Earlier today, I encountered an interesting hand that I felt merited an update to the blog.
As with most of my blog posts, this one revolves around the concepts of squeezes and end-plays.
Here is the hand record:
http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?myhand=M-18607264-1337512419
I opened 2 NT with the West hand (yeah, 19 HCP, 5 card H suit, I can see your sanctimonious shakes of the head. Cut it out, because that's not the point of this post). 2 NT was the final contract.
The opening lead was a diamond, and it's time to assess prospects.
4 hearts seem likely. Either a 3-2 break or 4-1 onside (with the obvious safety play) will guarantee me 4 heart tricks.2 clubs for sure, 3 club winners are there but there's an unblocking issue there. And there's the Ace of diamond.
All in all, prospects are OK, sort of. We can untangle 8 tricks if Hearts behave. They can untangle maybe 3 diamonds with a 4-3 break, 1 heart when we duck, and Ace-King of spade. So they have 6 and we have 8 if we manage to untangle clubs before they cash out. I can live with down 1, but it doesn't hurt to try to make the contract.
So I duck a couple of diamonds to disconnect the 2 hands in case diamonds are 4-3, and win the 3rd. So diamonds were 4-3, and North probably has the 13th diamond.
It's time for that "obvious" safety play in heart. Ace of heart, Heart towards dummy's 9 (picks up QJxx H onside. It's a bigger priority than unblocking clubs. I can afford to overtake a club to ensure 4 hearts, if the break was 4-1 onside).
North wins the 2nd heart, South following (so our 4 H tricks are ready to pick). North then cashes the 13th diamond (that's the 4th defensive trick), and exits the 9 of club. On the 13th diamond, I pitch a club in dummy (needing no more than 3), and a spade in hand (Dummy's ten of spade can guard the suit, for now. I don't want to let go of my precious winners; If they take their spades, good for them).
Of course, if North exited spade, we wouldn't have a blog post. But even with the club exit, we still have only 7 tricks since the clubs are still blocked.
The club 9 provides an idea. Since dummy's clubs are AT86, if we cover the 9 with the ten, South (not knowing you have KQ doubleton) might play the Jack and we could then overtake the club on the 2nd round in dummy and cash the good 8.
Good idea, so we play the Ten.
South is too smart for us, and ducks the ten of club and we are forced to win the Queen of club. Clubs are still blocked, do you see a path to 8 tricks at this point ? (I did, as soon as the 9 of club was led; Yeah, am being boastful, this is my blog, suck it up)
Scroll down for the reasoning.
I reasoned as follows. Someone has Jx or Jxx or so of clubs by current count of the suit (since they had lots of clubs). Probably is South. Regardless of which opponent it is, what happens when we cash out the 3 hearts, bringing ourselves down to:
S:QJ
C:K
Dummy:
S:T
C:AT
What can the opponent with Jx club do, if he/she also has a spade honor?
The spade honor will have to be bared.
Say that opponent has only one spade honor, example Kx spade.
So to keep Jx club, they have to bring themselves down to the bare Spade King.
Now, the 8th trick can be untangled. We unblock the club Queen, and exit the spade Queen. If the King is allowed to hold, then the last trick is scored by the club Ace in dummy. If the KS is overtaken by the Ace, OUR Jack of spade just got promoted to winner. The spade suit has "winkled" a trick.
This is the definition of the 'winkle squeeze'. You squeeze an opponent out of the ability to cash 2 spades as a partnership, then throw them in with the bare honor to extract a trick from the OTHER suit they were guarding.
As the hand was dealt, it turned out even cuter. It wasn't just a winkle squeeze, it was a winkle squeeze without the "throw-in endplay" element.
So on the last heart, South has to pitch from:
C:Jx
S:AK
Unable to unguard club, South lets go of a spade honor (hoping his partner had the spade queen; The nerve...does he think I open 2 NT on 17 HCP???).
Now we can set up a trick with the spade QJ without even unblocking clubs. We can cash the club queen, yawn and exit spade Q. Alternately, we can exit spade Q and get the next 2 tricks. Viva Winkle!
P.S: I realized as an afterthought that it is easy to misplay this hand.
For example, for those of us trained to automatically put unblocking requirement as the number 1 priority automatically.
For the unblockers, the play would go as follows:
Win the 3rd diamond.
Unblock KQ club.
Ace and out a heart, and hope that the opponent makes the MISTAKE of leading club.
Now, even a reasonably experienced opponent can make out that your play was unblocking club, and would know enough to not lead club. Perforce, they would then stumble into the spade play.
If not perforce stumbling into spade, perhaps they exit heart safely (if you duck the 2nd H as the safety play, as I did, but after unblocking club).
Bottom line is, the unblocking play in club rates to lead opponent to the winning defense.
That is the primary reason why it is a defeatist move to unblock club, and the only play with a chance of success is the Winkle squeeze.
As with most of my blog posts, this one revolves around the concepts of squeezes and end-plays.
Here is the hand record:
http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?myhand=M-18607264-1337512419
I opened 2 NT with the West hand (yeah, 19 HCP, 5 card H suit, I can see your sanctimonious shakes of the head. Cut it out, because that's not the point of this post). 2 NT was the final contract.
The opening lead was a diamond, and it's time to assess prospects.
4 hearts seem likely. Either a 3-2 break or 4-1 onside (with the obvious safety play) will guarantee me 4 heart tricks.2 clubs for sure, 3 club winners are there but there's an unblocking issue there. And there's the Ace of diamond.
All in all, prospects are OK, sort of. We can untangle 8 tricks if Hearts behave. They can untangle maybe 3 diamonds with a 4-3 break, 1 heart when we duck, and Ace-King of spade. So they have 6 and we have 8 if we manage to untangle clubs before they cash out. I can live with down 1, but it doesn't hurt to try to make the contract.
So I duck a couple of diamonds to disconnect the 2 hands in case diamonds are 4-3, and win the 3rd. So diamonds were 4-3, and North probably has the 13th diamond.
It's time for that "obvious" safety play in heart. Ace of heart, Heart towards dummy's 9 (picks up QJxx H onside. It's a bigger priority than unblocking clubs. I can afford to overtake a club to ensure 4 hearts, if the break was 4-1 onside).
North wins the 2nd heart, South following (so our 4 H tricks are ready to pick). North then cashes the 13th diamond (that's the 4th defensive trick), and exits the 9 of club. On the 13th diamond, I pitch a club in dummy (needing no more than 3), and a spade in hand (Dummy's ten of spade can guard the suit, for now. I don't want to let go of my precious winners; If they take their spades, good for them).
Of course, if North exited spade, we wouldn't have a blog post. But even with the club exit, we still have only 7 tricks since the clubs are still blocked.
The club 9 provides an idea. Since dummy's clubs are AT86, if we cover the 9 with the ten, South (not knowing you have KQ doubleton) might play the Jack and we could then overtake the club on the 2nd round in dummy and cash the good 8.
Good idea, so we play the Ten.
South is too smart for us, and ducks the ten of club and we are forced to win the Queen of club. Clubs are still blocked, do you see a path to 8 tricks at this point ? (I did, as soon as the 9 of club was led; Yeah, am being boastful, this is my blog, suck it up)
Scroll down for the reasoning.
I reasoned as follows. Someone has Jx or Jxx or so of clubs by current count of the suit (since they had lots of clubs). Probably is South. Regardless of which opponent it is, what happens when we cash out the 3 hearts, bringing ourselves down to:
S:QJ
C:K
Dummy:
S:T
C:AT
What can the opponent with Jx club do, if he/she also has a spade honor?
The spade honor will have to be bared.
Say that opponent has only one spade honor, example Kx spade.
So to keep Jx club, they have to bring themselves down to the bare Spade King.
Now, the 8th trick can be untangled. We unblock the club Queen, and exit the spade Queen. If the King is allowed to hold, then the last trick is scored by the club Ace in dummy. If the KS is overtaken by the Ace, OUR Jack of spade just got promoted to winner. The spade suit has "winkled" a trick.
This is the definition of the 'winkle squeeze'. You squeeze an opponent out of the ability to cash 2 spades as a partnership, then throw them in with the bare honor to extract a trick from the OTHER suit they were guarding.
As the hand was dealt, it turned out even cuter. It wasn't just a winkle squeeze, it was a winkle squeeze without the "throw-in endplay" element.
So on the last heart, South has to pitch from:
C:Jx
S:AK
Unable to unguard club, South lets go of a spade honor (hoping his partner had the spade queen; The nerve...does he think I open 2 NT on 17 HCP???).
Now we can set up a trick with the spade QJ without even unblocking clubs. We can cash the club queen, yawn and exit spade Q. Alternately, we can exit spade Q and get the next 2 tricks. Viva Winkle!
P.S: I realized as an afterthought that it is easy to misplay this hand.
For example, for those of us trained to automatically put unblocking requirement as the number 1 priority automatically.
For the unblockers, the play would go as follows:
Win the 3rd diamond.
Unblock KQ club.
Ace and out a heart, and hope that the opponent makes the MISTAKE of leading club.
Now, even a reasonably experienced opponent can make out that your play was unblocking club, and would know enough to not lead club. Perforce, they would then stumble into the spade play.
If not perforce stumbling into spade, perhaps they exit heart safely (if you duck the 2nd H as the safety play, as I did, but after unblocking club).
Bottom line is, the unblocking play in club rates to lead opponent to the winning defense.
That is the primary reason why it is a defeatist move to unblock club, and the only play with a chance of success is the Winkle squeeze.
