Squeezes

[Myrmidon73]

Is there some formulaic way to know when to execute a squeeze? I mean you have kind of put a formula for other declarer play (ruffing from the small hand before pulling trumps, knowing when to cross-ruff, stuff liek that), but is there an easy way to know when and how to execute a squeeze? Do squeezes have a high success rate?

 

I was just squeezed for the first time this afternoon, and I thought it was pretty nifty, so now I'm trying tot add that to my game.

 

Thanks for helping out a noob.

[Echognome]

Squeezes are a very complex subject. I think for the beginners and intermediates, the best thing to do is focus more generally on your declarer play. Making a plan, counting winners or losers as appropriate, managing your entry situation, and very important, counting your opponents shape and high cards as they play. This will improve your game the most.

 

If you want to start doing squeezes, you really don't have to study a whole lot. Just learn to "rectify the count" by losing all the tricks you can early in the play (to tighten the position) and then running your winners. If you have one more loser than you are supposed to have, a winner might 'magically' appear and then when you look back at the hand, you will find that someone was squeezed.

 

But I don't think it's a good area to study early on in your bridge career.

[pclayton]

The problem with squeezes is when you execute your first, you start looking for situations where they might crop up again, and ignore other aspects of play.

 

Leading out your long suit and watching your opponents squirm is great fun, but this can sometimes be detrimental to the contract.

 

Walk before you run. When you are ready, look at some of Ben's older posts in this section on the subject.

[inquiry]

Is there some formulaic way to know when to execute a squeeze? I mean you have kind of put a formula for other declarer play (ruffing from the small hand before pulling trumps, knowing when to cross-ruff, stuff liek that), but is there an easy way to know when and how to execute a squeeze? Do squeezes have a high success rate?

 

I was just squeezed for the first time this afternoon, and I thought it was pretty nifty, so now I'm trying tot add that to my game.

 

Thanks for helping out a noob.

There are tons of good books on this subject. I recommend an old one by "clyde love" entitled "bridge squeeze complete"...

 

But for a quick start, there are a lot of free sources on the web you might take a look at. Many of those are very good as well. You might try

 

Identifying squeezes blog

 

That is a blog I am working on in "book format". The introduction tries to illustrate the temrs used in squeezes (related to Clyde love's book), and the first two chapters deal with the "basic squeeze" ending. IF you have any questions, you can write to me here either publically or you can send me private mail. you can also leave comments on the blog which are then emailed to me, and I will respond to those.

 

Ben

[Guest Jlall]

Would reccomend inquiry's book/blog

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

 

another option is

"Bridge Squeezes for everyone, ... even for you"

by David Bird, nicely written.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[kgr]

There are tons of good books on this subject. I recommend an old one by "clyde love" entitled "bridge squeeze complete"...

 

But for a quick start, there are a lot of free sources on the web you might take a look at. Many of those are very good as well. You might try

 

Identifying squeezes blog

 

That is a blog I am working on in "book format". The introduction tries to illustrate the temrs used in squeezes (related to Clyde love's book), and the first two chapters deal with the "basic squeeze" ending. IF you have any questions, you can write to me here either publically or you can send me private mail. you can also leave comments on the blog which are then emailed to me, and I will respond to those.

 

Ben

I just read the books "Kelsey on squeeze play - the 4 volumes" and "Killing defence" by H.Kelsey. ("Killing defence" being a difficult book in my opinion. Chapter on defence against squeeze is easiest because you know you have to defend against a squeeze).

From reading both books it is clear that improving my card reading is more important than playing squeezes, but I'm just more interested in squeezes now.

About squeezes and "Kelsey on squeeze play":

- Excersises at the end of the chapter are related to one subject. You know in advance what to look for. It would be better to have less excersises at the end of a chapter and have a seperate chapter at the end of the book with excerises. (even some excersises where a finesse is better then a squeeze). That would be a better test to your squeeze knowledge.

- I like some rules also and I think Ben's book is better in that then Kelsey's. Ben could have a look at Pavlicecks' site for more rules to make it more complete.

- If Ben completes his book then it could give (it already does with the part that is complete) some addition to what already exists. It is very well structured. (Still a lot of typos in his book, but I'm more then willing to read the book again and send him the typos I found B) )

- Back to my first point: I would be very interested to see posts on the forum with titel "squeeze #..?" with squeeze hands people encountered. These may also include hands where eg finesse is better then squeeze play. I simply wonder on how many hands I can find the best play.

 

Regards,

Koen

[Rossoneri]

Another endorsement for inquiry:

I have tried reading kelsey (my friend actually bought the complete volumes) and couldn't understand. After reading Ben's blog, I finally understood and managed to carry out a squeeze successfully about 2 weeks after reading it.

[Badmonster]

I'm loving this blog. Not least because it's separated into chapters and I can do it in small bites

[ArcLight]

After I read David Bids excelelnt book on Squeezes I poasted a question on rec.games.bridge about the frequency of different squeezes. No one had had numbers, but some of the better players said they could count the number of times they had executed certain type of squeezes on one hand.

 

Simple squeezes are by far the most common. You may have some double squezes, and stip squeezes, etc.

 

One person said they came acoss a Criss Cross Squeeze a handful of times, same for the others.

 

Kelsey and Mike Lawrebnce suggest just worrying about the simple squeeze until you are an Advance dplayer. Kelsey says that its usually the talented and motivated players that become good tend to also stufy card play from books, and thus learn squezes. He writes in "Killing defense" that his chapter on defense against Squeeze play is not important.

 

 

Bens blog is great.

 

For published book I like:

 

David Birds - Bridge Squeezes for Everyone

Terence Reese - Squeeze Play made simple

Kelsey on Squueze Play

 

While the Clyde Love book is a "classic", compared to the others I dont think its very good for learning, though its got lots of practice problems.

[kenrexford]

There are a lot of books on how to execute a simple squeeze, complicated squeezes, and Ottlik squeezes ("Ottlik" = insanely complicated to a degree that your head will explode).

 

However, most folks cannot spot every squeeze that might materialize down the road, at least on every hand. Often, the real player recognizes that a squeeze is materializing as the play progresses. Technique allows you to accidentally pull off some squeezes that you could not even articulate the mechanisms of later, and to be prepared to knowingly finish the task sometimes when it suddenly dawns on you. A few tools help prepare hands for the "right" ending.

 

One was mentioned. When in doubt, with a desire for, say, 10 tricks, and nine that you can count, and control of the hand, duck a trick somewhere productive and then see what happens.

 

Some more ideas:

 

1. Maintain entry flexibility. In other words, take the time to keep suits with entries either way, and be careful to leave your tricks in different suits played in an order where you can still cross back-and-forth. In other words, try to have the last four tricks played such that you could play two from dummy and one from hand, or vice versa, and then lose the last wherever you want.

 

2. Save cards in useless suits until the last possible moment. If you want to squeeze ONE spade out of the opponents, and win ONE more spade than you should, then do not pitch a club until you are down to that ONE spade that you want to win. That club might actually become the winner. Or, the opponents might THINK that the club is important.

 

3. Learn the Vienna Coup. Grand words, but really simple. If you have a stiff Ace opposite Qx, or even Jx, or AK opposite Jxx, stuff like that, then make sure to play the stiff/tight honors early enough that the suit does not block.

 

4. The deuce wins the trick when no one has another one just was well as the Ace.

 

5. When in doubt, try to set up the magic trick in a suit in your hand rather than a magic trick in a suit on dummy. They cannot see the cards in your hand. You don't care whether they really were squeezed or whether they just thought they were squeezed.

 

6. Play the last trump. If you have three of the last four tricks, you don't need "control." You have control. You can play your last trump. That's the squeeze card.

 

And, one last idea:

 

Keep the ability to finesse until the end. If you have J8 on dummy, and A10 in your hand, pitch the Jack rather than the eight. The Jack is only important to the opponents, because it keeps you from finessing. That means that your LHO needs to save his honor, to stop the finesse. If you save down to the Jack, he can pitch his honor.