[inquiry]

Clash squeezes are fairly rare since you can usually manage to avoid the blocking situaiton that leads to the clash squeeze. The examples of clash squeeze I would like to show, mostly use clash squeeze as a recovery method if a double squeeze is going to fail. Since we haven't covered double squeezes, yet, let's start with a clash squeeze that is more of less typical of clash squeeze...one where if you are thinking, you can avoid the clash squeeze and play a regular one.. here is an odd hand played once...

Scoring: IMP

West North East South

 1NT   Pass  2♦    2♥
 Pass  4♠    Pass  6♣
 Pass  7♠    Pass  7NT
 Pass  Pass  Pass  

1NT = 12 to 14
2♦ = transfer
2♥ = forcing takeout
4♠ = misconception of what 2♥ meant
6♣ = place to play
7♠ = thought 6♣ was asking bid
7NT = if you couldn't overcall 2♠, we can't make 7♠.

---

Opening lead is the ♦K.

West has to have all the missing face cards for his opening bid. Thus the heart finessee will win, Let's say you are not thinking... too much.. and you win the first diamond lead and play two round of clubs. Too late you realize that you should have played a spade at trick two (cash last free winner) before running your squeeze cards. Now if you cash the spade ACE, there is no entry back to your hand. But fortunately, you know you have a clash squeeze threat. Simply run all your trumps to come to:

When you cash the last club, west has to give. If he throws a heart, one heart hook is enough (pitch spade from dummy). If he throws a diamonds, the jack is good and one heart hook is enough. And if he throws a spade? Discard heart from dummy, cash the spade Queen, and hook the heart to make.

---

Note: If instead of leading a club at trick two, you lead the spade to avoid blocking the entry condition, then this would be a routine basic simple squeeze.

What have we learned?

• if possible, you can unbllock your side suit winners and avoid the need for clash squeeze
• Clash squeeze compenates for entry problem where you hand no winner (or too slow a winner).

Next time, a really sort of advanced squeeze that is not as hard as it seems.. a trump entry-shifting squeeze.

Ben

[inquiry]

Entry-shifting Trump Squeeze

The trump squeeze and guard squeezes (covered earlier) are the most common corrective responses when the primary entry is in neither threat suit. More rarely, you will run across three additional endings in which the primary entry is also in a side suit: the clash squeeze, the trump clash squeeze, and the entry-shifting squeeze. Also, as we shall see later (in a new thread I will start), if you have both an entry defect and a loser defect (more than one loser) there are a host of additional plays that may gain a trick or more. We will deal with these multiple defect squeezes later, for now, we will address the last of the compensating manoeuvres when the only an entry defect exist in blue.

Entry Defect in BLUE
B: ♦ A + ♥A
L: one
U: ♦ J
E: defective
SC: ♠A or ♠K

Trump suit: spades, lead in south

Entry defect: North lacks an entry in either threat suits, and no re-entry to South in either threat suit.

---

With ♠s as trumps, you would like to cross-ruff but East ♠10 would be used to over-ruff one of your ♦ ruffs. So you have little choice but to pull trumps and look towards a squeeze for your extra trick. If you pull trumps, your loser count will be one, West will be busy in ♥s and ♦s, and the red suit threats are divided between your hand so Upper (U) is correct. Therefore, BLU is all correct. However, there is no entry to either hand in either ♦’s or ♥’s, and we know this as the failing case. If you realize this flaw, you might think, is there a clash squeeze here? Is there a guard squeeze here? Is there a “normal trump squeeze” here? Well, we can eliminate all those chance right off the bat. Not only is the off suit (in this case clubs) not partially finesseble, you don’t have nay clubs at all!!! So no guard squeeze. There is no clash squeeze (nor winner in the clash suit) so no clash squeeze. But this ending allows you compensate nicely for the lack of entries to either hand in either threat suit through the ability to use trumps as a late entry to either hand. Since you are not sure which hand will require the late entry, you have to put off the decision of which hand to win the ♠ in until West has committed himself to discarding his long ♥ or ♦. So when you lead the ♠K, West is caught in an entry-shifting squeeze. If he discards a ♥ you overtake with the ♠A, ruff out the ♥A, and re-enter North to win the good heart by ruffing a ♦. On the other hand, if West discards a ♦ on the ♠K, you play low in dummy, ruff a ♦, then re-enter South by ruffing a ♥ to cash your long ♦.

In the entry-shifting squeeze, you are able to win the squeeze trick in either hand after the victim commits himself by abandoning a long guard in one of the threat suits. The compensating requirements for this entry-shifting trump squeeze are very high indeed. First, you have to have a trump suit in which you can win the last round of trumps in either hand, after the squeezed opponent has made his discard. This “either-or” requirement means this is a positional squeeze. If the east hands were reversed, the squeeze would not work. If you lead a low spade from dummy, EAST knows you have to win in South and would discard a heart. If you lead the Spade ACE, east would know you are going to have to win that trick in dummy and would throw a diamond. Second, the trump suit generally has to be balanced between the two hands, usually 2-2 or 3-3. I will acknowledge that it is possible to construct entry-shifting trump squeezes with an unbalanced position. Anyone interested in such rare beast to “Adventures in Card Play” by Geza Ottlik and Hugh Kelsey for examples of these endings, or we can talk about them privately.

Even though rare, the entry-shifting trump squeeze is very easily identified because of the lack of entries to either hand outside the trump suit. If you recognize this entry defect early enough in the hand, you may even be able to take corrective action to compensate for minor flaws in the ending. For instance, you may need to ruff a side suit early in one hand to get to a balanced trump position, or it may also be necessary to unblock the trump suit to preserve the ability to win the penultimate trump trick in either hand. You may find it even necessary to risk an otherwise unnecessary trump finesse early during the play in order to preserve sufficient top trumps at the end to be able to win the trump trick in either hand of your choice.

If you are following this logic, you have just learned how to identify and execute an entry-shifting trump squeeze at the table. Hopefully, you will find it as easy to identify as I hope I have made it seem, even if you have to take unnecessary ruffs and risk unnecessary finesses.

Next time by a review of the different ways we have learned to deal with problems in the entry requirements for the BASIC SQUEEZE ending, followed by post on some example squeezes that have “flawed entry conditions”, including some entry shifting squeeze.

What have learned?

• If there is no entry in either threat suit, and no threat in the third suit (like guard squeeze threat or clash menace) consider an entry shifting squeeze
  
• For entry-shifting trump squeeze, you need a balance trump ending with the ability to win the trump trick in either hand (of your choice)
  
• Another way to envision an entry-shifting trump squeeze if you would have all the tricks on a cross-ruff except one of the opponents would over-ruff you if you tried that.

[inquiry]

Review of this thread.

This thread dealt with
1) Identify the major components of the basic squeeze, Both Loser Upper and primary Entry

2) We characterized the primary entry as the entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card.

3) The ideal primary entry is in the same suit held by the hand opposite the squeeze card

4) If he hand opposite the squeeze card lacks an entry in its own threat suit, then for a simple squeeze you must hold an entry in the threat suit held by the hand with the squeeze card.

5) In case four, you generally need a secondary entry to the hand with the squeeze card in one of the two threat suits as well (positional simple squeeze the exception for the need of this secondary entry).

6) If you lack an entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card in either threat suit, the simple squeeze is flawed. There are a number of ways to overcome this defect

• if a trump can substitute for the missing entry you have a trump squeeze
  
• if the side suit is at least partially finessable and if the threat in the hand with the squeeze card has a winner, you have a guard squeeze
  
• if you have a clash menace in the side suit you have a clash squeeze
  
• if you have a balanced trump position (2-2 or 3-3), you have a entry-shifting trump squeeze.

So the secret of finding these squeeze is to go through the progression of options. First, see if Loser = 1, Second see (or guess) if one opponent busy in two suits, third see if at least one threat in the upper hand. These three steps turns out to be very easy to determine at the table. When the answer to these are yes, next you turn to the entry conditions and the squeeze card. First, investigate side suit winners to see which card might be the best squeeze card (sometimes you will surprise yourself when it comes to identifying the best squeeze card…as a test, look at the clash squeeze hand above and imagine a heart opening lead. What would be the squeeze card then?).

Having identified the squeeze card, next identify the entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card. If that entry is in the same suit as its threat, you have the basic squeeze position. If that entry is in the threat suit held by the hand with the squeeze card, you have to start looking for secondary entry in one or the other of the threat suits. If you have the right primary entry or primary and secondary entry conditions, then you have a simple squeeze. If you lack an entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card in either threat suit you then check if the third suit is partially finesseable, then you can look for the guard squeeze. If the third suit is not partially finesseable, then look to see if you have a clash menace. If the guard or clash squeeze options are not available, then hope you are in trumps, and look to see if the trump suit can substitute for the missing primary entry (or secondary entry) in a normal trump squeeze, and finally if there is no entry to either hand in either threat suit, look to see if you can get a balanced trump position for an entry-shifting trump squeeze.

In this introduction thread to squeeze play, we dealt with a family of squeezes most similar (in my mind) to the basic simple squeeze, where we paid particular close attention to entry conditions. In the next thread (if interest exist -- the expert thread on this subject died for lack of reader interest), we shall deal with hands where you the problem (with respect to simple squeeze) is that the “Both” requirement is violated. That thread will deal with simple procedure such as transferring a menace and isolating a menace, routine squeezes, like the very frequent double squeezes and simple squeeze played as a double, then moving on to the more exotic squeezes with defects in the both requirement for simple squeezes as well as flaws in the double squeeze “both” requirement like compound squeeze, double guard squeeze, double clash squeeze, compound guard squeeze.

Ben

[Lovera]

inquiry, on 2004-November-19, 18:03, said:

Entry Alterations to the Basic Squeeze Ending: Primary Entry in the squeeze hand's threat suit.

We will eventually examine defects that exist in the one or more of the BLUE conditions. Such defects include having more than one loser, inappropriate entry conditions, the lack of an threat in the upper hand, or one opponent may not be busy in both threat suits. However, we will begin by investigating how a minor alteration in the basic squeeze ending affects the requirements. Such a minor change is when the primary entry (remember that? The entry to the threat opposite the squeeze card) is no longer in its own threat suit, and how this change affects the squeeze endings. It is important to realize that if "B," "L," and "U" are all correct, that there must be a primary entry to the hand opposite the squeeze suit, or there is no way to avoid losing a trick.

The first alterations in the basic squeeze position we will examine is that the primary entry will be in the threat suit held by the squeeze hand, without changing any of the other BLUE requirements. This small change leads to the other three simple squeeze variations. Such a change is not a true "defect" in the simple squeeze position, just as finessee ending 2 (with QJ in south) in the earlier post was not a true defect in the finesseable position. However, the changing entry condition puts an extra burden on the ending, just as moving the ♠Q in first example of basic finessee position from the North hand to the South hand in example 2 added the extra burden on the position by requiring N/S to also hold the ♠J. The extra burden in the case when the primary entry is in the threat suit held by the squeeze hand is that the squeeze hand, in most cases you will need a secondary entry back to its own hand after the squeeze card has been played.

The following two endings will illustrate the point concerning the secondary entry. In both endings, only one opponent is busy guarding both threat suits ("B" is correct), there is only one loser ("L" is correct), and the threat suit (♥'s and ♣'s) are divided between the N/S hands (thus "U" is correct). However, the basic squeeze position is altered in that the threat suit (in this case ♥'s) opposite the squeeze card lacks an entry in its own suit, but instead the entry is in the threat suit held by the squeeze hand (in these examples, ♣'s).

Ending 1.3 Flaw from basic squeeze position:
Primary Entry not in its own threat suit

Analysis of Blue
B: ♣JTx+♥A in one hand
L: 1 – loser left in 4 card ending
U: ♥K – lies over the A
E: see below

Squeeze Card: ♠A
Primary entry: ♣A
Secondary entry: ♣K

---

In ending 1.3 the ♥K and ♣9 are threats against West: taking the ♠A squeezes West. If he throws the ♥A, you win ♠K, then ♠A and ♥K. If West throws a ♣, you win three ♣ tricks starting with the ♣A. This squeeze works equally well against East if the E/W hands were reversed. Thus, if you can not reach the basic squeeze position (1.1.1 in earlier post) because of a lack of entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card its own threat suit, redundant entries to both hands in the threat suit in the hand with the squeeze card comes to your rescue. This squeeze ending is automatic against either opponent.

Notice, however, that the minimum requirements for 1.3 are higher than that for 1.1.1 in that the threat suit with the squeeze hand must be strong enough to allow entries to each hand. The re-entry to the squeeze hand in its own threat suit was the secondary entry. The squeeze also occurs one trick earlier, in the four-card ending as opposed to the three-card ending.

What if the hand opposite the squeeze card has an entry only in the threat suit from the hand with the squeeze card, but there is no re-entry to the squeeze card hand in its own threat suit? That is, the secondary entry is not in its own suit? In this case, there are two possible remedies. The first is that a re-entry exists in the threat suit in the opposite hand. This gives rise to something called a crisscross squeeze: a name derived from the fact that after the squeeze card has been played, the player must carefully crisscross between each hand using the winners in the opposite threat suit to cash his winners.

Ending 1.4 Flaw from basic squeeze position:
Primary Entry not in its own threat suit

Analysis of Blue
B: ♣K+♥K in one hand
L: 1 – loser left in 4 card ending
U: ♣Q – lies over the K
E: see below

Squeeze Card: ♠A
Primary entry: ♣A
Secondary entry: ♥A

---

The ♠A squeezes East in ♥'s and ♣'s. On a ♣ discard, North win the ♣A (dropping the ♣K), and South ♥A and established ♣Q. On the other hand, if East discards ♥J on the ♠A, South cashes the ♥A (dropping the ♥K), then enters North with the ♠A to cash the ♥Q.

Once again, this squeeze is automatic since it work against either opponent if the hands were reversed. However, in this ending, the side suit Ace's must be cashed in precisely the correct order, or the squeeze fails. A good defender will try to mislead you by making it hard for you to determine which suit he has abandoned. The potential ambiguity that arises in the crisscross squeeze ending, makes it a much less desirable ending than the basic squeeze ending or the ending both the primary and secondary entries in the squeeze hand's threat suit. Also, you should note that once again, that without the primary entry in its own suit, the minimum requirement is once again higher, in the form of the required secondary entry.

Positional Simple Squeezes
Finally, the hand with the squeeze card may not contain an obvious re-entry card in either threat suit. This does not have to be fatal to the squeeze position, as long as the hand opposite the squeeze card contains a winner and small in the squeeze hand's threat suit. The specific endings are all similar to that shown in 1.5.

Ending 1.5 Flaw from basic squeeze position:
Primary Entry not in its own threat suit

Analysis of Blue
B: ♣KQ+♥A in one hand
L: 1 – loser left in 3 card ending
U: ♥K – lies over the A
E: see below

Squeeze Card: ♠A
Primary entry: ♣A
Secondary entry: NONE

---

When South leads the ♠A, West must choose between throwing away the ♥A or a ♣. In the first case, case North will discard a ♣ and wins the remaining tricks with ♠A and ♥K. If the latter case, North discards the ♥K and the ♣AJ wins the last two tricks.

There are two important requirements in this end position that need to be noted. First, unlike the earlier simple squeeze hands, the squeeze will not work if the E/W hands were reversed. This type of squeeze works only against one opponent, and is often referred to as a POSITIONAL SQUEEZE. A less obvious requirement is that there must be an entry to the hand with the squeeze card one trick earlier so that the squeeze card can be played (in this case, the ♠A). In the earlier squeeze examples were arranged so that the lead could be in either hand since both hands contained a card in the squeeze suit. In the positional ending, every card in the hand opposite the squeeze card is busy threatening against West in the squeeze ending, so that there is no room in North's hand for a card to lead to the squeeze card.

It turns out that this last ending (1.5) is just a variant of another ending also referred to as a positional simple squeeze. In describing the basic squeeze position, we said the threat suits were divided between the two hands. It is, however, possible for both threat suits to reside in one hand as long as the squeeze card is in the opposite hand. In this case, there is no "U" threat against the opponent behind the hand with both threat suits, but there are two "U" threats against the other opponent. By simply exchanging the ♣J and ♣5 in example §1.5 we arrive at the positional squeeze position given in §1.6.

Ending 1.6 Flaw from basic squeeze position:
Primary Entry not in its own threat suit

Analysis of Blue
B: ♣KQ+♥A in one hand
L: 1 – loser left in 4 card ending
U: ♥K – lies over the A (jack clubs over KQ TOO)
E: see below

Squeeze Card: ♠A
Primary entry: ♣A
Secondary entry: NONE

---

When South plays the ♠A to trick 11, West has the same discard problem he had on the previous ending. For all practical purposes, these two ending are identical. While such positional squeezes only work against one opponent or the other, you will be amazed how frequently they will come to your rescue when you need just one more trick

What have we learned?

• An entry to the hand opposite the squeeze card must be in one of the two threat suits
• when the entry is in the threat suit opposite the squeeze card, the squeeze is "basic" and automatic
• If the entry is in the threat suit held by the squeeze card, then a secondary entry is needed to the hand with the squeeze card or it is either flawed or is just a positional squueze

That is it. These are the simple squeezes... easy huh? Next a series of post to let you practice identifying BLUE and simple squeeze endings.

Obviously in the ending 1.4 the King of heart is in East together J.

[Lovera]

inquiry, on 2004-November-21, 09:32, said:

In the last "lecture" post we talked about positional simple squeezes, and how while they work only against one opponent (or one position), that they are frequently very helpful to you. Here is an example

Scoring: matchpoints<br/><br/>West    North    East    South
         1 ♣     Pass    1 ♠
Pass   2 ♠     Pass    4 NT
Pass   5 ♣    Pass    5 ♦
Pass    5 ♥    Pass    6 ♠
All Pass

Lead: ♦K

---

By now, you should be getting use to counting both your winners and losers. Outside of trumps, you have seven winners, eight if hearts split 3-3. If you have only seven winners in the side suits, you need five trump tricks to make your slam. Next, evaluate your losers. With the ♦ lead you have a potential ♦ loser and missing ♠Q-J-3-2 you may have a trump loser as well.

The question is can the slam make if you have a natural trump loser with East or West having ♠Q-J-x? Yes, as long as hearts split 3-3 and the player with the winner spade also has at least three clubs. You plan to win ♠A-K, followed by ♣K-A-Q discarding a ♦, then 4 rounds of ♥s discarding South’s last ♦.

With this line in mind, you play ♠A on which West plays the ♠J. Three possibilities exist; West may hold

• ♠J
  
• ♠Q-J or
  
• ♠Q-J-x.

You play ♣7 to ♣J and lead ♠10. If East shows out, you will win the ♠K and try to cash ♣s then ♥s. However, East follows with the ♠3. Based upon the principle of Restricted Choice (see footnote if this is new to you) you play low as West discards a small club. One more spade from dummy collects East's Queen, giving you five spade tricks to go along with your sure seven sure side card winners. Now the question is can you see a way to make an extra trick if Hearts are not divided 3-3?

Let's check BLUE. You have 12 tricks, so the loser count is just one, so L is right. West's opening lead marks him with the ♦Q making North's ♦J a threat against him. Further, the ♦J is in the "upper" hand, so U is right. If hearts are 3-3, you have 13 tricks, or if West holds four or more hearts he is busy in the two red suits, making “B” right. Finally, the ♥K provides the necessary entry to either the long heart or long diamond after you play your squeeze card, so “E” is right. You need to unblock your spade suit, cash ♣A Q, ♥Q, and then lead to the ♥A to reach the following position.

Scoring: matchpoints

---

The ♠6 crushes West. If he discards a diamond, North's Jack will be good, but to keep the ♦Q will allow North to win the last two hearts. Note this is a positional squeeze, because both threat cards are in the same hand. However, since you already know that only West can stop diamonds, this is no real limitation at all.

What have we learned?

• Positinal squeeze can work against one opponent.
  
• having both threats in one hand (as here), results in a positional squeeze

Next time, some "quiz" hands for you to practice and an answer to Badderzboy squeeze hand.

---------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: The principle of Restricted Choice is a statistically-based theory on suit combinations that suggest that an opponent who plays one of two missing touching honors in situations like the spade suit in this hand is more likely not to have had a choice than. In this ending when East plays low on the second spade, the possibilities are that West originally held the stiff ♠J or double ♠QJ.

But to catch Q J x x in East there is a safety play to impasse twice playing 10 to A and the 9 to K. Yet against 1 - 3 Q then will fall down.

[Lovera]

Lovera, on 2014-June-28, 03:18, said:

But to catch Q J x x in East there is a safety play to impasse twice playing 10 to A and the 9 to K. Yet against 1 - 3 Q then will fall down.

But this line is better when opening leads are heart or clubs .

[Lovera]

inquiry, on 2004-November-24, 12:33, said:

Feedback so far is for more simple squeeze quizes. To keep the lessons here from getting too long, I will start a new thread..... BASIC SQUEEZE QUIZES and stick the quizes over there... That way, we can move forward here with more new info on identifying squeezes... and you can work at your own pace.

<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>Defects in the entry requirement of BLUE
Entry Defect in Basic Squeeze Position: No primary entry in either threat suit.</span>A. Trump Squeeze

The basic squeeze position requires that the threat suits opposite the squeeze card have its primary entry in its own suit. In earlier post we found that simple squeezes still worked if the primary entry was in the threat suit held by the squeeze hand, provided that a secondary entry (a re-entry back to the squeeze hand) existed in either threat suit. Because of this requirement for an extra (secondary) entry, the simplest squeezes are ones in which the primary entry is in its own suit. In next series of post on squeezes, we will examine endings where the primary entry is not in either threat suit, and the significant extra values required compensating for the primary entry being outside of either threat suit.

Up to this post, the squeezes shown have all been played at notrump. The ability to use trumps to set up winners and to serve as a late entry in suit contracts can play a key role in compensating for defects in the basic squeeze position (as we will see later in more details when you have a defect in "both". The simplest use of trumps in a squeeze ending is known as a trump squeeze and is shown in ending 2.1. In a trump squeeze the ability to ruff one of the guarded suits severely threatens one opponent in two distinct ways. First, the ruff can be used to set up a winner in the suit that is trumped. Second, the ruff can be used as an entry to an established winner. In the following ending ♦’s are trumps.

§2.1 Trump squeeze ending.

Entry Defect in BLUE
B: ♠A+♥K
L: one
U: ♥Q
E: *basic ending defect

SC: ♣A
Primary entry: "Defective" as no entry to hand opposite squeeze card in own threat suit (♥) or squeeze hands threat suit (♣).
Secondary entry: ♥A

Lead: in South's hand with ♦'s as trumps

---

This ending shows how the trump can be used to either establish a winner (the ♠K) or to serve as a late entry to an established winner (the ♥Q). When the squeeze card is played (♣A), On the top club, West must discard from a major. If he discards a ♠, the ♠6 will be ruffed, dropping the ♠A, and the last two tricks will be the ♥A and ♠K. That is, the trump is used to establish the ♠K.

Instead, if on the club West discards the ♥5, South will cash the ♥A, then use the ♦3 to ruff a as an entry to ♥Q. This shows the second usage of the trump after the squeeze card as an entry to an established winner.

The ability of the trump to be used to establish a winner in the hand opposite it or to serve as an entry to a winner in the hand with it should look oddly familiar. In fact, if you could substitute the small trump (♦3) for a spade higher than Ace, you would have a crisscross squeeze similar to what was presented in ending 1.3 in an ealier post (look for one entitled criss-cross squeeze.

This is exactly the purpose of a simple trump squeeze: the ability to ruff after the squeeze card has been played replaces the FLAW of not having a primary entry in the threat suit held by the squeeze hand. Thus, just as in the normal crisscross squeeze, the secondary entry (entry to the squeeze hand) must be in the threat suit held by the hand opposite the squeeze card. Note, to overcome the defect of the lack of an entry opposite the squeeze card in the squeeze hand’s threat suit, we have increased the requirements to include a trump suit and require a two card threat suit (in this example, two spades) to allow ruffing to establish a winner.

This gives you two ways to view a trump squeeze. The first way is how a trump can be used as a “primary entry” to overcome the lack of the primary entry in either threat suit in a simple squeeze position. The other way often is to view a trump squeeze is as a means to solve a flaw in a crisscross squeeze position by substituting for the “Ace” of the threat suit held by the hand containing the squeeze card

Now for an example hand... this is from the BBO June 5, 2004. 18 table tournment

Scoring: IMP<br/><br/>
West North East South

- 1♣ 1NT 2♠
Pass 4♠ Pass 4NT
Pass 5♥ Pass 6♠
Pass Pass Pass

Opening Leas CLUB JACK

---

1) 1♣ = quirky choice by partner, lead inhibitor?
2) 1NT = raptor, showing 5+ diamonds, exactly 4 hearts

This hand was posted by me and discussed already in the "interesting hand" section. Let's see how we beginners and intermediates can handle it now with this introduction.

You know EAST has four hearts (maybe five), so you think he has the heart queen (for his bid). So the heart JACK in your hand serves two purposes. First is a threat, second it is in the upper hand, fixing U. Since EAST has at least five diamonds, and maybe six, the long diamonds in dummy also threaten EAST, so Both is correct. Loser count, let's see.. we have at least 5♠, 3♣, 2♥ and 1♦ for 11 tricks. 12 if the spade hook is on. But do you want to risk a spade hook? The answer is no. East could easily be 2-4-6-1 and if the spade hook loses, he could ruff a club. So, you will play the spade ace. Nothing exciting happens on the spade ace, so now you know you have 11 tricks (after you knock out the spade King). What about your entry conditions?

What will be the squeeze card? It can be the last top club or the long spade, both in your hand. The heart JACK will be the threat card in your hand, and diamond in dummy. But to isolate the diamond threat against EAST, you will need to ruff at least one diamond (and when the spade king wins they will knock out your diamond entry perhaps anyway). Thus the entry to dummy will be the threat suit held by the hand with the squeeze card. Where is your secondary entry to your hand? Not in hearts, not is diamonds. This is the failing case for the simple squeeze. But here, a trump squeeze can work for you. Imagine your last trump as a super ACE of diamonds, that can be held to just the right moment.

So you exit a spade, WEST wins as east discards a club. West leads a diamond. You win the ace, ruff a diamond high and run all your trumps. EAST has to keep both three hearts (to stop your jack), and two diamonds (to prevent the diamond Ten from being good. That is five cards, but this is the four card ending.. with him to play (the GREEN CARDS have been played.

§2.1 Trump squeeze ending.

Entry Defect in BLUE
B: ♠A+♥K
L: one
U: ♥Q
E: *basic ending defect

SC: ♣A
Primary entry: "Defective" as no entry to hand opposite squeeze card in own threat suit (♥) or squeeze hands threat suit (♣).
Secondary entry: ♥A

Lead: in South's hand with ♦'s as trumps

---

As you can see EAST has real problems. If he throws a heart, your ♥J is established. If he throws a diamond, you play heart to dummy, ruff a ♦. ane heart back as entry to win the established diamond.

It wasn't too difficult to diagnose the problem with entries.. .especially now that you are learning to look for entries opposite the squeeze card, and entries back to your hand.

What have we learned?

• If there is no entry in either threat suit opposite the squeeze card, in suit contract, look for possible trump squeeze
  
• If there is no secondary entry to hand with squeeze card, at suit contracts, look for a trump squeeze
  
• The role of a true trump squeeze is to overcome lack of entries in either of the threat suits

Next time, we will get into "expert" field of squeeze play by looking for other ways to overcome the lack of either a primary entry or secondary entry in a flawed squeeze ending. You will soon find, even intermediate players can find our way through the maze of endings if we only have know the road signs of what to look for.

For a better viewing of the trump ending, perhaps, the hands of North and South must be inverted and also West and East (in first 2.1).