Some column appearances

Minor appearance in the NY Times bridge column this week.

And, while I'm at it, here's one from May. Read more!

Signal Jamming

From Philly LM Pairs 1st Semi, Board 7 (both Vul), hands rotated:

QJ875
KJ5
A4
QJ7

KT2
AQ63
KQ53
65

1N-3N

Lead: C8

The opponents play 4th best from suits they like, udca, odd-even, and original smith.

You win trick one in dummy while RHO plays the ten. It seems clear that LHO started with AK98 of clubs (and maybe a 5th or 6th; I guess I don't know if the CT was count or attitude). What do you do?

 [My html hack for expanding posts doesn't seem to be working any more, so stop here if you want to make a plan before reading on.]

There's a technical line for making 9 tricks, which may be right at matchpoints: if LHO has SA and 4 diamonds to go with 5 clubs, he'll be squeezed out of the setting trick on the run of the hearts and you can then set up spades. This obviously also succeeds if clubs are 4-4 all along.

It might also be right to play RHO for SA and try to steal a trick. If he has enough of them, leading SQ at trick 2 might induce a duck fearing stiff K with partner.

 But, I don't think either of these lines is right at matchpoints. Our strong NT style is a hair lighter than some, and not everyone will avoid the 5-3 spade fit (though I agree with North's action -- note that it's a clear winner on a non-club lead for starters). So most of the field rates to be plus 620 and we need to try to take 10 tricks.

[Last chance to ponder once more]

The best line I could come up with is to place RHO with SA and try to create a difficult-to-read smith situation. So I led D4 to the K (RHO played the 2 and LHO the 7 -- if LHO had the 2 I may have switched plans). This was as I hoped: from RHO's point of view, there were 2 outstanding spots lower than the seven, making the card difficult to read. I then led a spade to the Q and Ace.  I also liked that I blocked 2 suits, which is a little counter-intuitive and may be harder for the defense to work out.  Sure enough, RHO took some time to think...

 ... and led a club. Down 1.

In retrospect, it's a bit hard to imagine a layout from RHO's point of view where a club was wrong.  Perhaps I should have tried one of the other lines and at least secured a plus score. Read more!

A Deep Finesse Gem

From the LM Pairs in Philly, 2nd Semi board 7 (hands rotated):

      T72
      J32
      K
      AK9764
KQ43        65
T9654       AQ7
952         QT76
8           J532
      AJ98
      K8
      AJ843
      QT

Deep Finesse asserts that 3N is cold. Try to work it out on the HT lead around to the HK. Hints later. Read more!

Play or Defend?

♠	A Q 7 3 2
♥	A Q 6
♦	5 2
♣	K 10 7
♠
♥	K 7 5 4 3
♦	8 7 6 4 3
♣	A 9 4

The South hand was given to me as a "pure bidding problem", but this turned out to be a very interesting play hand.  At IMPs, would you overcall after 1♦ on your right?  Does it matter whether partner is a passed hand or not, or what the colors are?

FWIW, I think I would basically always overcall.  LHO makes a negative double, and you wind up in 4♥.

Anyway, say you receive the lead of the stiff ♦K.  RHO is 4=2=5=2 with ♠K and a club honor.   Would you rather play or defend?

Here's one way to make on a guard squeeze with a delayed duck element:  they play a trump at trick 2, you win in dummy, play another diamond, they play another trump.  Now ruff a spade, ruff a diamond, ruff a spade, draw the last trump (pitching a spade) to come down to:

♠	A Q
♥
♦
♣	K 10 7
♠
♥
♦	8 7
♣	A 9 4

RHO must keep 2 spades or the queen is good.  If he bares his club honor, his partner is exposed to a finesse, so he must be down to one diamond.  Duck a diamond (the 8, of course) and you have the rest.

Since you're out of trumps, the ♠A is a key card:  you need to hold that to keep control of the suit lest RHO come down to one diamond but be able to cash the SK when thrown in.

You also can't rectify the count in any way since every card in dummy is busy.

I have not checked with deep finesse, but I believe the defense can break this up.  How?  Answer below...

The hint is in the position requirements I pointed out.  One approach is to attack the ♠A:  after winning trick one, LHO can lead a spade.  You play *low* and ruff, and play a 2nd diamond.  If RHO wins this, there's not much he can do except play a red card which puts declarer in control of reaching the desired end position.  But, what if LHO ruffs the 2nd diamond to lead another spade?  Not good enough:  declarer can ruff in hand, ruff a diamond, and overtake a trump to get back to hand and play the last trump.

So that fails.  What about rectifying the count for declarer?  By playing trumps twice, the defense can eliminate dummy's trump winners. Now when declarer goes to ruff a diamond, LHO can ruff in front of dummy for the defense's third trick.  This breaks up the squeeze position above:  declarer can still arrange to ruff a diamond but then dummy is squeezed before RHO.

However, it looks like declarer has another resource:  LHO can't break the club suit and so must play a spade when in with his last trump.  Declarer ruffs that, ruffs a diamond, ruffs a 3rd spade and now dummy is good.

But why can't LHO break the club suit?  Declarer had to pitch one on the ruffed 3rd diamond, so in fact LHO could break clubs, and declarer is an entry shy.

Maybe declarer can counter this by arranging to ruff 2 spades before playing the 3rd diamond?  Now the defense declines to ruff, and declarer has only the ♣A as reentry.  But, that card is also essential to the squeeze position as it gives force to the delayed duck menace.

So, actually, in the end I think the defense can survive with an unusual ruff in front of dummy to squeeze  dummy play. Read more!

GIB shows how it's done

BBO's robot bridge player, GIB, did nicely on this hand:

	♠ J 10 5 3
	♥ 5 2
	♦ Q 9 7
	♣ 10 5 4 3
♠ A K Q 7 4		♠ 9 2
♥ 8 3		♥ Q 10 9 7 4
♦ 10 6 5 4 3 2		♦ 8
♣		♣ A J 7 6 2
	♠ 8 6
	♥ A K J 6
	♦ A K J
	♣ K Q 9 8

After an uncontested auction to 3N, West led a top spade and cashed 2 more (heart shakes), then switched to a diamond. Next declarer played ♣K which was ducked.

The hand is virtually double-dummy, so go ahead and try it that way.

It looks like you have enough tricks, but you're a bit shy of entries. Say you cross to ♦Q to cash ♠J, what are you going to pitch? If you pitch a heart or club and then lead some club, East will hop up and stick you in your hand in the suit you just pitched.

The answer is to cash both diamonds, ending in dummy, and only then ♠J. Now East is squeezed first and must unguard a secondary honor, setting up a trick for you. Now pitch the other menace and set up your top club. For example, if East pitches a heart, your jack will be good so pitch a low club and lead a club.

It seem the defense could have broken this up by playing a 4th spade earlier.  That does break up the squeeze, but instead gives you an extra entry which is just as good. Read more!

Progressive Triple Squeeze

I was throwing some cards around on BBO and almost without realizing it executed a progressive triple squeeze:

	♠ K 8 5 3
	♥ J 9
	♦ K 10 9 5 3
	♣ Q 7
♠ Q 9 7 4		♠ J 10
♥ 10 4 3 2		♥ K 7 6
♦ Q J 4		♦ 7 6 2
♣ K 6		♣ A J 5 3 2
	♠ A 6 2
	♥ A Q 8 5
	♦ A 8
	♣ 10 9 8 4

I received a ♠4 lead after an uncontested auction to 2NT. I allowed East to win, and he proceeded to lead a low club and the defense cashed 3 clubs as West pitched a heart and dummy a diamond.

Next, a spade was led. I won this in dummy and played ♥J, covered and won. What does West do on the ♣10?

In practice, he pitched a spade, giving me an extra trick in that suit. Now ♠A, ♦AK, ♠8 subjects him to a subsequent red suit squeeze.

Pitching from either red suit would have given up 2 tricks immediately, though neither 2-trick threat was necessary.  After a diamond pitch, play the same way except cash one good diamond for a major suit squeeze.  After a heart pitch, the extra heart winner inflicts a diamond-spade squeeze. Read more!

Test Your Play

From a KO match

♠	5
♥	A Q 10 8 6 2
♦	10 5 2
♣	K 5 3
♠	A J 7 2
♥	K J
♦	K J 8
♣	J 10 6 2

South	West	North	East
			1 ♠
Pass	1 NT	2 ♥	3 ♦
3 NT	All Pass

♦4 led, RHO plays the Ace and another diamond. Say you try the Jack and it loses to the Queen, a 3rd diamond coming back. Now what? Hearts are not 5-0.

Answer below...



RHO has apparently bid a bit crazily, and must have the ♠KQ and the ♣A, and probably the ♣Q. So, run hearts as RHO pitches 3 low spades and 2 low clubs to get to this 4 card ending:

♠	5
♥
♦
♣	K 5 3
♠	A J
♥
♦
♣	J 10

Now play a low club from dummy. RHO can win his Ace and cash a diamond, then you have the rest. A delayed-duck squeeze.

The only way you might even go wrong is if declarer is 6142 and pitches a diamond and a club and 3 spades. You might guess to throw him in with a spade hoping to score ♣K, but will be disappointed.

Read more!

Rosenblum trump compound

[Andy]  It's my turn to blog on Franco's favorite subject.  The following is what will most likely be the most famous hand from the Rosenblum final.  (It was described in the NY Times today also, although I didn't see it online there yet.)

	♠ A 6 3
	♥ K J
	♦ A K 4 2
	♣ K 4 3 2
♠ Q J 4 2		♠ 10 9 7 5
♥ 8 3		♥ Q 9 2
♦ Q 8 7 6 5		♦ 10 3
♣ 9 8		♣ Q J 10 6
	♠ K 8
	♥ A 10 7 6 5 4
	♦ J 9
	♣ A 7 5

Zia got to 6♥ and received the ♠Q lead.  He found an elegant line, cashing his winners and taking 3 ruffs in his hand, then exiting with his last club.  In the end position he could claim regardless of the location of the ♥Q.

Moss and Gitelman did one better, though, arriving in 7♥.  I'm not sure what happened, unless Gitelman intentionally bid a grand on a blackwood auction in hopes that the opening lead would reveal the trump Q.  (This is a somewhat well-known trick, but definitely pretty gutsy in the last quarter of a world championship final that you are winning!)  Anyway, Rodwell did lead a trump, and Moss won the trump A, played trump to K, spade to K, drew the last trump, ruffed the third round of diamonds, played the second to last trump, unblocked clubs, and played the last trump to achieve a double squeeze (spades being the double threat suit).

That was very well done.  Let's take a look at the hand from a theoretical point of view.

With a reasonable number of entries, compound squeeze principles suggest that the contract should be makeable if one positional threat can be found.  It seems natural to hope that suit is diamonds, since declarer can isolate it, and the club threat needs to be in his hand.  Moss' line probably would not have worked had Rodwell held something like ♠J x x  ♥x x  ♦Q x x x x ♣ Q 10 x.  Rodwell would probably unguard spades and keep clubs in that layout, and Moss would not have the timing to unblock the ♠A to achieve a double squeeze around clubs.  (This is necessary since the extra spade winner gives Rodwell an idle card.)

So to achieve full compound generality, declarer appears to need to preserve the ♠K in his hand.  Perhaps declarer could take the diamond ruff before drawing the last trump.  This would leave two entries in both black suits and guarantee a working compound position as long as Rodwell held at least 4 diamonds.  Of course, it might lose if diamonds were 6-1 and RHO could ruff.  It might also lose if LHO overruffs in a position where there was just a minor suit squeeze against RHO the whole time.

An intriguing variant is to start the way Moss did, but play the 4th trump before taking the diamond ruff.  I think that also guarantees the ability to make the contract any time LHO has at least 4 diamonds.  The triple squeeze part of the compound is achieved at that point, since there is a ruff-out threat in diamonds.  Then, if LHO unguards spades at that point and declarer can read it, he can unblock the ♠A before taking the diamond ruff.  If LHO guards spades then the play continues as it actually did at the table.  Cool! Read more!

Another Compound

Dlr E
Vul NS
IMPs

	♠ A 8 7 3
	♥ A Q 10 2
	♦ K 7 6 5
	♣ 6
	♠ K 2
	♥ K J 8 7
	♦ A J
	♣ A K Q 10 4

West	North	East	South
		3♣	3NT
5♣	6♣	Pass	7NT
All Pass

♣3 led. RHO puts up the Jack. How do you play?

FWIW, RHO is an honest customer, LHO not so much. You can confirm this by playing another club.

My line and further analysis is below.



I tested one more club and LHO pitched ♠4 (I pitched ♠3 from dummy). Then 4 rounds of hearts, LHO following up the line, while RHO pitched ♣7, ♠5, then ♦4.

There's definitely a squeeze available at this point, but I still haven't committed to which one to play for. ♠K drew the Jack from RHO and 6 from LHO. Now I can afford another club before making up my mind: LHO pitched ♠9 while RHO followed with the 5. This is the ending:


 

	♠ A 8
	♥
	♦ K 7 6
	♣
	♠ 2
	♥
	♦ A J
	♣ 10 4

RHO is down to a club stopper and 3 pointed cards. If he started with 4 spades (and so still has that suit stopped), LHO made a very tricky pitch from 3=4=5=1 at trick 2 (and again on the last trick). Not to mention that the aggressive 3♣ opening seems much more likely with 4 diamonds than 4 spades. So, I played a spade to the Ace, and when RHO showed out I claimed: he must pitch his diamond guard here, then ♦A, ♣10 squeezes LHO in diamonds and spades.

If I had thought that RHO guarded spades but not diamonds, then ♦K, ♦A, ♣10 would effect a similar squeeze.

Technically this was just a double squeeze (LHO guards spades, RHO guards clubs, both guard diamonds), but if RHO had started 3=1=3=6 it would have been a true compound (a Type-R Unrestricted).

How about the defense?

East is going to need to make 2 pitches on the hearts, and then declarer is going to need to guess which of the pointed suits East still guards. If, as on the actual hand, East pitches one from each suit, he'd better not have started 3=3 or declarer cannot go wrong. On the other hand, even though East has had to make 2 pitches, always pitching one from each reveals nothing about which suit started longer. If West also pitches one from each suit (he has to make 2 pitches on clubs), declarer faces a straight guess (ignoring the auction), even though this is (or at least looks like) an unrestricted compound.

In compensation, if East did start 3=3, he must pitch 2 from a single suit, and declarer will almost always go right by playing that suit to now be unguarded. When East is actually pitching 2 from a 5 card suit (which he should do instead of 1 from each), declarer should normally go wrong (3-3 vs 5-1 is 25:3 a priori, though knowing an opponent's preempting style might be enough to overcome that).

I guess when the layout is such that it's not a true compound, just a double, that the position-tightening does not actually put anyone under pressure and so it makes sense that proper discarding reveals virtually nothing. There's always a double squeeze present, but it's more or less a toss up as to which to play for if both defenders are perfect. In contrast, when it is a true compound, East is squeezed twice and his discards are much more revealing, making it around 80% that declarer gets it right even against perfect defenders.

Obviously in practice a psuedo-squeeze is much more likely than this layout and West should be minimizing the chance of screwing that up.

Some minor technical points:

1. I should not have played a club at trick 2. RHO might not appreciate what is going on and if he pitches 2 clubs I'm spared any guess.

2. If I do play a club, I might as well pitch a heart. LHO might have trouble pitching from a 4 card holding in diamonds or spades. Also, I might as well play a 3rd (but not a 4th!). This gets more information from LHO early, without really helping RHO much if at all.

3. When crossing back to hand, I should probably use ♦A in case the ♦Q has been bared.

Finally, the ♦J was not strictly necessary, but it does help slightly in constraining the defense. Earlier I suggested that LHO pitching a spade early (and another later) from 3=4=5=1 would be tricky. This follows the general "principle" (technically this principle is false, but that's another post) of not waiting to the last possible moment to release a guard if you're squeeze. Since West is going to be squeezed in diamonds and spades later in the hand, if he anticipates this he has a good chance of leading declarer astray by pitching from his shorter suit early. However, thanks to the ♦J, he actually can't get away with pitching 2 diamonds (he started with Qxx). At double dummy the clash menace is irrelevant, but at single dummy it puts additional constraints on the defense and may make reading the position slightly easier.




The BBO record is here.

Read more!

Finesse played as a suicide compound

	♠ A 10 3
	♥ A 4 2
	♦ Q 7 6 2
	♣ A 9 8
♠ Q 9 2		♠ J 7 5 4
♥ 6 5		♥ J 10 9 8
♦ A K J 10 5		♦ 8 3
♣ Q 10 2		♣ J 5 3
	♠ K 8 6
	♥ K Q 7 3
	♦ 9 4
	♣ K 7 6 4

West	North	East	South
1♦	1NT	Pass	2♣
Pass	2♦	Pass	3NT
All Pass

♥J led. I ran this to my ace and crossed to dummy with another heart to lead a diamond. The Q was allowed to hold, then I exited a diamond. When West ran diamonds, East had to pitch 2 more black cards in this ending:

	♠ A 10 3
	♥
	♦
	♣ A 9 8
♠ Q 9 2		♠ ? ? ?
♥		♥ 10 9
♦		♦
♣ Q 10 2		♣ ? ? ?
	♠ K 8
	♥ Q 7
	♦
	♣ K 7

East must unguard a black suit. Win West's continuation with a king in dummy, then cross in the suit East doesn't guard and back to dummy's remaining K. One of these tricks will squeeze East again in the other black suit and hearts, then ♥Q will squeeze West in the black suits.

As shown, West could defeat this by exiting without cashing all diamonds. In practice, though, I held ♠J (you did notice the very light 1NT overcall, right?) and could always fall back on that finesse.

The BBO record is here.

Read more!

Which squeeze?

Matchpoints

	♠ 3
	♥ Q J 4 3
	♦ A Q J 4
	♣ K 9 3 2
	♠ A K Q 10 6 4
	♥ K 5
	♦ K 5 2
	♣ A 7

You're declaring 3N against a diamond lead from a defender very fond of passive leads. You win, play a heart to the K and Ace, and a club comes back. How do you play for 12 tricks? Let's assume that the defense isn't very deep; the inferences from not ducking HA or not leading a 2nd heart are too complex.

Discussion below...




You might as well run diamonds and come down to:

	♠ 3
	♥ Q J 4
	♦
	♣ K 9 3
	♠ A K Q 10 6
	♥ 5
	♦
	♣ 7

No chances have been eliminated by doing this. From here, I'm pretty sure nothing is given up by cashing hearts, either (since only one player can guard that suit). After that, there's a fork, though:

[All lines work when the spades split or SJ falls, both have some vig for 5-2 clubs and a club-something squeeze]

a) test spades, then hope for a double squeeze around clubs. Requires long heart on left, long spade on right.

b) cash CA, then hope for spades and hearts in the same hand.

[If someone shows out on hearts, play RHO for spade length (likely if he's short in hearts, necessary if he's long) and choose accordingly]

How do you compare majors divided in a specific way vs majors together but in either hand? See Rubens's latest book. Perhaps I'll come back later and work it out in detail, but I'm pretty sure line b comes out slightly ahead.

For example, assume both red suits are 3-3. Then spades, if they don't split, are very likely to be 4-2. That would make it 5:3 that the odd heart is in the other hand, but that only works when it's hearts-left-spades-right-not-vice-versa, which cuts the odds to 2.5:3. But, it gets a bit closer after accounting for 5-1 spades.


Read more!

Test Your Play Again -- solution

I posted this recently:

Matchpoints, favorable.

	♠ 3 2
	♥ Q 9 4 3
	♦ K
	♣ K Q 10 9 3 2
	♠ A Q J 6 4
	♥ J
	♦ A 9 5 2
	♣ A 8 7

This is slightly modified from a hand I played on Saturday. LHO opened 1♠, RHO passes, and you wind up in 3N. ♠10 led, RHO shows out, pitching a diamond. When you play a club to the king, everyone follows.

How do you play?

Seems like LHO must have all the major suit honors. So you could try running all your minor suit winners to come down to a 4 card ending, then exit a heart to lose 2 hearts but score 2 spades at the end, for 11 tricks total.

However, even if LHO has both heart honors, the defense might be able to defeat this plan. How do you counter?

Answer below...



The problem is that LHO can pitch a heart winner in order to hold a diamond link to partner, who will have some good diamonds left. So, after ♣K (in case they're 4-0), unblock ♦K and play a heart. LHO can't cash 2 hearts or your 11th trick is established, but the position becomes a trick tighter. In the 3 card ending LHO must keep 2 spades and the other heart winner, and now it will be safe to throw him in.

In practice, one of my small diamonds was a heart. I played this way and successfully executed the endplay, but I could have almost as well just established a heart trick.

Read more!

Test Your Play Again

Matchpoints, favorable

	♠ 3 2
	♥ Q 9 4 3
	♦ K
	♣ K Q 10 9 3 2
	♠ A Q J 6 4
	♥ J
	♦ A 9 5 2
	♣ A 8 7

This is slightly modified from a hand I played on Saturday. LHO opened 1♠, RHO passes, and you wind up in 3N. ♠10 led, RHO shows out, pitching a diamond. When you play a club to the king, everyone follows.

How do you play?



Read more!

Test Your Play -- solution

	♠ A J 7 4 3 2
	♥ Q
	♦ A 10 2
	♣ J 4 2
	♠ 10
	♥ A K 10 6 4 2
	♦ K Q 9 5
	♣ 10 7

West	North	East	South
			1♥
Pass	1♠	Pass	2♦
Pass	3♣	Dbl	3♥
Pass	4♥	All Pass

Let's say the defense starts 3 rounds of clubs as you ruff (LHO started with Axx; for purposes of this problem you can assume RHO has 5 clubs) and all follow to the ♥Q. Now what?

As discussed yesterday, I crossed back with a low diamond to play 2 more trumps, RHO pitching a club on the 3rd round. That left this ending:

	♠ A J 7 4
	♥
	♦ A 10
	♣
	♠ 10
	♥ 10 6
	♦ Q 9 5
	♣

It seems like you basically have to pick up diamonds, and that playing for 3-3 or Jx is best, but I figured that I didn't have to do that right away. So, I tried ♦A (both follow, no J), ♠A and ruffing a spade. RHO followed with the king and the eight. Seems awfully likely that he has KQ87, so I exited my last trump, pitching the blocking ♦10 and endplaying LHO.

The main hint is "the blocking ♦10". Say I had unblocked that card at trick 5, leaving a very slightly different end position:

	♠ A J 7 4
	♥
	♦ A 2
	♣
	♠ 10
	♥ 10 6
	♦ Q 9 5
	♣

Now you have a much better option: ♠A, spade ruff, ♦A, spade ruff.

Case 1: LHO follows to 3 spades, and must be 3=4=3=3, so cash your diamond and concede trick 13.

Case 2: LHO only has 2 spades. Now she has 2 losing options: overruff and lead a diamond into your tenace, or pitch a diamond, allowing you to complete your elopement.

But, I think you can do better still. See below.



Basically, if RHO shows up with heart length, you'll probably regret unblocking ♦10. So, I think the best line is to not touch diamonds, but cross back to hand with a spade ruff. Now if LHO shows up with heart length, play along similar lines. If RHO shows up with heart length, then if he had a stiff spade play for 3-3 diamonds. If not, play ♦K and hook ♦10. If RHO started with 2425 with both red jacks, you'll go down.

Read more!

Test Your Play

	♠ A J 7 4 3 2
	♥ Q
	♦ A 10 2
	♣ J 4 2
	♠ 10
	♥ A K 10 6 4 2
	♦ K Q 9 5
	♣ 10 7

West	North	East	South
			1♥
Pass	1♠	Pass	2♦
Pass	3♣	Dbl	3♥
Pass	4♥	All Pass

Let's say the defense starts 3 rounds of clubs as you ruff (LHO started with Axx; for purposes of this problem you can assume RHO has 5 clubs) and all follow to the ♥Q. Now what?

I think there's a great line, including at least one very pretty variant. A sort of hint is below the fold: the inferior line I actually took.




I crossed back with a low diamond to play 2 more trumps, RHO pitching a club on the 3rd round. That left this ending:

	♠ A J 7 4
	♥
	♦ A 10
	♣
	♠ 10
	♥ 10 6
	♦ Q 9 5
	♣

It seems like you basically have to pick up diamonds, and that playing for 3-3 or Jx is best, but I figured that I didn't have to do that right away. So, I tried ♦A (both follow, no J), ♠A and ruffing a spade. RHO followed with the king and the eight. Seems awfully likely that he has KQ87, so I exited my last trump, pitching the blocking ♦10 and endplaying LHO.

More on Tuesday.

Read more!

All the compound squeezes

I've spent a lot of time enumerating and trying to name various squeezes. Here's a quick summary of all the compound squeezes (pure, without trumps), just based on naming conventions. I think a name should contain enough information to specify the whole squeeze. Concise names should do little more, but as squeezes get more hairy it can be nice to have some redundancy. Here, I'm trying to be concise. This might be (i.e. probably is) only useful to me.

1. There are type-R (2 double threats opposite a lone basic menace), type-L (1 double threat opposite a basic menace and an adjacent double threat), and Alternate Threat (like type-L, except the adjacent double threat suit also has an alternate threat in the other hand). In both cases, one hand has only one menace, designated the "lone" menace.

2. Type-R and Type-L can be restricted or unrestricted. Unrestricted basically means that the lone menace is recessed -- this makes room for idle cards opposite so you can run the free suit.

3. The standard "basic" menace (i.e. guarded by one opponent who is under the menace) is just a 1 card menace. If an entry is required, it might become "2-card", i.e. Ax/x. Recessing is often required to make room in the other hand, this can make a 1-card a 2-card-non-communicating (2CNC, Ax/-), or a 2-card a "recessed" (AKx/x). If an entry is required to the opposite hand, it can become "blocked" (xx/A), or "twin-entry" (Axx/Kx).

4. The standard double menace in a pure compound is a 2-card (Ax/x). This can be recessed to make room opposite, or twin-entry to add an entry opposite. A 3-card might also be necessary (AKx/xx, where both entries are important -- contrast with "recessed"). In alternate-threat squeezes, either a 2C or a 3C might need an alternate threat: 2-card-alt (Ax/xx) or 3-card-alt (AKx/xxx).

There are 2 double menaces in a compound squeeze. In a type-L, one is "adjacent" to the basic menace and the other is "opposite". In a type-R, both are opposite. Often one of them needs some extra feature, but it doesn't matter which has it (since it's symmetrical).

5. The free suit is normally 2 winners with the lone menace. In an unrestricted squeeze, they both might be opposite; these positions are called "adjoints". Sometimes, a late entry is used in the free suit -- these have "balanced" free suits, such as AK/xx (Ax/Kx also fine). Sometimes the penultimate free winner needs to be in the opposite hand, a "blocked free suit" (though again Ax/Kx would work fine).

In my naming convention, the type (R/L/alternate) describes the basic layout of the menaces and minimum necessary (but not sufficient) entries (see row I, II, and II-C). "Unrestricted" says something about the lone menace: that it has an extra winner without (necessarily) a corresponding link opposite. But, each basic family potentially has some additional entry requirements that are satisfied by upgrading one or more standard menaces. The type of upgrade and the upgraded menace(s) constitutes the rest of the name.   Often specifying which menace is upgraded is redundant, but still helpful.

In hand diagrams, spades is always basic and in North (guarded only in West), clubs is always free, and the red suits are always double menaces, guarded by both opponents (diamonds is always opposite, in South; hearts might be in either hand). An 'o' designates an idle card.

In the outline, every line using arabic numerals corresponds to a distinct compound, where as long as East can't stop spades, declarer can take the rest (might also require that the hand with CA is on lead).

I. Type-R (implies at least x/x/x/AK opposite -/Ax/Ax/o)

    A.  Unrestricted (implies spades is 2CNC or recessed: Ax/- or AKx/x)

• requires a reentry to the basic hand, could be in basic suit (B) or one of the double menaces opposite (O). Free suit (F) not possible since it's cashed first.

          1.  Type-R Unrestricted Recessed basic
               AKx/x/x/AK opp x/Ax/Ax/oo

          2.  Type-R Unrestricted Twin-entry opposite
               Ax/Kx/x/AK opp -/Axx/Ax/oo

• both of the above could be "adjoint", with the free winners in the other hand.
• If the free suit is blocked, play is harder but nothing extra needed.

   B. Restricted

• requires a reentry to the basic hand, could be in B, O, or F:

          3.  Type-R Restricted Two-card basic
               Ax/x/x/AK opp x/Ax/Ax/o

          4.  Type-R Restricted Twin-entry opposite
               x/Kx/x/AK opp -/Axx/Ax/o

          5.  Type-R Restricted Balance free suit (implies 2CNC basic)
               Ax/x/x/AK opp -/Ax/Ax/xx

II. Type-L (implies at least x/Ax/x/o opposite -/x/Ax/AK)

   A. Unrestricted (implies diamonds is recessed, AKx/x)

          6. Type-L Unrestricted (already fully specified)
              x/Ax/x/oo opp -/x/AKx/AK

• has an adjoint with free winners in the other hand.
• If the free suit is blocked, requires a reentry to the long free suit winner (3 possibilities if you include xx/AKQx as a possible double menace.)

   B. Restricted (implies diamonds is *not* recessed)

• Requires a Spade/Heart reentry to the free suit after cashing HA, plus a late Spade/Diamond entry to give force to the basic menace (and now entry-less heart menace). All 4 combos ([S|H]-[S|D]) work:

          RFL squeezes:
          7. Type-L Restricted Twin-entry basic (both entries in spades)
              Axx/Ax/x/o opp Kx/x/Ax/AK

          8. Type-L Restricted Two-card basic, Twin entry adjacent
              Ax/Axx/x/o opp x/Kx/Ax/AK

          B1-Twin-entry squeezes:
          9.  Type-L Restricted Blocked basic, Twin entry opposite
               xx/Ax/Kx/o opp A/x/Axx/AK

         10. Type-L Restricted Twin entries adjacent and opposite
               x/Axx/Kx/o opp -/Kx/Axx/AK

   C. Alternate threat (implies at least Ax/Ax/x/o opp -/xx/Ax/AK)

• SA is in the way when West unguards diamonds, need an entry to clear it while still retaining a heart winner (the SA itself is required to make room for the alternate threat). This entry can be in any suit (but if in the free suit, requires a reentry to South):

          11. Type-L Alternate Recessed basic
                AKx/Ax/x/o opp x/xx/Ax/AK

          12. Type-L Alternate 3-card-alt adjacent
                Ax/AKx/x/o opp -/xxx/Ax/AK

          13. Type-L Alternate Twin-entry opposite
                Ax/Ax/Kx/o opp -/xx/Axx/AK

          14. Type-L Alternate 3-card opp w/blocked free suit
                Ax/Ax/xx/A opp -/xx/AKx/KQ

• In 14, the free suit blockage is essential.  In 11-13, there are some blocked free suit variants not shown.

To recap:

[Note that in restricted squeezes, the common pattern is to cash one free winner, potentially need to do some stuff ending in the other hand, and then need a reentry to the free suit. I strive to only use "reentry" to refer to getting back to the free suit.]

Type-R unrestricted needs a reentry: basic (1) or opposite (2). Adjoints possible.
Type-R restricted needs a reentry: basic (3), opposite (4), or free (5).
Type-L unrestricted needs nothing more (6). Adjoint possible.
Type-L restricted can be an RFL needing a spade (L) entry plus a reentry in spades (7) or hearts (8); or it can have a twin-entry opposite + reentry in spades (9) or hearts (10).
Type-L alternate-threat (implicitly restricted) can have an entry to the basic hand in any suit: 11-14.

I believe that's all of the pure compounds: 14 distinct positions, plus 3 adjoints (plus maybe 2 or 3 variants on a type-L unrestricted w/blocked free suit, and some alternate threat blocked free suit variants).  In most cases, the free suit being blocked is not a big deal, I don't treat those as separate positions.

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PP 2nd Final Board 26

Board 26
Dlr E
Vul Both

	♠ A 4 3 2
	♥ J 9 7
	♦ Q 10 2
	♣ A 8 2
♠ Q 10 6		♠ K J 8
♥ 6 5 4 3		♥ A K Q 2
♦ K 9 4		♦ A J 5 3
♣ Q J 7		♣ 6 5
	♠ 9 7 5
	♥ 10 8
	♦ 8 7 6
	♣ K 10 9 4 3

Franco	North	Andy	South
		1♦	Pass
1NT	Pass	3NT	All Pass

I suppressed my heart suit and it worked out great.  North, understandably, did not lead a club and I was able to score 10 tricks for 13/17.  +620 was 7.5/17.  2 pairs managed +650. 

Of course, give North a natural club lead and things might have gone differently.






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PP 2nd Final Board 25

This is the deal that could have wound up haunting me for the rest of my life.  I certainly thought we were in contention at this point (I had underappreciated some of our earlier bad results) and faced this annoying problem:


Board 25
Dlr N
Vul E-W

♠ K Q 5		♠ J 10 6 4
♥ A K 6 3 2		♥ 8
♦ 10 9		♦ A K J 7 6 4
♣ J 8 3		♣ A 5

Franco	North	Andy	South
	Pass	1♦	1♥
3NT	All Pass

Lead:  ♣K -- a "power" lead.

How do you play?



The "normal" option seems to be win the 1st or 2nd club, maybe cash a diamond (you can pick up stiff Q or stiff 8, take your pick), then cross in hearts, cash your other heart winner lest it be stranded, and take a diamond hook. If diamonds come in, you have 9 tricks. If not, you're down several, probably 5.

Given the overcall and the power club lead, I decided to cash 2 diamonds. Against the previous line, this seems to gain whenever the Q is offside (I go down many fewer if it's 3rd, and make otherwise), break even if it's onside doubleton, and only loses when the Q is onside 3rd. Even without the overcall, this still seems like the right line to me.  

In fact, everyone followed low to both diamonds and I led a spade, RHO hopped Ace and led clubs. Clubs were 4-4 so I wasn't down yet. North, cruelly, teased me by playing a spade back. Now I thought I had a red-suit squeeze, but alas not and I was down 1.

This was worth 3.5 instead of 8.5 for making 3.  The full deal:

	♠ 9 8 7 3
	♥ J 5
	♦ Q 5 2
	♣ K Q 10 6
♠ K Q 5		♠ J 10 6 4
♥ A K 6 3 2		♥ 8
♦ 10 9		♦ A K J 7 6 4
♣ J 8 3		♣ A 5
	♠ A 2
	♥ Q 10 9 7 4
	♦ 8 3
	♣ 9 7 4 2

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PP 2nd Final Board 24

Board 24
Dlr W
Vul None

[Andy] You pick up:
♠K 8 7 5 3 2 ♥9 3 ♦A 8 ♣ 10 5 3

and hear partner open a 15-17 1NT. In addition to the standard transfer auctions, you also have the option of bidding 2♣-2red-2♠, which shows a light invitation based on distributional values rather than HCP. (But only promising 5 spades, so partner will not act with less than 3-card support.)

a) What do you do?
b) What do you expect the field action on this hand to be?



Possible actions on this hand include anything from signing off to just leaping to game. At IMPs, I think I would choose the stayman followed by 2♠ option. You stop at the 2 level when not bidding game, and likely get to game the times that it is right. I didn't think this was the right choice at matchpoints though, because there is so much chance that siding the contract incorrectly could cost a trick (on opening lead or otherwise).

So I knew I had to pick a transfer sequence. On general principle I hate light invite actions at matchpoints, as we could easily go down in 3♠. And that might be a complete disaster if partner had an atypical 1NT opening. Meanwhile, it didn't seem like game was likely to be great, so I took the low road and passed 2♠.

This choice was heavily punished as the full hand was:

	♠ Q
	♥ K 10 8 6
	♦ Q J 10 9
	♣ A J 9 7
♠ A J 10		♠ K 8 7 5 3 2
♥ A Q J		♥ 9 3
♦ 7 6 3 2		♦ A 8
♣ K Q 6		♣ 10 5 3
	♠ 9 6 4
	♥ 7 5 4 2
	♦ K 5 4
	♣ 8 4 2

Franco	North	Andy	South
1NT	Pass	2♥	Pass
2♠	All Pass

Partner not only had a HCP maximum, but also perfectly fitting cards and great trumps. Game is an extremely good contract. Even after the diamond lead and a losing heart finesse, 10 tricks still rolled in when the trump Q appeared.

We got 4.5 but had 11 available for bidding the game.

Afterwards, someone suggested that the field would all invite with this hand and if I knew I was winning the event at this point I should have been tempted to just try to duplicate the field action. In real life, I had no idea that I was winning -- indeed, when the event was over I figured we were probably third or something. Plus, I'm a little dubious of the argument. Enough of the field plays 14-16 NTs that duplicating their result would be impossible. (If partner has 14-16, they open 1NT and my hand passes; if partner has 17, they open a strong club or whatever and get to game. The range times out the worst for you when it centers around the borderline invite.)

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PP 2nd Final Board 23

Board 23
Dlr S
Vul Both

	♠ A 8 7 5
	♥ 6 3 2
	♦ K 8 3 2
	♣ 8 5
♠ Q J 2		♠ 4
♥ K Q 10 7 4		♥ A J 8
♦ 6 4		♦ 10 9 7
♣ K J 7		♣ Q 10 6 4 3 2
	♠ K 10 9 6 3
	♥ 9 5
	♦ A Q J 5
	♣ A 9

Franco	North	Andy	South
			1♠
Pass	3♠	Pass	4♠
All Pass

This was nearly a disaster.  3♠ was mixed and for some reason South brought it in.

I led the ♥K and then continued a suit-preference 4, when a count 10 would have been better.  Understandably, partner won and played a 3rd.  This allowed declarer to eliminate the hand and throw me in with the 3rd round of trumps to give up a ruff-sluff or lead away from my KJx in clubs.  I felt sick and led a club, but partner was nice enough to hold the ♣Q so down 1. 

+100 was worth 13/17.



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