Improve Your Play #42

IMPROVE YOUR PLAY #42 with Larry Matheny

Most new players believe a squeeze is something only an expert can execute. In fact, some squeezes take place by merely playing your remaining trumps. Here is a good example.

Scoring: Matchpoints

Hand #42
Dlr	N
Vul	BOTH

	QJ
	Q1054
	J106
	AK87

	AK65
	2
	KQ72
	Q1054

	10432
	J3
	A8543
	96

	987
	AK9876
	9
	J32

West	North	East	South
			2
DBL	4	All Pass

BIDDING: South had a standard weak two bid and West made a takeout double. North's jump to 4

had two ways to win. First, it might make and second, there's a good chance the opponents could make a lot of spades.

PLAY: West led the ace and king of spades followed by the king of diamonds. He continued with a small diamond after receiving an encouraging card from his partner. East played the ace and declarer ruffed. Since he had lost three tricks, South had to avoid losing a club trick. There were two possibilities: 1) the queen was singleton or doubleton, or 2) West held the club queen along with the queen of diamonds. Declarer continued by ruffing his last spade and then played the remaining hearts. When the last trump was played, West had to discard from

Q105 while dummy was behind him with

AK8.

This was definitely an error by West. To avoid the squeeze, he must continue with the queen of diamonds leaving the ace in his partner's hand. Now the squeeze fails because West can discard his diamond and keep three clubs. Note that East-West can make 4