| The Soderlund Squeeze
The "squeeze" play is associated with the game of Bridge. In Bridge, you have a "dummy" hand, and the declarer (person playing the hand) can execute this technique quite easily. In Hearts, the true "squeeze" play is extremely rare, as the opponents' hands are concealed, and the player often has to guess the lie of the cards. The Hearts squeeze only occurs when one is trying to Shoot the Moon and must hope that a defender is forced to protect more than one suit. Variations abound, and the example below illustrates the most common variety of the Soderlund Squeeze. By the way, the play was named for the late Jack Soderlund of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, who perfected the technique in the early 70's. Jack's famous squeeze hand from the 1978 National Championship appears in my book, Win at Hearts.
The amazing hand below actually occurred in a Zone.com game played on Sunday, March 1, 1998 (in the Atrium Room). I ought to know about this hand -- I was the victim. It is the sixth example in 30 years which I have seen, and the first executed against me.
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I must say that I liked my hand, although the Diamonds were a concern. Little did I know that a Diamond would decide the outcome. The opening Deuce of Clubs lead went to West's Jack and North's Queen. The Spade eight was followed by the 6, 10, and Jack. West pushed the Diamond 3 and East's King was taken by the Ace. I now led a small Spade, and East's King held (North ducking of course!) East, with his Spade Queen hanging, led the Club 7, and I discarded the Diamond 10, as West inserted the Ace. Fearing a Heart discard on his Diamond Jack, West played his top Club, and I dumped the Diamond 9. Had West now tried his lone Diamond, I would have taken the Queen, and simply drilled out the Queen of Spades. But then we would have no story.
However, West cashed another Club, and North dumped a high Heart, and East giggled as he threw the Spade Queen! I saw the wry comment from the North player: "Nice counting!" But West was in command, and cashed the A-K-Q of Hearts, leaving my Deuce as the last Heart. Finally, another Club was cashed (I saved the Diamond Q), leaving this position:
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The Club 5 lead was devastating! If I discarded the Heart 2, then West would have his Shoot right on the spot! So I dumped my Diamond Q, and NOW the established Jack "squeezed" out my Heart Deuce! What a way to end a game! It was another hand for the revised edition of the Book.
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