Jeff Lehman

Squeezing something out of a poor session

In an otherwise less-than-inspiring club session on January 9 morning at Temple Reyim, (begun with my getting greedy on our first board and going down one trick in a 3NT contract that I could have claimed at Trick 2, later compounded by playing in a part score on a good and making slam when a game forcing bid was passed, never being supported by an invitational-strength hand with no fewer than seven cards in the suit opened by partner, well … you get the picture, as we have all experienced similar sessions), I did, at least, get to execute two squeezes.  One was undefensible; the other needed, and received, help from the defenders.

On the first squeeze, I was faced with an interesting bidding problem.  How often does responder have to determine what to call with 15 HCP opposite a partner who has reversed?  I held

W
West
KQ1064
Q97
A
A1096

 

Partner opened 1 and I responded 1.  Partner now reversed 2.  What to bid?

We play standard lebensohl.  2 would have shown my fifth spade and would be forcing for one round; 2NT would be lebensohl, expecting partner to rebid 3, usually preparatory to a signoff by responder in any suit.  All other bids are game forcing.

In my more sophisticated-agreement partnerships, we have some additional agreements in this situation, that apply to responder’s auctions:  2NT, then 3NT shows 8-12 HCP and a strong preference for no trump; 3NT shows 8-12 HCP and a milder preference for no trump; and 4NT shows 12+ HCP and is natural.  Just two problems: (1) those agreements don’t apply to this partnership; and (2) 15 nice HCP is probably even too strong for the 4NT call.

2 would not be a misbid, but it was hard to see what it might accomplish, even if partner did show three spades.  I decided to stall with 2NT, just in case partner had an unusually red reverse and would rebid one of his suits.  No luck.  Partner rebid the expected 3 – doubled by South – and all that I had accomplished was to delay my problem.  I now bid 4NT.  I don’t think that 4NT can be keycard, when I have foregone an opportunity to establish a trump suit … but then that thinking might not be clear to partner.  Partner now bid 5.  Having no idea of what is partner’s hand and fearing he had no idea of my hand, I bid what I thought I can make, 6NT.

The 4 was led, and dummy was quite suitable.  (In fact, maybe I should have rebid 2, because then partner’s 3 third round bid would enable me to have conducted a less-obtuse auction, beginning with 4NT keycard at my third turn.)

W
West
KQ1064
Q97
A
A1096
4
E
East
A97
AK102
KQ1032
3

 

 

 

 

North is a pro with 18,000 masterpoints; South is a client, and a reasonable player.  South played the K at Trick 1.  I suspect that clubs are Q third or fourth opposite KJ fifth or fourth.  If spades run, I have twelve top tricks and some good chances for a thirteenth, and so it seemed prudent to win the first trick.

I played a spade to the ace and a spade to my king, North discarding a heart on the second spade.  I led a heart (the 9, actually, in case I wanted later to hook the T) to dummy’s king and took the marked spade finesse, to win a third and then a fourth spade.  North pitched a club and another heart, as I then pitched a diamond from dummy.  On the fifth spade, North pitched a diamond.  Noting the absence of diamond discards until after I had discarded a diamond from dummy, I discarded a second diamond from dummy.  South pitched a club.  Not wanting to give the defense an opportunity to signal the count in diamonds, I played the Q before the stiff A.  When everyone followed suit on the second round of hearts, I had accounted for all six hearts of the opponents: each opponent had followed to two rounds of hearts and North had discarded two hearts.  I led my last heart to dummy, claiming the last four tricks with the AT and the KQ.

 
9
E-W
North
N
North
3
J854
J9765
Q84
 
W
West
KQ1064
Q97
A
A1096
4
E
East
A97
AK102
KQ1032
3
 
S
South
J852
63
84
KJ752
 

 

The second squeeze was played against a Flight C pair.  As dealer, North opened 1, passed around to my 5, KJ8762, 76, KQ82.  I balanced with 2, and that became the final contract.

 

W
West
5
KJ8762
76
KQ82
A
E
East
Q9872
Q
AJ942
J6

 

North began with the A and then decided to continue with the K, establishing dummy’s Q as master as South followed suit with the 6 and then the T.  I led a club toward dummy and, although this play seems wrong to me, North flew with the A.  After a bit of thought, she continued with a club to dummy’s jack, South following suit.  I led the Q from dummy and South ruffed, errantly choosing to do so with the 9.  I overruffed with the J and led a heart to dummy’s Q, losing to South’s A.  South returned a club and North followed suit to my K.  When I cashed the K, I was pleased to see the appearance of the T from North.  I played out the rest of my hearts.  North having been dealt not only the marked J but also the KQ, she was squeezed and I managed ten tricks on the hand, losing only to three aces.  The defense had erred a few times, but it was still rewarding to take advantage, the whole hand being:

 

 
21
N-S
North
N
North
AKJ43
103
KQ
A1095
 
W
West
5
KJ8762
76
KQ82
A
E
East
Q9872
Q
AJ942
J6
 
S
South
106
A954
10853
743
 

 


2 Comments

Mark WhitmanJanuary 13th, 2015 at 6:28 pm

That’s one nice thing about having a blog. Even if you do miserably on all the other boards, as long as one board (or two) provides interesting fodder for a post, the session is still very worthwhile.

On the first hand, after you know spades will run, it seems to me that you want to play on diamonds. I think all the single and double squeezes will still operate even if you’ve already played three top diamonds (pitching clubs from your hand). I think you forced yourself to discard a potentially winning diamond before you knew for certain that the hearts would run. It would have been a shame if South held long hearts while the diamond jack was dropping all along.

I still don’t know whether 7 spades or 7NT is the best contract. Maybe you can even argue that 6NT is optimal in a club game where some tables may not bid a slam at all. If you had rebid 2 spades, maybe partner jumps to 4 spades and then you will likely reach 7.

Jeff LehmanJanuary 13th, 2015 at 7:18 pm

And the bad part about having a blog is that you publicize your not-best plays!

Mark, you are correct. Having two heart entries to dummy, I can simplify the position (and avoid having misread the cards) by unblocking the DA at Trick 4. THEN play the H9 to dummy’s high heart honor, play the two high diamonds, and take the proven spade finesse. Now when I play out the rest of my spades, North is caught in a show-up squeeze. If he had sole protection of both red suits, I will win the thirteenth trick in whatever red suit he unguards. And if he protects only diamonds, I have a chance at felling a doubleton HJ offside for a thirteenth trick. Sounds like a double-squeeze possibility, too, if, as will soon be known, North protects diamonds, South might be the only one protecting clubs (if North had discarded the CQ), thus there is no one to protect the pivot suit of hearts.

Actually, to me, the opening paragraph is not true at all, because, the way I look at matters, writing the blog was a means to learning how I could have played the hand better … something I might not otherwise have recognized.

Thanks for commenting.

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