A Christmas Puzzle

[Walddk]

[hv=d=s&v=b&n=saq2ha1052dj87cak6&e=sj843hj83dq109cj85]266|200|Scoring: IMP

S: 6D

Lead: HK[/hv]

Here is a Christmas puzzle for you. South opens 3♦ and is raised to slam. Your partner leads ♥K, low from dummy and ruffed by declarer's ♦2. At trick two he cashes ♦A to which partner discards ♥4.

 

Next comes ♦3 to dummy's jack and you win the queen. Your partner pitches another heart (the 6).

 

What now?

 

Roland

[bluecalm]

Amazing hand. I think I know this hand ( or I saw something very similar somewhere else) so I won't post it. I think it's solvable at the table, would win a prize for best defence though :)

[twcho]

Of course, for defense to have any chance, you must assume partner holds all the unseen honors. But still you can do nothing if declarer holds 4=0=7=2 (he can create a double squeeze end position no matter what you return) while if declarer's hand is 2=0=7=4, you can defeat him almost with any return (not a small H of course and a C is dangerous if declarer happens to have C109). However, if declarer has something like 3=0=7=3, the only card you can break the squeeze is HJ. Any other return will let declarer squeeze partner out of one black suit guide. Declarer can discard the small card in that suit on this same trick and he can then cash the two winners in dummy in that suit and retun hand with a ruff in H creating a standard double squeeze position. However, when you return HJ, you will force declarer either prematurely discard a black card in his own hand and win HA or he has to ruff a H but then he will have no entry to return to his hand to execute the squeeze.

[PaulLanier]

Club Jack, so that I can find four discards (two clubs, a heart, a spade) when South runs diamonds. It looks to me like South rectified the count for a squeeze at trick one.

 

In the five-card ending I hold:

♠ J84

♥ J8

 

Partner can safely discard down to:

♠ K

♥ Q

♣ QTx

 

South then holds:

♠ xx

♥ ---

♦ ---

♣ xxx

 

I do not see a a five-card ending for North which produces a squeeze. If North retains three clubs, with South playing a club in the five-card ending, then I can safely pitch a heart or a spade, depending on what threat cards North is left with.

Regards, Paul

 

Regards, Paul

[mikeh]

Club Jack, so that I can find four discards (two clubs, a heart, a spade) when South runs diamonds. It looks to me like South rectified the count for a squeeze at trick one.

 

In the five-card ending I hold:

♠ J84

♥ J8

 

Partner can safely discard down to:

♠ K

♥ Q

♣ QTx

 

South then holds:

♠ xx

♥ ---

♦ ---

♣ xxx

 

I do not see a a five-card ending for North which produces a squeeze. If North retains three clubs, with South playing a club in the five-card ending, then I can safely pitch a heart or a spade, depending on what threat cards North is left with.

Regards, Paul

 

Regards, Paul

On the club back, declarer wins in dummy, cashes 2 more trump. Partner has to hold 3 hearts, so has to pitch two black cards...since he will be 3=4 or 4=3 in the blacks, this means he has to unguard a black suit. Declarer hooks the spade, cashes the heart A, pitching from the suit your partner guarded (assuming declarer to be 3=0=7=3) and then unblocks the suit declarer kept 3 cards in and ruffs a heart to hand and cashes the last trump.

 

If your partner unguarded clubs, the end position is Ax 10 void void with declarer x void x x. Your partner is Kx Q void void and you are Jx void void x (preferably the J...) and the last diamond crushes you both.

 

If your partner unguarded spades, the end position is void 10 void Ax opposite 10 void x x with partner holding void Q void Qx and you J void void xx...now the last diamond crushes you.

 

The same endings can be achieved on any passive switch...you hold only one card that you can safely play at trick 4.

[inquiry]

A really careful declarer ducking first round of diamonds in case diamonds are 3-0! If he needs the spade finesse after ducking this, I am very curious about his play given odds of favorable hook verus 3-0 diamonds. I suspect someone good enough to see the potential compound squeeze that might develops would only choose the duck a diamond line if he knew all four hands.

 

So be it. If South has either the ♠K or ♣Q he has 12 tricks (6D, 2C, 2S, 1H plus the 12th as the black suit honor).. the two spades listed above exist without the king due to the finessee). For any squeeze to work, he is going to need a threat in the "upper hand", that means he has to have a black card threat in the south hand. And that threat card is going to be a small card (either a club or a spade). (Backwash squeeze work without an upper threat, but this is not set up for a backwash).

 

Right now, both EAST and WEST guard all three side suits. However, one more heart ruff, only WEST guards hearts. This type of ending is known as a compound squeeze. West will eventually be forced to give up a black suit guard (either clubs or spades) to keep is hearts. Then West quards hearts and one black suit, East both black suits. Such an ending is a double squeeze. For the double squeeze to work (after WEST gives up either spades or clubs), all the winners in the other black suit (and hearts) will have to be cashed PRIOR to the squeeze card, which will have to be the last Diamond. The successful defense is to break up the pending double squeeze BEFORE the correct ending can be established.

 

For the correct ending of a workable double squeeze, south will have to manage a few issues, one of which is to ruff one, and only one more heart (to have a heart threat over WEST). But he can not cash the side suit black winners until after WEST gives up one of his two black suits (if partner gives up clubs, he has to cash his club winners), if partner gives up spades, he has to cash the dummy spade winners.

 

The solution then is to force declarer to prematurely ruff a heart (that uses up his one re-entry before partner abandons either black suit). Or to win the heart ACE and discard a potential black threat card from his hand before WEST has to pick a black suit to abandon. A heart return (the heart JACK as a low heart and he can force partner to play queen and then one ruff drops your jack.. ouch) does this just fine.

 

Here is the ending if you didn't return a heart (declarer is 3073 for compound squeeze to have a chance of working).

 

[hv=n=saxhatxdcax&w=skxhqxxdcqx&e=sjxxhjxdcjx&s=sxxhdxxxcxx]399|300|This ending can easily be reached on any non-heart return at trick three by EAST. Since the black suits are symetrical, let's assume on the next diamond by South WEST throws a spade (club is the same, test it). Dummy discards the same black suit as west, then cashes the black suit winner in dummy in the same suit, followed by heart ACE (discading the black suit that EAST did not discard from south on the heart ace). Assuming it was spades, we reach the next position[/hv]

 

[hv=n=saxhatxdcax&w=skxhqxxdcqx&e=sjxxhjxdcjx&s=sxxhdxxxcxx]399|300|This ending can easily be reached on any non-heart return at trick three by EAST. Since the black suits are symetrical, let's assume on the next diamond by South WEST throws a spade (club is the same, test it). Dummy discards the same black suit as west, then cashes the black suit winner in dummy in the same suit, followed by heart ACE (discading the black suit that EAST did not discard from south on the heart ace). Assuming it was spades, we reach the next position[/hv]

 

The ability to cash the heart ACE to discard the black suit WEST gives up, and the ability to ruff a heart while maintaining and entry -- as an entry to the threat suit are both key to convert the compound squeeze position into an effective double squeeze. The heart jack gives South an unsolvable problem. If he wins the ACE, he has to discard from his hand BEFORE west is forced to give up a black suit, and if he ruffs, he has no late entry in the form of a heart ruff to his potential black suit threat, because ruffing a third heart removes the heart threat needed for the double squeeze to work.

 

Again, any south who plays this way should be brought up on charges however. :)

[Walddk]

A really careful declarer ducking first round of diamonds in case diamonds are 3-0! If he needs the spade finesse after ducking this, I am very curious about his play given odds of favorable hook verus 3-0 diamonds. I suspect someone good enough to see the potential compound squeeze that might develops would only choose the duck a diamond line if he knew all four hands.

You must have missed something, Ben. Declarer did cash a top diamond before he played a low diamond at trick three. Nothing double dummy about that.

 

Roland

[inquiry]

A really careful declarer ducking first round of diamonds in case diamonds are 3-0!  If he needs the spade finesse after ducking this, I am very curious about his play given odds of favorable hook verus 3-0 diamonds. I suspect someone good enough to see the potential compound squeeze that might develops would only choose the duck a diamond line if he knew all four hands.

You must have missed something, Ben. Declarer did cash a top diamond before he played a low diamond at trick three. Nothing double dummy about that.

 

Roland

whoops.. i thought low diamond at trick 2.. which was really strange.. now it makes sense... :)

[dellache]

Thanx Roland that was a nice hand to review the basics of double squeezes. A pure hand that is almost double dummy for East (any robot would solve this one at light speed). Nothing to add to the detailed post of Ben.

 

It's just funny to see that South could easily make this if the two red 7 were interchanged. Not that he would have accepted such a trade at trick one if proposed to :).

[PaulLanier]

Club Jack, so that I can find four discards (two clubs, a heart, a spade) when South runs diamonds. It looks to me like South rectified the count for a squeeze at trick one.

 

In the five-card ending I hold:

♠ J84

♥ J8

 

Partner can safely discard down to:

♠ K

♥ Q

♣ QTx

 

South then holds:

♠ xx

♥ ---

♦ ---

♣ xxx

 

I do not see a a five-card ending for North which produces a squeeze. If North retains three clubs, with South playing a club in the five-card ending, then I can safely pitch a heart or a spade, depending on what threat cards North is left with.

Regards, Paul

 

Regards, Paul

On the club back, declarer wins in dummy, cashes 2 more trump. Partner has to hold 3 hearts, so has to pitch two black cards...since he will be 3=4 or 4=3 in the blacks, this means he has to unguard a black suit. Declarer hooks the spade, cashes the heart A, pitching from the suit your partner guarded (assuming declarer to be 3=0=7=3) and then unblocks the suit declarer kept 3 cards in and ruffs a heart to hand and cashes the last trump.

 

If your partner unguarded clubs, the end position is Ax 10 void void with declarer x void x x. Your partner is Kx Q void void and you are Jx void void x (preferably the J...) and the last diamond crushes you both.

 

If your partner unguarded spades, the end position is void 10 void Ax opposite 10 void x x with partner holding void Q void Qx and you J void void xx...now the last diamond crushes you.

 

The same endings can be achieved on any passive switch...you hold only one card that you can safely play at trick 4.

Hi Walddk,

West does not have to guard the heart queen - East is guarding hearts (Jx).

Regards, Paul

[mikeh]

Club Jack, so that I can find four discards (two clubs, a heart, a spade) when South runs diamonds. It looks to me like South rectified the count for a squeeze at trick one.

 

In the five-card ending I hold:

♠ J84

♥ J8

 

Partner can safely discard down to:

♠ K

♥ Q

♣ QTx

 

South then holds:

♠ xx

♥ ---

♦ ---

♣ xxx

 

I do not see a a five-card ending for North which produces a squeeze. If North retains three clubs, with South playing a club in the five-card ending, then I can safely pitch a heart or a spade, depending on what threat cards North is left with.

Regards, Paul

 

Regards, Paul

On the club back, declarer wins in dummy, cashes 2 more trump. Partner has to hold 3 hearts, so has to pitch two black cards...since he will be 3=4 or 4=3 in the blacks, this means he has to unguard a black suit. Declarer hooks the spade, cashes the heart A, pitching from the suit your partner guarded (assuming declarer to be 3=0=7=3) and then unblocks the suit declarer kept 3 cards in and ruffs a heart to hand and cashes the last trump.

 

If your partner unguarded clubs, the end position is Ax 10 void void with declarer x void x x. Your partner is Kx Q void void and you are Jx void void x (preferably the J...) and the last diamond crushes you both.

 

If your partner unguarded spades, the end position is void 10 void Ax opposite 10 void x x with partner holding void Q void Qx and you J void void xx...now the last diamond crushes you.

 

The same endings can be achieved on any passive switch...you hold only one card that you can safely play at trick 4.

Hi Walddk,

West does not have to guard the heart queen - East is guarding hearts (Jx).

Regards, Paul

No he doesn't...follow the described play....declarer ruffs a second heart later in the play, if you don't lead one right now (and of course, you have to lead the J)

[cnszsun]

♥J return is not an obvious defense. It makes declarer in a dilemma. If he ruffs in hand, the only return card will be used prematurely; if he wins in dummy, he has to pitch one black card before knowing lho's unguarding suit.

PS: I have one question, how many percent world class players can figure it out at the table?

[Walddk]

PS: I have one question, how many percent world class players can figure it out at the table?

I would say all of them after some thought. It's virtually an open book at this point. Perhaps Fred can confirm. The layout must be something like ....

 

[hv=n=saq2ha1052dj87cak6&w=sk109hkq9764dcq1097&e=sj843hj83dq109cj85&s=s765hdak65432c432]399|300|[/hv]

Trick 1: ♥K, 2, 3, ♦2

Trick 2: ♦A, ♥4, ♦7, ♦9

Trick 3: ♦3, ♥6, ♦J, ♦Q

Trick 4: ?

 

As pointed out by twcho, inquiry and mikeh, only the return of ♥J breaks up the looming compound squeeze.

 

Roland

[dellache]

♥J return is not an obvious defense. It makes declarer in a dilemma. If he ruffs in hand, the only return card will be used prematurely; if he wins in dummy, he has to pitch one black card before knowing lho's unguarding suit.

PS: I have one question, how many percent world class players can figure it out at the table?

 

I think it is paradoxically rather easy to find at the table.

 

Imo, there are 3 keypoints that make it easy for high level declarers :

 

1. the play is almost double dummy : the assumptions you have to make (your pard has the 2 key black honors, and must at least guard the spades) are very easy if you can count up to twelve. So the card situation is clear for any world class player (WCP);

2. given (1), if you know the basics of double squeezes, you can see the 2 possible winning endings for declarer at a reasonable speed (either black as pivot). Now if you don't play a Heart, the fact that a good declarer may reach either ending is just a matter of picturing the play in advance. There are very very few variants, so it should just take less than one minute for a WCP (but would be difficult for those who don't know how double squeezes work in general) ;

3. at the table, one of the key to good defense (and play) is to recognize the "killing point". Here the killing point for the defense is imo easy to spot : "what should I play after I take my DQ ?" So even if the HJ looks antinatural, once he has spot that he is at the killing point, a WCP should find this play.

 

So I would guess that more than 95% of the WCP would find it at the table, exact %age depending of what you call a WCP.

 

Actually, I'm far from being a WCP, but would be *very* upset if I would miss such a play in an important match.

 

Regards,

[fred]

PS: I have one question, how many percent world class players can figure it out at the table?

I would say all of them after some thought. It's virtually an open book at this point. Perhaps Fred can confirm.

Beautiful hand - thanks Roland.

 

I agree that all of them after some thought *could* figure this out at the table, but IMO in the real world plenty of highly-successful players would fail this test.

 

Problems like this one are much, much, easier when they are presented as problems because you know there is a problem and you suspect that the solution involves doing something that is not obvious. One if the reasons that this is such a nice hand is because the Jack of hearts is a very non-obvious card to play.

 

Hear are some guesses about the top 100 players in the world, this hand, and compound squeezes in general:

 

- 100 of them would think about "do I need to break up a squeeze?" if they were in this position

- 100 of them would lead the Jack of Hearts on their best day

- 99 of them understand the basic idea of a compound squeeze

- 95 of them have read Clyde Love (or the equivalent if one exists)

- 60 of them have read Clyde Love more than once while really paying attention

- 60 of them know some useful maxims relating to compound squeezes (like you must have at least one winner in each of the suits guarded by both opponents)

- 10 of them know Clyde Love inside out

- 5 are so good that, even if they have never heard of a compound squeeze or read Clyde Love, they would almost always get problems like this one right

 

If you ignore the 5 geniuses and consider the 95 who know somewhere between something and a lot about compound squeezes, I think that, at the table, several of these would decide "no squeeze" prematurely. That is because the end position on this hand is a very attypical compound squeeze - I doubt Clyde Love wrote about it. Also, some top players might not fully analyze this problem at the table because the deal itself seems to violate some of those "compound squeeze maxims" I referred to above.

 

Finally, even great players make errors and it is easy to make an error on a hand like this one.

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Bsae Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[Jlall]

I agree that all of them after some thought *could* figure this out at the table, but IMO in the real world plenty of highly-successful players would fail this test.

Yeah there is like 0 % chance that I would get this right at the table imo.

[dellache]

- 95 of them have read Clyde Love (or the equivalent if one exists)

If you can read french, there's also a very good book by former french world champion Bertrand Romanet called "Tout le squeeze". I think that the 450 pages of this book (written between 1954 and 1966, and acclaimed by many experts like Reese or Chiaradia then) are still worth a read. That was one of the first books I ever read when I started playing bridge, and well, I found it so beautiful that I read it at least 20 times.

 

The book is still available in France.