This hand challenged two tables at the December 2002 Gaymsters Swiss. Looking at the North-South cards, 10 points facing 11, you wouldn't expect this collection to produce anything beyond a part score victory. And that's where this North-South pair let the bidding end. More often than not, it takes something in the neighborhood of 25 high card points to generate nine tricks at notrump.

Responding to his partner's heart bids, East began the defense with his better heart. From there, the remarkable lie of the cards produced an amazing result.

The Play

Click on the navigation buttons to step through the hand trick by trick. You can also click on "Click" to jump to a particular trick.

Click 1. The 8 floats around to the 9.
Click 2. Fully prepared to lose two diamonds in order to establish a diamond winner, declarer lays down the A, unexpectedly felling the Q.
Click 3. Reasoning that East would not toss the Q from Q 8, declarer runs 7. East's K brings declarer two-way transportation in the suit.
Click 4. East continues the hearts (no other lead is more fruitful).
Click 5. The 10 unexpectedly wins. (We play East for all the face cards since he did all the opposing bidding.)
Click 6. Low to the J also wins. (We're starting to like this hand.)
Click 7. A club from dummy obligates East to play low. If he flies with the A, we are guaranteed two club tricks. So the Q wins.
Click 8. We return to the dummy with one of our diamond winners. (Things are getting a bit close in the East hand.)
Click 9. We cash the A.
Click 10. Now the magic play: a simple diamond winner toward our hand.

At this point, dummy and declarer can each afford to keep three cards: North, the guarded K and the idle spade; South the guarded K and an idle club). But poor East, bearing the full weight of covering two suits, can't afford to keep an "out" card in both. This is a peculiar form of squeeze play in preparation for an end play.*

In the classic form of a squeeze, one defender holds a nearly established winner in each of two suits (for example: K Q, K Q against declarer's A J, A J). The defender is forced to unguard one suit or the other on a winner declarer holds in a third suit (the squeeze card, it's called). Declarer is then able to cash the freshly unguarded suit from the top down.

In today's example, East is squeezed out of a safe exit card and then endplayed. Seeing which card East tosses at trick ten, declarer is able to lead a small card of that suit at trick eleven, giving the bare-Aced defender the choice of cashing his remaining winner and then leading to declarer's winner, or performing these tricks other way around. Making four!

Imagine. Being stripped, squeezed, and end played by the same hand: what gayer set of cards could there be!

*Under the topic heading "Secondary Squeeze" The Bridge Encyclopedia refers to this as a squeeze throw-in or squeeze strip.