Vice squeeze
The Vice is an advanced squeeze in contract bridge. Its distinguishing motive is presence of a "vice" menace in one suit, where one defender holds cards of equivalent rank which split the declarer's pair of cards in front of him, where his partner has a winner in the suit. It was first attested by Terence Reese in the book "The Expert Game", a.k.a. "Master Play in Contract Bridge". In other words, the defenders have a "high" finesse position, equivalent to the one in diagram:
If West can be forced to abandon QJ, the defenders will take only one trick in the suit.
A similar motive is encountered in guard squeezes, however, in the vice, the defenders have a winner in the suit. Since that winner will take a trick, this squeeze is without the count.
Examples
|
♠ |
- |
|
| ♥ |
K 10 4 |
| ♦ |
- |
| ♣ |
- |
| ♠ |
- |
N
W E
S
|
♠ |
- |
| ♥ |
Q J |
♥ |
A 9 7 |
| ♦ |
10 |
♦ |
- |
| ♣ |
- |
♣ |
- |
| South to lead |
♠ |
5 |
|
| ♥ |
3 |
| ♦ |
8 |
| ♣ |
- |
Hearts are the "vice suit", and the second menace is the declarer's ♦8. This is a position akin to automatic simple squeeze. When South leads the high ♠5, West must not discard the ♦10; when he parts with a heart honor, declarer leads the heart and East must cede the last trick to dummy's heart ten.
|
♠ |
- |
|
| ♥ |
K 10 |
| ♦ |
K 5 |
| ♣ |
- |
| ♠ |
- |
N
W E
S
|
♠ |
- |
| ♥ |
Q J |
♥ |
A 9 |
| ♦ |
10 9 |
♦ |
7 4 |
| ♣ |
- |
♣ |
- |
|
♠ |
5 |
|
| ♥ |
3 |
| ♦ |
8 2 |
| ♣ |
- |
When the second menace (diamonds) is in dummy, it must be a two-card menace accompanied by an entry, otherwise West can safely abandon the suit; if the ♦K were absent, the West can discard the diamond winner, as the declarer will not have the entry to enjoy it.
COMMENTS
