A winkle is a rare
squeeze/endplay
in
contract bridge 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 or
ruff and discard while the other could overtake and thereby
promote a trick in that suit for declarer.
An example end-position, South needing 4 tricks:
| ♠ | - | ||||
| ♥ | - | ||||
| ♦ | J64 | ||||
| ♣ | AK | ||||
| ♠ | - |
N W E S |
♠ | - | |
| ♥ | - | ♥ | T8 | ||
| ♦ | K102 | ♦ | Q87 | ||
| ♣ | Q2 | ♣ | - | ||
| ♠ | 2 | ||||
| ♥ | J9 | ||||
| ♦ | A3 | ||||
| ♣ | - | ||||
On the play of the last spade, West and North let go clubs, and
East is squeezed. Pitching a heart yields an immediate trick in
that suit, but if a diamond is pitched declarer follows with 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 2nd diamond trick, then they
must concede the last two tricks to dummy's now high Ace of
clubs and Jack of diamonds.