a double squeeze, particularly if clubs break 5-2. In this hypothetical case one defender has to guard clubs and the other must guard spades, so in the endgame both may be forced to abandon their diamond guard. Gromoeller took the heart lead in dummy and led the ♣ 9, covered by the J and ducked. North continued clubs, and declarer cashed his ♣ AK. The suit did break 5-2, North discarding a heart, so the double squeeze became a real possibility, in case North held four or more spades. However, if declarer wishes to execute that squeeze, he cannot cash his three top spades early, as he would be left without an entry to the club menace. Actually this type of squeeze is called "a non- simultaneous double squeeze", since both opponents are not squeezed on the same trick. First the hearts are played out, forcing North to part with the diamond guard. Then the spade ace is cashed, and South is squeezed in the minors. After the ♣ AK, Gromoeller cashed dummy's ♠ KQ, both defenders following suit. Then he cashed three top hearts from dummy, North following suit two times and then discarding the ♦ 6. This was the position that declarer could see after nine tricks. ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 7 9 AJ - ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A4 - 8 5 At trick 10, the ♥ 9 was led from dummy, and North discarded the ♦ 9. Was the position like this? ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ JT - K9 - ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 7 9 AJ - ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A4 - 8 5 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ - - QT7 Q In this case, the double squeeze is in operation. North has just bared his ♦ K. Declarer should discard a spade. South is forced to discard a diamond. Next a spade is played to the ace, and