Dear Editor:
This is Deal #1 from the March Swiss Match. You reach six clubs after a three diamond opening on your right; West leads the deuce of diamonds. You recommend a squeeze without the count, which requires you to guess West's distribution. Actually, declarer has a less sporting line available: Draw trump and play three rounds of hearts. If East follows, ruff. If not, pitch a diamond and finish with a double squeeze. This line requires only that East have fewer than four hearts.
But I'm sure you've heard this already. That's not the reason I wrote. Your comments on the technique of guessing squeeze endings reminded me of deal from a Vanderbilt match in Buffalo in 1988. While declarer's play was a "guess" only in a loose sense of the word, the deal does show what be done with a little creative discarding.
My partner, Debbie Zuckerberg, opened three clubs with the East cards. The opponents coped nicely, bidding to seven hearts. I led the queen of clubs to the king and ace. Not wishing to risk an overruff in diamonds, declarer played all his trumps but one, pitching clubs from the dummy. He then cashed the king and ace of spades. Spades didn't break, but he knew he was home anyway on a double squeeze. Grinning broadly, he ruffed a spade with his last trump, played a diamond to the king, and cashed the spade queen. The grin faded as Debbie pitched the deuce of clubs. He was sure there were still three diamonds out. But if so, why wasn't Debbie pitching a high club on this trick? Could he have missed a diamond pitch somewhere? After much head-scratching, he backed his judgment over his memory and discarded the club seven, which had been a winner for some time now. The rest of the match was a piece of cake.
Sincerely,
Phillip Martin
Scarsdale, NY