A winkle squeeze is a rare
squeeze/
endplay
An endplay (also ''throw-in''), in bridge
A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose ...
in
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two Team game, competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each othe ...
in which a trick is offered to the defenders but whichever wins the trick is then endplayed. Often one defender would be forced to offer a
finesse
In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents.
The player a ...
or
ruff and discard while the other could overtake and thereby promote a trick in that suit for declarer. The winkle squeeze was named and analyzed by
Terence Reese
John Terence Reese (28 August 1913 – 29 January 1996) was a Great Britain, British Contract bridge, bridge player and writer, regarded as one of the finest of all time in both fields. He was born in Epsom, Surrey, England to middle-class pare ...
in ''Master Play in Contract Bridge.''
An example end-position, South on lead with spades as trumps and needing four tricks:
On the play of the last spade, West and North let go clubs, and East is squeezed. Pitching a heart allows South to win both tricks left in that suit. But if East discards a diamond, South follows with the Ace and 3 of diamonds. If East wins the trick, they must lead hearts conceding the last two tricks there. If West saves partner by playing the king of diamonds on the second diamond trick, they must then concede the last two tricks to dummy's Ace of clubs and now high Jack of diamonds.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winkle Squeeze
Contract bridge squeezes