A Compound Guard Squeeze is a squeeze in three suits, in which two suits are stopped by both opponents, and the third suit holding requires a defender to retain certain cards to prevent declarer from taking a winning finesse. The concept of the Compound Guard Squeeze was analyzed and named by Mr. Julian Pottage of Great Britain.
Mr. Julian Pottage was born and grew up on the south coast of England. He studied mathematics at Trinity College Cambridge, later gaining election as an Associate and then Fellow of the pensions Management Institute. Mr. Julian Pottage is a qualified bridge teacher and has been writing simultaneous pairs commentaries for many years. He has a regular themed column in the two principal United Kingdom bridge journals, the topics covered being Defence and Opening Leads.
The illustration below should clarify this type of squeeze. Additional card constellations can be presented, but it is the concept, which must be recognized during play and understood by the bridge player before a successful execution of the Compound Guard Squeeze.
South, who is the declarer, must at this point in play recognize the situation and play the correct card in order to initiate the execution of the Compound Guard Squeeze, and that card must be the Ace of Clubs.
South leads the Ace of Clubs to squeeze East. East must discard either the King of Hearts or the King of Diamonds. South then leads the King of Clubs.
Following the declarer's play of the Ace of Clubs to squeeze East, West follows suit and plays the Nine of Clubs and East must discard a red card, either the King of Hearts or the King of Diamonds.
Following the declarer's play of the King of Clubs, West must discard the red suit, which East has retained. Therefore, if East discards the King of Hearts, then West must discard the Ace of Diamonds. And, conversely, if East discards the King of Diamonds following the play of the Ace of Clubs by South, then West must discard the Ace of Hearts when the declarer plays the King of Clubs.
North, the dummy, discards the suit, which West has kept. Therefore, if West kept the Ace of Diamonds, then the declarer must discard the 7 of Diamonds. And, conversely, if West kept the Ace of Hearts, then the declarer must discard the 4 of Hearts from the dummy.
As a consequence, East becomes squeezed in Spades and the red suit, which the player has retained.
If you wish to include this feature, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.