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West | ![]() | East | ||
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In this three-card ending, South is on lead in a no-trumps contract. When South leads the 9
A,
K
Q
An important concept in squeeze play is "rectifying the count." This refers to conceding all the necessary losers before attempting a squeeze. If playing in a small slam, this means conceding one trick to the defense first. If playing 3NT, this means conceding four tricks.
In the above diagram, imagine that South still has a club loser when she leads the 9:
Dummy | ||||
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West | ![]() | East | ||
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In this case, East can simply chuck his "idle" card, the baby club, and there is no squeeze.
Dummy | ||||
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West | ![]() | East | ||
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West opens 1 but South winds up in 3NT. The defense wins four rounds of spades, South discarding clubs from both hands. West then exits with a heart to South's queen.
South expects the club finesse to fail because West opened the bidding. A 3-3 heart split is also less likely than a 4-2 split. The best plan is to cash a second round of hearts (to help get a better count on the hand later), and then run all the diamond winners. Note that the count has already been rectified by the defenders. In the actual layout, the fourth diamond catches West in a heart-club squeeze:
Dummy | ||||
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West | ![]() | East | ||
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On declarer's lead of the T,
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