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Entry squeeze
An entry squeeze move in contract bridge exerts pressure by threatening the length of a defender's holding in a side suit. In many familiar squeezed positions, such as a simple or double squeeze, the rank of a defender's holding prevents declarer from cashing a threat until the squeeze has matured. This situation is also present in entry squeezes, but in addition a defensive holding interferes with declarer's entries, preventing declarer from effectively going back and forth between his hand and dummy.
The entry squeeze is sometimes described as a "non-material" squeeze. The entry squeeze may weaken a defender's holding in a suit where declarer can already take winners, but cannot take them in the preferred hand or in the preferred order. Therefore, it is only in part a squeeze against high cards, and so is not entirely material.
Geza Ottlik and Hugh Kelsey give this example:
Choosing the fourth best in his longest and strongest suit, West leads the against 3NT. East plays three rounds of spades, declarer winning the third with the and discarding dummy's . South cashes the , on which West discards a heart.
The position is now:
Declarer would like to lead toward his twice, but his entry situation is such that he can get to dummy in diamonds once only. If he thinks of it, declarer can now play the , a losing squeeze card, to West's . So doing destroys East's hand.
If East discards a club, declarer can subsequently unblock the and score the . If East discards a heart, declarer can establish two heart tricks with only one lead from dummy. If East discards a diamond, declarer gets two entries to dummy: he overtakes the with the , leads a heart toward his , and later, if necessary, leads the to the , for another heart lead toward his remaining honor.
Ottlik and Kelsey summarize this entry squeeze as follows: "Those silly little diamonds in the East hand have a function after all. Idle, irrelevant or immaterial as they may be called, by their mere existence they also serve. They stand and wait, in the way, blocking traffic, hindering enemy lines of communication. And having this value, however silent and hidden, they are subject to the pressure of a squeeze."
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Entry squeeze AI simulator
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Entry squeeze
An entry squeeze move in contract bridge exerts pressure by threatening the length of a defender's holding in a side suit. In many familiar squeezed positions, such as a simple or double squeeze, the rank of a defender's holding prevents declarer from cashing a threat until the squeeze has matured. This situation is also present in entry squeezes, but in addition a defensive holding interferes with declarer's entries, preventing declarer from effectively going back and forth between his hand and dummy.
The entry squeeze is sometimes described as a "non-material" squeeze. The entry squeeze may weaken a defender's holding in a suit where declarer can already take winners, but cannot take them in the preferred hand or in the preferred order. Therefore, it is only in part a squeeze against high cards, and so is not entirely material.
Geza Ottlik and Hugh Kelsey give this example:
Choosing the fourth best in his longest and strongest suit, West leads the against 3NT. East plays three rounds of spades, declarer winning the third with the and discarding dummy's . South cashes the , on which West discards a heart.
The position is now:
Declarer would like to lead toward his twice, but his entry situation is such that he can get to dummy in diamonds once only. If he thinks of it, declarer can now play the , a losing squeeze card, to West's . So doing destroys East's hand.
If East discards a club, declarer can subsequently unblock the and score the . If East discards a heart, declarer can establish two heart tricks with only one lead from dummy. If East discards a diamond, declarer gets two entries to dummy: he overtakes the with the , leads a heart toward his , and later, if necessary, leads the to the , for another heart lead toward his remaining honor.
Ottlik and Kelsey summarize this entry squeeze as follows: "Those silly little diamonds in the East hand have a function after all. Idle, irrelevant or immaterial as they may be called, by their mere existence they also serve. They stand and wait, in the way, blocking traffic, hindering enemy lines of communication. And having this value, however silent and hidden, they are subject to the pressure of a squeeze."