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Trump SqueezeIn contract bridge, the trump squeeze is a variant of the simple squeeze. (Squeezes are techniques in this game to gain extra tricks.) In a trump squeeze, declarer has a suit that can be ruffed, but the defender being squeezed is guarding that suit. The defender chooses between throwing away a card in that suit, allowing declarer to set up tricks by ruffing, and releasing a guard in another suit. The end position below shows a trump squeeze in action: A - A K 10 7 Q 9 - immaterial - J 9 8 10 8 3 2 - 3 Hearts are trumps, and the lead is in the North hand. Declarer plays the Ace of Diamonds, discarding the Three of Spades and East has no good discard. If East plays a Spade, declarer cashes the Ace of Spades to set up the Spade suit. If East plays a Club, declarer cashes the King of Clubs, ruffs a Club, and has the Ace of Spades as an entry to dummy. Key elements are: - A suit that declarer can ruff to set up extra tricks
- An entry in another suit which can also yield extra tricks
- One declarer that guards both suits
A trump squeeze is not a positional squeeze, and will work if the defenders' hands are swapped. A very rare example is the double trump squeeze, where both opponents suffer the same fate. Here is an example from the quarterfinals of the 2004 Olympiad, in the match between Italy and the USA. Declarer, Norberto Bocchi of Italy, declared Four Hearts and achieved the following end position with the lead in dummy: 10 7 3 A 10 - Q 4 2 - J 9 6 - - K 7 J 9 - A K 8 - - Q 10 - Declarer led the Ace of Hearts, discarding the Eight of Spades, and the defence had no answer. If both pitched Spades, declarer could play the Ace and King of Spades, establishing the Ten. If both pitched Diamonds, a Spade to the Ace and a Diamond ruff would establish the Queen. Declarer's play depended on who released the Diamond guard. If it was West, a Spade to the Ace and the Ten of Diamonds would set up the Queen. If it was East, a Spade to the Ace and the Queen of Diamonds would smother the Jack and create a ruffing finesse position. Note that the squeeze was not automatic, but Bocchi read the situation accurately when West discarded the Seven of Diamonds.
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