Practice hands Defensive Signals Hands 17 to 24

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Adela Anthony
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1 Hand 17 South is the dealer and passes, nobody is vulnerable. West opens 1 ; you pass in the North seat. East bids a forcing 1NT; West ends up in 2.. North (You) A K Q 8 4 South (artner) Q K 7 5 A J W 1 2 E 1N Naturally you try to cash three club tricks, partner following with the 73 on the first two. artner has three clubs so the declarer has another club loser, which he will be able to ruff with the 10. Dummy is on your left (East): 10, AQ , 109 You must switch to a trump even if it finesses partner s trump honor. That s OK; partner should have four trumps; therefore, she is not likely to lose whatever trump trick(s) that are due. Declarer takes the heart finesse next. artner (South) wins the K as expected, cashes A and only then returns the third club for you to win. Defense has won five defensive tricks so far and can wait for a trump trick, a well-deserved down one. If you had allowed the club ruff for the fear of finessing partner s trump honors, declarer would have made 2, which is what happened at six of the 12 tables in a club game. If partner had not cashed the A, declarer may be able to discard KQ on the established hearts. Also, you should read partner s 3 on the second trick as suit preference for hearts (the 2 is still missing so she has that card and she has K). But it is never a good idea to blindly follow partner s signals; here you have to first take out that trump because you know the third round of clubs will win later. lease note that if you incorrectly overcalled 2, partner has a right to compete to 3, which goes down one. That would exchange a plus score that you were going to get for defeating 2 for a minus score and a very low score. That is bad bridge, always. West (the declarer): AKJ932, J8, KQ, J65 Final observation: Most players are told to re-bid their 6-card major over a forcing 1NT by partner. However, that only works if the spade suit can be played opposite shortness, singleton in this case, for fewer losers than some other trump contract. In this example, 2 by East on a 5-2 fit is a better contract even though K is offside. There is no spade loser in a heart contract but it is unavoidable in a spade contract. Not only that, you may end up with two trump losers if you end up in a 6-1 or 6-0 spade fit and a bad trump break. The bidding principle is, Long suit in the weaker hand almost always plays better as the trump suit. Sure tricks in the strong hand will be available to the weaker hand but not vice versa. Translation, don t always fall in love with your own hand! Vinay Apte age 1 of 8 Copyright Year 2017

2 Hand 18 West K 6 3 A North opens 1 and NS eventually reach 4 when he corrects 4 to 4. Sitting West, you lead A, dummy on your left (North hand shown below) is As expected, K is in the dummy, so you made a good lead. You defensive approach is to take your tricks in the unbid suit(s), diamonds and clubs, before declarer has a chance to take any discards. N 1 1N 4 S 1 4 North J 7 5 A J Q J 9 4 K J 6 2 You also get to hold the lead at trick one, see the dummy and partner s signal, before deciding what to do next. artner plays the 4 (UDCA) under your ace. Since dummy has KJ62, attitude is irrelevant so partner is probably giving count (even number of clubs) but that card could have suit preference connotations. The next task is to figure out the distribution around the table. Since the declarer (South) is known to be 5-5 in the majors, partner is likely to be 4-4 in the minors. Then, the declarer is 2-1 in /. You must shift to 3 in order to be sure of taking any diamond tricks that are due to you. Also, If partner has a trump trick, it is not going away (since you have the 10). Leading the 3 is safe; even if the declarer has Ax; you don t give anything away because the losing diamond is going away on the K. Switching to K instead does have the advantage of added clarity to partner if she happens to have the A. But if she does not have that card, you end up establishing unnecessary diamond tricks for the opponents. Again, leading the 3 is best. Looking at the South and the East hands, you did well to take four defensive tricks quickly to defeat 4 by one trick. South A K K Q East Q A Q Vinay Apte age 2 of 8 Copyright Year 2017

3 Hand 19 Sitting South, you open 1 but EW outbid you and East plays 3. artner should double, on principle, since you opened 1 and she has the AQ. North A Q South J 2 A K J 8 4 K 7 6 J 10 9 S W N E Dbl If the opponents make 3, you are not at all likely to get a good board. The double protects your match point score. The obvious lead is the A followed by K but then what? artner has not left you on your own devices; she told you what to do if you were watching! She showed four hearts when she played 3 under the A but then dropped the 9, a clear suit preference for diamonds. Be careful to play the K, which clears up the diamond situation for her. If K wins, continue the suit. If K loses; partner might win a couple of diamond tricks later. West (dummy): KQ7, Q2, J832, K832 & East (declarer): A86543, 106, 954, AQ On this hand, you have taken the first five tricks to defeat 3 by a trick. If you had returned what looks like a safe return, the J, they make 3 doubled (minus 530). What if partner started with doubleton AQ? She would want you to switch to a diamond at trick two. She will play the 9 under your ace intentionally showing three hearts even though she actually has four but then play 7 next suggesting a shift to a diamond. You already know that when giving upside down count, the second card you play is suit preference. In this scenario, don t shift to K; return the 6. artner will cash AQ and revert back to hearts. You win K and cash K for the same doubled down one. Vinay Apte age 3 of 8 Copyright Year 2017

4 Hand 20 NS reach 4 via Bergen Raises. Sitting East, what are your thoughts and what should you lead?. Dummy will have 7-9 high card points; partner should have 6-8, which should translate to at least one entry in partner s hand. Since you have trump control, A and another diamond is a very good start. If partner has K, no problem; she will win and give you a diamond ruff. If not, she must give you suit preference signal pinpointing her entry so that you will know which suit to return when you win your trump trick, A. Trump control is the main reason that makes the lead of a unsupported doubleton A2. N S 1 3 * 4 East (You) A 8 5 Q A Dummy is on your left (South) South (Dummy) artner sitting West, realizes that attitude is irrelevant (dummy has K73) and count is probably useless also so she plays the 6 under your A then the 8. Declarer follows suit with the 4 and the 5. artner s 6, her lowest card, is a suit preference for clubs. A club return lets partner win the K and give you a diamond ruff for a well-deserved down one. That would have been an excellent match point score for the defense since several declarers were allowed to make 4 when this hand was played in one of our club games. artner (West): 10, K108532, 10986, A10 J J 4 K 7 3 K J 6 2 Declarer (North): KQ943, A, QJ54, Q95 Vinay Apte age 4 of 8 Copyright Year 2017

5 Hand 21 This board was played at our club; the contract is 4 by West. Sitting South, can you defeat 4 after partner leads the 8? W 1 E 1 4 At unfavorable vulnerability, you and your partner remain silent in the bidding, which was straightforward for EW. The contract is 4 by West. East should have points and a balanced hand (no Splinter). Sure enough that is what you see on your right (East). For starters, place West with 3 or fewer hearts (no 1 response to 1 ), and partner with a likely doubleton. Your South hand is shown below. South (You) 8 4 A J 7 2 K 9 K If you can get partner in later, she can lead her second heart and you will win two heart tricks, with the AJ. When declarer plays the Q, you should therefore duck by playing an encouraging 2. Trumps are drawn with K and dummy s A; partner plays Q and 10. Then comes the A and another club from dummy. artner plays J and the 8; you win the K. A club return looks safe since partner told you that the declarer is marked with three clubs. Declarer wins Q discarding the 6. That is just fine; he should have a diamond loser regardless. Dummy is entered in trumps and the declarer takes his best shot at an endplay against you by cashing A and playing the J. Why would he play diamonds in this fashion? If the Q was lurking in the declarer s hand, would it not be normal to finesse? Yes; therefore, partner has the Q! Hope you were up to the task a trick earlier when the A was played. You need to drop that K like a hot potato! artner can win the Q and play a heart through dummy s K95 into your AJ7. That is down one and a well-deserved defensive top on the board. artner leads 8 (North) East A J 9 5 K Q 9 5 A J 6 A 10 Declarer (West) K Q 7 5 Q Q J by West; you are South. The lead is A J 7 2 K 9 K A J 9 5 K Q 9 5 A J 6 A 10 Dummy (East) Vinay Apte age 5 of 8 Copyright Year 2017

6 Hand 22 South opens 1 and ends up declaring 3, which West doubles and takes out two rounds of trumps at trick one and two. West A Q 6 A K A J North (Dummy): East K J , 10942, Q976, A97 S W N E 1 1N 2 Dbl 2 3 Dbl South (Declarer): KJ104, QJ875, K10, Q10 EW did well not to sell out at 2 and then managed to talk the opponents into bidding 3, a hopeless contract, which is duly doubled by West. Opening lead is K; then A. This is a perfect opportunity for East to tell West where her points are. Having bid 2, this becomes very important. East could have either black suit king but the 3 is suit preference for clubs and also says, I don t have K. Granted, if East had the K, she would still play the 3 (because 6 is for spades). West shifts to 8 at trick 3 (which says, Don t return a club if you win the trick ) Based on the take-out double of 2 earlier, East returns the 9 allowing West to cash two spade tricks and A. That adds up to six defensive tricks. 3 doubled is down two for +300 and an excellent match point score. lease note the Law of Total Tricks failed NS on this hand, as it often does. It is accurate only 43% of the time. Andres Wiergen and Mike Lawrence have proved it mathematically by running a huge number of simulations. Vinay Apte age 6 of 8 Copyright Year 2017

7 Hand 23 EW reach 3NT via Stayman. East has four spades and West has four hearts. You are North; partner leads 3; the 2 is played from the dummy. North (You) K K 10 2 K South (artner) A W 2 3N E 1N 2 West (the dummy): A65, A874, J2, Q1092 As always, start placing the cards in the suit led; then, count points around the table and figure out what partner should have outside of the suit led. Here, the lead tells you that partner has the A. Why? If the declarer had that card, his correct play from dummy would have been the J, not the 2. Declarer has Qxx in that case. For the same reason, declarer should not have AQxx. artner must also be since she would have led a 5- card suit if she had one. The problem has become doubledummy. East (Declarer) hand: QJ93, QJ, Q85, AKJ5. Time to count points; you have nine, which leaves nothing for partner other than Axxx. Declarer must have all the remaining face cards. Here are the EW hands again. West East A 6 5 Q J 9 3 A Q J J 2 Q 8 5 Q A K J 5 You have a degree of confidence now to plan the defense. One thing for sure, you should not duck 3. You are surrendering the tempo. If declarer is allowed to win the Q, even a losing spade finesse gives them nine tricks (4 clubs, 3 spades and one trick in each red suit; no need to take the heart finesse. You must win K and return the 9, which will deny the Q for starters but more importantly, it is suit preference for hearts. Why? Declarer plays 8 under your 9, which means diamonds are likely 4-4. artner has already placed you with 5 spades, 3 hearts and club shortness. She can place you with K1094. Return of the 10 asks for a spade, 9 asks for a heart and 4 a club. I know you had to keep track of every card in the diamond suit but hope it is not too much to ask for since it is our suit. Bidding places four spades in the East hand. Unless you specifically ask for a spade, partner will not return the singleton 10. She will play a heart and let you win the king. You will switch back to diamonds to make sure of one more trick in that suit. Declarer has to go after spades so you are bound to win K later. That was excellent defense, which focused on winning 5 tricks and set the contract. Very well done! Vinay Apte age 7 of 8 Copyright Year 2017

8 Hand 24 NS again use Stayman to reach 3NT, North promising four spades and South four hearts. Sitting East, you make what seems a safe lead of 2 but it doesn t turn out very well. That s OK; it happens.. East (You) K Q 8 7 A Q A diamond or a club lead is not as good as a small heart; they are riskier. The dangerous K lead (into 4-card spade suit and points) happens to work out on this particular hand but it is quite unnecessary. You are bound to get in later since you have most of the missing points. You can wait to see the dummy, and more importantly, watch partner s signals. Dummy is on your left (South): 52, K976, J753, AQ6 Declarer wins Q when partner plays the J on the opening lead. Declarer plays back the 10. Forget about hearts then; you can only get one heart trick. The first defensive play is to duck the 10 in case the declarer started with a Q10. If not, the duck allows partner to tell you what she has, if anything. On the third round, West must play the J, which promises the 10 (and possibly 109). You can safely lead a small spade after winning the 3 rd round of hearts. artners wins the 9 (but the 10 would do as well) and the declarer ducks. On this hand partner continues with the 10, which the declarer ducks again. Be careful to overtake with your Q and continue with the K or 8 to knock off the A. When you get in with the Q, you cash the 4 th spade for a well-deserved down one. artner (West): J109, J4, 98, J N 1N 2 S 2 3N Declarer (North) A643, Q105, AK62, K5 Vinay Apte age 8 of 8 Copyright Year 2017

DEFENSIVE CARDING By Larry Matheny

DEFENSIVE CARDING By Larry Matheny Defending a bridge contract is often difficult but it is much easier when you and your partner are communicating. For this to happen, you must agree on the meaning of