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Gorillas (1) and (2)
Gorillas (1)
In my introductory article (“Apes”) I discussed the three genera of Chimpansqueeze—the Right-handed Chimp, the Left-handed Chimp and the Ambidextrous Chimp—and I tendered the notion of a Gorilla as being the combination of two chimps. In this chapter I present the underlying principles of gorillas and analyse one genus, the Right-handed Gorilla, in detail.
My use of suit-names is according to the key given in “Apes”.
Gorilla Principles
1. South requires the rest of the tricks, but is short of one top winner.
2. Menaces in both major suits are guarded by both opponents, and are both accompanied by at least one entry card.
3. A diamond menace is guarded by one opponent only, and must be situated to that opponent’s left.
4. The three menaces must not be all in the same hand.
5. South holds two club winners, the first of which subjects the holder of the diamond guard to a triple squeeze, forcing him to release control of one of the major suits.
6. Whichever major suit is unguarded, South can play his winners in the correct order to execute a chimpansqueeze, using the other major suit as the pivot suit. Generally the correct order will be: cash North’s winner(s) in the unguarded major and diamonds, cross back to South’s hand on an entry in one of the menace suits, play the last club.
7. At least one of the threatened chimps is right-handed. The other, which is the primary basis of my classification of gorillas, may be right-handed or left-handed or ambidextrous.
Right-handed Gorillas
I use this term for gorillas in which North holds the two pivot suits and South the diamond menace. The twin filial chimps are both invariably right-handed. The diamond guard is to South’s right, so East is the triple squeeze victim.
There is a black sheep, in which North holds the diamond menace, but more of that anon.
Three basic positions can be distinguished according to South’s means of re-entry after he has cashed North’s winners in the major suit first unguarded.
1. Free Suit Entry
The first club wrings a major suit discard from East, North makes the ace of that suit, and South comes back in clubs (the “free suit”), forcing East to unguard the other major. The ace of diamonds finally squeezes West.
2. Single Menace Entry
Here South’s re-entry card is in diamonds, and his last club inflicts a simultaneous chimp on East and West.
3. Pivot Suit Entry
After the triple squeeze South crosses to the appropriate ace and comes back on the king of hearts. As in 2, a simultaneous chimp is dealt by the last club.
Each of the above positions is termed restricted (a term coined by Clyde E. Love in Bridge Squeezes Complete), because South must not play his last club until North’s winners outside the final pivot suit have been cashed. In each case South can be liberated by the addition of an extra diamond control—for example:
4. Pivot Suit Entry, Liberated
South can discard a spade on the second club, and deliver the final blow with the ace of diamonds. In practical play it is important to retain this freedom if at all possible, for one is able to see an extra discard from East before making the vital decision (which major has he unguarded?). As a general rule, always play off the last club if North has an easy discard and South another re-entry card, and remember that the final squeeze will then occur when the last winner in the suit guarded solely by East (diamonds) is played.
Note. To free position 1, we have to give North a diamond, changing the method of re-entry to South.
5. Single Menace Entry, Liberated
North’s clubs represent his idle cards and could, in fact, be low cards in any suits.
It’s time for a full deal, so have a go at this test. I have switched the suit roles, so that you must decide which two suits are to be used as double menaces:
Test 1
Seven no-trumps. West leads the five of spades and East plays the knave. Formulate your own plan of play before reading on.
East’s knave of spades is surely a false card—with a safe heart lead West would not have underled an honour. In any case there are not many squeeze chances unless East has four spades. If both opponents guard both black suits, West must be in sole control of diamonds for there to be any chance—but he could then avoid a genuine squeeze by unguarding clubs. If there is a simple spade-diamond squeeze, we should spot it in time.
So we assume that East has spades and both opponents guard the minors. The right-handed gorilla pattern is clear. At Trick 2 we must play to the nine of hearts—in case West had a good reason for not leading a heart. What is the best suit to come back to hand on? A spade would be poor, for then the gorilla will be restricted—South would have to decide which minor suit tops to cash before playing his last heart. A club would avoid the restriction, but it would be annoying, in the ending, to lead the knave of diamonds to North’s ace, only to find we had misread the position and that West had the singleton queen of diamonds all the time. So a diamond to the king is correct. All the hearts follow, North discarding three spades and two hearts, and it will take very crafty discarding by East to make us pick the wrong squeeze.
Now for the Black Sheep I mentioned earlier. It’s a right-handed gorilla all right. But the diamond guard is on the left, hence its name.
6. Chinese Gorilla (ruffing entry)
The important features of this position are:
(a) North and South both hold menace cards in the pivot suits.
(b) South’s ruffing control of diamonds means he can return to hand after playing North’s top diamond—the squeeze fails if South has the king of diamonds instead of his third trump.
West is forced to unguard a major on the first club, North discards from the same suit, leaving South with a menace card against East. The ace of this suit is followed by the ace of diamonds, South discarding from the other major, and a diamond ruff. The last club produces a simultaneous right-handed chimp.
The major suits in this position contain alternate threats—another term introduced by Clyde E. Love. In each case, either North’s holding becomes the final pivot suit, or South’s, a single menace against East. We shall meet the alternate threat principle again in my next article, which will deal with left-handed and ambidextrous gorillas.
Gorillas (2)
The previous article in this series was devoted to the Right-handed Gorilla—a squeeze position in which two double menaces (major suits in my scheme) lie opposite the single (diamond) menace. The situation is such that the opponent to South’s right is forced, on the penultimate club, to abandon a major suit guard. Whichever one he chooses, a Right-handed Chimp (double squeeze) ensues.
We discovered that the basic positions were restricted because South had to decide which major suit had been unguarded, before playing off his last club, and that these positions could be liberated in practical play by retaining an extra winner in South’s menace suit, allowing South to see an extra discard before making the vital decision. I exhibited one anomalous Right-handed Gorilla, made possible by having the squeeze suit as trumps and alternate threats in the major suits.
Now meet the Left-handed Gorilla. He has a pivot suit in each hand, and a single menace in the North hand, guarded on South’s left. As usual, his task is completed by one of two chimpansqueezes, one of which may be left-handed.
As with Right-handed Gorillas, basic positions are distinguished according to South’s means of re-entry for the second part of the squeeze, but this is never in the free suit.
7. Single menace entry (left-handed)
If West discards a heart on the first club, South can play the winners outside spades in any order that ends in his own hand. The final squeeze is a standard Right-handed Chimp whose simultaneity depends on the order chosen. If, however, West throws a spade, the ace of spades must be followed by a diamond to the ace. Now the last club inflicts a Left-handed Chimp with hearts as the inverted pivot suit. The position is fully restricted; although South can play his last club immediately if West has unguarded hearts, he must throw North’s low heart on this trick, and must therefore be sure he has chosen the right chimp. It can be liberated by giving South another heart winner.
8. Single menace entry, liberated (left-handed)
Here one of North’s clubs could be a small card in any suit, and South can play off the clubs before deciding how the squeeze should be completed. Of course, it is no longer a true gorilla because, owing to the arbitrary limitations of the conventional pack, the heart guard was necessarily isolated by the deal. However, all chances are kept open if this hand is played as though it were a gorilla. No doubt many readers have performed with chimps at the table, in situations where whichever opponent has the only possible guard in the ‘pseudo-pivot suit’ is squeezed; they will recognise the idea.
9. Pivot suit entry (left-handed)
A heart discard by West leaves plenty of room for manoeuvre. Against a spade discard though, South must play king of spades, ace of spades, second club. Again, liberation entails extending the heart suit so the guard is already isolated.
A third basic position arises if both North and South hold a diamond control:
10. Controlled single menace entry (left-handed)
A spade discard is again best defence. South must follow with the ace of spades, the king of diamonds and the second club for a non-simultaneous left-handed chimp. West’s second discard is a heart. North throws a diamond, and the ace of diamonds finally squeezes East.
It can readily be seen that the liberated version (give South another heart winner in an eight-card ending) is still a genuine gorilla.
A rather dark grey sheep arises when the alternate threat principle is introduced, for both of the chimps are then right-handed.
11. Alternate threats (left-handed)
If West discards a heart, play the red suit winners, then the last club. If he discards a spade, the second club must be cashed immediately, North throwing a spade. North’s winners complete the squeeze, but he must be careful to play the ace of spades before the ace of diamonds, following the general rule for non-simultaneous chimps that the winner(s) in the suit guarded on the right of the squeezing hand must be played first.
12(a) Ambidextrous
12(b)
In either case the club holdings could be interchanged, for it is immaterial who wins the first or second club. The position is fully liberated and is played by following the two clubs with the winner(s) in the unguarded suit, squeezing first (in 12(a)) West, then East, then West again. If spades are unguarded on the first club, an ambidextrous chimp follows. Although the diamond guard can be either side (of the club winners), it must still follow the inviolable rule that the single guard lie under the single menace.
There is an interesting connection between this and position 10. As has been suggested, position 10 can be liberated by giving South another heart control. However, that transforms it to the ambidextrous gorilla.
Finally, I must reaffirm that gorillas are not just zoological exhibits. Memorise the seven principles given at the beginning of Part 1, and I am sure you will be able to win even more tricks. Look, in particular, for the “diamond” guard being on the right side (if not, think in terms of a pseudosqueeze); learn which controls are best played off early and which are best retained for liberation; study the manipulation of alternate threats. Then you can abandon your fancy bidding sequences, for, if Blackwood guarantees enough aces and kings for twelve tricks, who needs a queen for the thirteenth?