Wednesday, February 01, 2006 1:28 PM

Hand Evaluation - Squeezes & Patterns

PITBULLS:

There are many advanced declarer techniques that are not available to Bridge players who do not “think in patterns” or apply patterns. The entire field of executing squeezes is dependent on patterns as are other techniques like end plays , squeeze strip and endplays . Even finesses like the “intra-finesse” require thinking in patterns. When the Tormentees & others have most common patterns ingrained in their memory banks , a next step is to tackle some more advanced play techniques like squeezes. Patterns must come first though because these plays are too complicated without them.

Dora & I got to a nice slam the other day.

J	A	Q	K
9	x	x	J
x	x		9
	x		8

We bid up to 6♠ , Dora got a heart lead. Dora dropped the spade queen doubleton on side & found the club queen. She now made an error in matchpoints as she claimed saying you get a heart for making 6. Without going into the details of squeezes in great detail , whenever you have two threats between yourself & the board (you have the rest of the tricks except one anyway ) you can try a squeeze. However, you can not even visualize a squeeze unless you “think in patterns” .

A	K	A	A
K	x		10
10	x		x
x			x
x

You have all the black tricks , so the two threat suits must be diamonds & hearts. The diamond queen could be a trick if they were forced to throw the diamond king away but where is the other threat coming from ? Try heart patterns for your answer . If the heart pattern is 4-3-3-3 , there is no threat card as both defenders can guard hearts . But what if the hearts are 4-4-3-2 ? This means that one defender has only two hearts so they must be played under the Ace & King . What if the person with 4 hearts holds the diamond King ? When you run all your black tricks & your diamond Ace that is 10 tricks . This means that this defender must come down to 3 cards. She can not do it without giving you your 13 th trick QJ10 of hearts & the diamond King . On the last spade what do they discard ? Death by fire or death by water , their choice .

Here is Susan in action tonight in 4♠ against Scott Brinsmead .

x	K	K	A
x	x	x	K
x	x		x
x	x

LHO leads the ♦A & switches to the ♣8 . How do you play this hand ? The ♣8 would appear to put the ♣QJx in Scotts hand so is there a way to execute a squeeze ? “Think in patterns” to get your answer. With the hearts in your hand & the board , build a hand pattern. 4-4-3-2 is a common pattern. So if Scott holds 4♥ , you have him, However, this is a trump squeeze caused by the fact Scott is behind the hearts so the ability to ruff out hearts comes into play.  Trump squeezes culminate with your 2^nd last trump as the ability to ruff to establish a suit rectifies the count earlier. You come down to a 6 card end position with ♥Kxxx ♣Ax on the board & ♠xx ♥Ax ♣10x in your hand . The 2^nd last trump squeezes Scott legitimately as he has 4♥ & ♣QJ so when you discard a club from the board , what does Scott do ? In practice , Scott discarded a club , so Susan made 6 for a good board. If Scott discards a heart , Susan plays the top hearts & the 4 th heart now is established with a ruff for also making 6. Trump squeezes identified by “thinking in patterns “. Note , Susan can not cash a club prematurely as she would have no entry to the established heart trick. All trump squeezes are a variation of the criss-cross squeeze where you have blockage( winners ) in one of your threat suits.

A	A	x	10
K	x	x	x
Q			x
J
x
x

Familiarity with patterns over time will bring you to another level in declarer play eventually. Have I ever mentioned that patterns are important in the game of Bridge ?