DEFENSE AT DUPLICATE

Transcription

1 DEFENSE AT DUPLICATE Table of Contents STYLES OF DEFENSE STP TOOLS FOR DEFENDING WELL TYPES OF DUMMYS GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR OPENING LEADS OPENING LEADS AGAINST NOTRUMP CONTRACTS OPENING LEADS AGAINST SUIT CONTRACTS LEADS DURING THE PLAY COUNT AND ATTITUDE SIGNALS SUIT PREFERENCE SIGNALS DISCARDING GUIDELINES UNBLOCKING COUNTING AT DUPLICATE INFERENCE DEFENDER PLAY PROBLEMS # DEFENDER PLAY PROBLEMS #1 ANSWERS DEFENDER PLAY PROBLEMS # DEFENDER PLAY PROBLEMS #2 ANSWERS Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 176

2 STYLES OF DEFENSE The most important single defensive decision is to be Active or Passive defenders on each hand. This is referred to as the Style of the defense. To a great degree, this depends on the values of the dummy. A dangerous dummy means defenders style must be Active. A dangerous dummy has side-suit winners to pitch declarer s losers, or shortness plus trumps to ruff losers. Active Defense Style. An Active defense means defenders try to get their tricks before declarer ruffs away or discards her losers on side-suits. This may mean breaking rules about leading away from Kings, cashing Aces, etc. JT J7 762 KQJT A South AKQ93 65 Q63 K96 85 A82 KJT AQT83 S - W - N - E 1 P 1NT 2 P P 3 P 4 all pass Contract: 4 Spades, South Lead: J to East s Ace, winning. Probable declarer plan (once the dummy is in view) is to pitch Club or Diamond losers on Hearts. What can the defense do to beat this contract? What is East s lead to the 2nd trick? ( K!) Passive Defense Style. A Passive defense means defenders play cautiously, waiting for their tricks to come to them, because declarer will eventually have to play defenders suits. If the expected value of the dummy is it will be flat or lacking trumps, the right defense style is Passive. Clues for estimating dummy s value to declarer come from the bidding. 73 KQT5 A854 Q72 A965 A64 J72 T54 South QJ842 J73 K6 AJ3 KT 982 QT93 K986 S - W - N - E 1 P 2 all pass The dummy apparently has little except some trumps. has a good natural lead the top of a strong Heart sequence. Lead: K, which wins the trick. East should signal with the 8 (or 2) to discourage continuation of Hearts, and therefore denies holding the J. What should lead to the 2 nd trick? ( 7) Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 177

3 STP TOOLS FOR DEFENDING WELL There are 3 things you should figure out about declarer s hand, starting even before the dummy comes down, and you should keep filling in the picture throughout the play. Signals and Leads are useful tools, but you still have to figure it out to know what to signal or lead. Shape: what is declarer s distribution? Knowing this will tell you about your partner s distribution. Tricks: How many tricks does declarer have? in what suits? Can she ruff in dummy or run a side suit? Points: Add up HCP in declarer s hand, your hand and the dummy. That ll tell you how many HCP your partner has. From that you may be able to guess what high cards she has or could have, and what high cards she can t have. Figuring out what to do with the answers to STP will show you where there are defensive tricks. If you re wrong some or even most of the time, the times you re right may beat other defenders. And you ll get better with practice. Shape Tips. Be careful and consistent about all signals and leads to confirm your partner s assumptions about your shape and therefore declarer s shape. Echo in trump. This means play middle then low with 3 trumps. This isn t because you expect to get a ruff. It s so partner can get a count on declarer s trump length, and thus on declarer s whole hand. Tricks Tips. Put yourself in declarer s chair and figure out her plan, How can I make my contract? Can I get extra tricks? Will she dump losers that you should cash early? Should you lead trumps to cut down her ruffing tricks? How can you avoid making a bad defensive play or lead? Don t try for brilliancies - - be solid and don t give away anything. Points Tips. Count the HCP you d have to make declarer s bids -- chances are she ll have about the same. The missing ones are in partner s hand. When you overcall, have HCP in your suit so partner can trust you and will lead your suit. Agree with partner that you will never lead away from an Ace in a suit contract. Every hand presents a different defensive situation, so you must use your knowledge of STP to help you make the right play, or, more importantly, not make a wrong play. Don t look for any Always or Never Rules on defense. Here s the only Always rule: There are always 13 cards in every suit and every hand has 40 HCP. If you know shape or tricks or points about 3 of the 4 hands, you can figure out the 4 th hand. Even a little defensive edge can be the difference between a top and an average. STP wins. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 178

4 TYPES OF DUMMYS Fundamental to good defense is the distinction between a Passive and an Aggressive defense. One of the key factors in determining an effective defense plan is to recognize types of dummys and the appropriate defense. Some common dummy types - - they all have some trumps. Passive Defense is the default: the style to use unless there s clear evidence for Active Defense. The Balanced Dummy: With a flat dummy, including no 4+ card suit that can be set up for declarer discards, the defenders plan should be PASSIVE. Lead so as to not break new suits. Defenders strategy should be to sit back and wait for declarer to lead their suits, as she has few other choices with a flat dummy. Trump leads are passive... they rarely give away a trick declarer can t make herself. The Dummy with Ruffing Power but Little Else. Defenders should lead trumps whenever they can. Trumping losers is the only way declarer can make tricks in dummy, so make her play trumps to neutralize the dummy. Forget about not finessing my partner. Get those trumps off the table ASAP. The Dummy with a Long Side Suit. Case 1. A usable side-suit. If it s clear the dummy s side suit will be a home for declarer s losers, then defenders must get their tricks before they go away: lead away from Kings, lay down Aces, all the things you never do are then the right things to do. Active defense is clearly the best choice. Case 2. A long but unusable side-suit. If one defender knows the side suit won t be useful as a place to dump declarer s losers, she should play it as a Balanced or Ruffing Power only dummy. She could know the side-suit is not usable because she has multiple stoppers in the suit, for example, QT98 behind the dummy s Clubs. Passive defense works best. The always do this and never do that slogans are meaningless because every hand has a dummy to contend with, and it usually determines the proper Defensive Plan or line of attack. Examples follow... Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 179

5 EXAMPLES A Balanced Dummy. Contract: 2. Dummy A965 A64 J72 T54 73 Lead the King. KQT5 When it holds, switch to a trump. A854 Q72 A passive defense is called for because dummy has little added value. A Ruffing Power Only Dummy. Contract: 4. Dummy A K765 3 Lead: Queen, East s Ace wins and returns a Heart, winning. KJ95 Now lead a Spade to prevent Heart ruffs. QJT9 QT82 Declarer will lose 3 Hearts and a Spade, go off 1. A Side-suit Dummy. Dummy East hand #1 at 4 Q7 T93 East wins the Ace then must switch to the J 74 A85 before declarer s Diamond losers go on dummy s Clubs JT5 AKJ An active defense is necessary because of the dummy s Clubs. East hand #2 at 4 T93 East wins the Ace then must switch to a trump. A85 Declarer s losers won t go away on the Clubs because JT5 East has them well stopped, and trump leads are QT83 passive. Wait for your winners. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 180

6 GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR OPENING LEADS These are NOT in preferred sequence you must figure it out from the bidding. Lead trump if you can t figure it out. LEAD... - The top of honor sequences. It starts an aggressive attack. ( KQJx) - An Ace against a suit slam contract, but not against 6 Notrump - Your partner's suit. If partner has bid a suit, lead it unless you can name a specific reason not to. Don't lead highest of partner s suit from honor third K83, for example. Lead the th best from your longest suit at NoTrump, unless you have a totally trickless hand. Then, lead the highest card in your shortest suit in an attempt to find partner s suit. - The right card. Low from three to an honor (K, Q or J of partner s suit) -- high from any doubleton, including an honor doubleton in partner's suit, like Kx; middle or low from three small. Next time, play the next highest, giving count as three. Know the lead chart on the convention card if using standard count signals. Using Upside Down signals, lead the middle, then the lower one to show odd count. - A 10 or 9 to show top of nothing. Partner won t count on you for anything in that suit. - Through strength. Lead suits that the player on your left has bid -- those where he has some strength. If his suit is solid, you've lost nothing. Ex. Lead thru AQ8xx on your left so partner makes his King or Jack. - Toward worthless suits in dummy. Lead toward 9xx in dummy to your right. 10 is best. - Lead Trump. If other leads will hurt your defense, lead trump. If you suspect a ruffing plan by declarer, lead trumps every chance you get. If declarer has bid two suits, lead trumps so he can t ruff his second suit losers. - To remove entries from dummy. Lead dummy's bid suits to get them off the board before the trump is out and perhaps you'll stop a running side suit. Sacrifice an honor to remove the only entry to a side suit. - To pin declarer in dummy. If declarer has AK in dummy, lead Spades. It costs you nothing. DON T LEAD... - New suits. Don t be the first to lead an unbid suit: it s often a sure loser for the defense. - Away from an Ace, King or Queen. Sometimes you can't help it, but try not to. Lead trump holding honors in all three other suits. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 181

7 OPENING LEADS AGAINST NOTRUMP CONTRACTS The most important piece of information for your partner is to know whether or not you have honors in the suit you lead. (Assuming you or partner has not bid the suit). If you show honors, your partner should consider dropping her honors to unblock your suit. Lead of an Ace: Shows great suit strength or great length, such as AKQ(xx), AKJT(x) AKJ(xx) or A A rare lead, as we don t lead unsupported Aces at a suit contract. Lead of a King: Either from a sequence or short suit like KQJ(xx) or AKx Lead of a Queen: Top of a sequence - - QJT(x) QJ9(x) or a combination headed by the KQT9. Partner must play the Jack if she has it. Lead of a Jack: Jack denies meaning there is no higher honor in the suit. JTx but not KJT(x), etc. The lead of a Jack often suggests the Ten is behind it. Lead of a Ten: Two or None. There are either two higher honors or none in the suit. Or it s the top of a sequence. If the Jack is visible, it is the top card held. If the 9 is visible, it s from strength. If neither, assume an interior sequence like KJT9. Lead of a Nine: Either two higher honors including the Ten or top of nothing. Examples: KT9 or QT9 or 952 All other leads at NoTrump are 4 th best, which, for centuries, has proven to be a good lead in most cases. Don t lead 9 s or 8 s as top of nothing from 4+ card suits. They are too valuable, because they might be 3 rd or 4 th round winners. With 9742, lead the 7, not the 9 if you must lead Diamonds. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 182

8 OPENING LEADS AGAINST SUIT CONTRACTS When Partner Has Bid Don t automatically lead the highest card in partner s suit. The only exception: With exactly 2 cards in partner s suit, lead the higher one ( Kx, Qx, 9x, 4x) Lead partner s Ace if you have it, regardless of your length. Never lead away from it. With 3 to an honor in partner s suit, including the Ten, lead your lowest ( Kxx, Qxx, Txx) With touching honors in partner s suit, lead the higher regardless of length ( KQx, QJxx, JTx), but... With AK(x) in partner s suit, lead the King. When it holds, partner will know who has the Ace. With 3 or 4 small (9xx), lead low if you have supported partner s suit, or high if you have not Exceptions: (not leading partner s suit first.) With a strong sequence in a suit, lead it instead of partner s suit. ( KQJ, QJT9) With AK(x) in a side suit, lead the Ace or King to see the dummy, then lead partner s suit at the 2 nd trick if nothing interesting appears. It s important to hold the lead if you can. When Partner Hasn t Bid Don t lead a side suit doubleton, hoping for... who knows what? It s the worst lead in bridge. Best is Ace or King from AK(x) to see the dummy before making the 2 nd lead. Next best is from a strong sequence: ( KQJ, QJT9) Agree with partner never to lead away from an unsupported Ace. If you lead low in a suit, you don t have the Ace of that suit, period. This understanding will make your defense much easier. Avoid leading suits partner could have overcalled at the 1-level but didn t. If declarer can trump losers in dummy, lead trump. Trump is the least likely suit to be a bad lead. Lead of a Jack: Jack denies meaning there is no higher honor in the suit. (JTx but not KJT(x) Lead of a Ten: Two or None. (KJT); or it s the top of a sequence (T98x) or a singleton. Lead of a Nine: Either two higher honors with the Ten or a top of nothing. (KT9 or QT9 or 952) Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 183

9 LEADS DURING THE PLAY The opening lead is the first shot fired by the defense to try to beat a contract. It follows that the preferred lead thereafter is to continue the attack. However, sometimes there needs to be a switch in defensive tactics. A switch can be for any of several reasons, but shouldn t be because you don t know what else to do. Switch because: - Declarer is trying to ruff tricks in the dummy, so you should lead trump. - Declarer is void in your suit in both hands - - no sluff-and-ruffs, please. - Declarer is about to run a solid suit and pitch his losers -- take your quick tricks at once - Partner has bid a suit that hasn t been lead. Defensive Lead Don ts: - Don t lead new suits: make declarer start a new suit - - if you break a suit, it s usually an advantage to the declarer. Lead trump instead. - Don t allow declarer to sluff-and-ruff. - Don t try something else because the opening lead wasn t too successful. Defensive Lead Do s: - Lead the suit your partner bid - - perhaps she has something in that suit? - Once you start the top of a sequence, continue leading it. - Lead trump on the opening lead if declarer has opened one suit and plays in another; keep leading trump later in the play. - Lead through strength (a broken suit to your left) and toward weakness (on your right) - Lead (and play) any card you are known to hold, like the second in your sequence after the opening lead. - Lead to pin declarer on the board so she has to lead away from dummy into your hand. - When the dummy is on your right, lead a card just higher than it holds so as to keep the lead. Example: Lead a 10 toward 9xx in dummy on your right. - Try to help partner not have to lead into dummy tenaces ( AQTXX). You should lead thru such suits if you can. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 184

10 COUNT AND ATTITUDE SIGNALS Signals are the only legal communications between defenders. They both tell your partner something about the suit lead - - either how many you have of the suit (Count) or how you feel about continuing to play that suit (Attitude). All three types of signals can be played in one hand: Suit Preference, Count and Attitude. The convention card asks you to name your most prevalent type of signals. Confusion is possible. So is deception. Count ( I have an even or an odd number of cards in this suit) is normally given by playing high, then low on the next round to signal an even number of cards in the suit, and low then high with an odd number. A 4 first and then a 2 on the next play of that suit indicates an even number; a 3 then a 6 means odd. When following suit, the leader is supposed to figure out the number you hold by your first count signal, from his and the dummies count, plus information from the bidding. He may then continue the suit, knowing the declarer s count because of your signal, or switch if there is no future in the suit. The size of the cards played is not important: only the sequence. It is often played Upside-Down in modern bridge, where low then high means even and high then low means odd. Attitude expresses your desire to continue playing a suit or a desire to switch to another suit. A high card means Continue and a low one means Switch. High and Low are relative, of course. A 9 is probably high and a 4 low. A middle card means I have no preference about this suit. Discarding (not following suit) is usually an Attitude signal, saying I (do or don t) like the suit I m discarding. In standard signals, a high card says I do like this suit and a low one, I don t. A negative attitude about Clubs, for example, might imply a positive attitude about another suit; one not being discarded, and not trump, of course. Attitude is also frequently played Upside-Down, where low means I like this suit, partner and high means the opposite. (Recommended) Both Count and Attitude signals are played when following suit. Count can be played when leading or discarding. Attitude is played when discarding. Neither is played in the trump suit. Doubletons are always played high-low regardless of upside-down or not. The situation at the table determines which of the three types of signals is being played - - Count, Attitude or Suit Preference. Suit Preference is generally appropriate only when no further information about the suit is relevant, as, for example, when dummy is void. (See the Mini- Lesson on Suit Preference Signals following page) Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 185

11 SUIT PREFERENCE SIGNALS Suit Preference signals tell your partner which of two other suits you like by the size of a card you lead, sluff or play. The 2 other suits are (1) not the suit played and (2) not trump. The relative size of the card played signals which of the other two suits. For example, with Spades as trump, the lead or sluff of the 3 could tell partner to lead a Diamond the lower of Hearts and Diamonds, but not Clubs. The lead or sluff of the 7 could tell partner to lead a Heart and not Diamonds or Clubs. At NoTrump contracts, it's (1) not any solid or long dummy or declarer suit and (2) not the suit of the card played. When Following Suit: With Hearts as trumps, partner takes the Ace and you play a 9. That could mean you prefer Spades as the next lead, and a 3 could mean you want Diamonds led. A 6 or 7 might mean I don t care. A 9 or 3 could also be an Attitude or Count signal. The situation at the table and your agreements with partner should tell you which it is. When Not Following (Sluffing): You have bid twice in Diamonds and the opponents are in 4. On the second round of Spades, you sluff the 10. This could mean you want a Heart lead if partner gets in; not a Diamond. A 3 could mean you want Clubs lead. A 7 or 6 means you have no preference about Hearts or Clubs, implying that a Diamond lead is OK. When Leading: You bid strongly in Clubs and declarer is in 4. You take your Ace and partner shows out. You then lead a 10 for partner to ruff, when you could have led any of several Clubs. That could be a signal for her to lead a Spade after she ruffs so you can get the lead back to give her another ruff. A 3 would be for a Diamond return; a 6 or 7 means I don t have an outside entry. You have lots of Clubs, so use the size of your lead as a signal. Subtleties. You can use suit preference to tell partner NOT to lead your bid suit. You can even signal partner to lead something unusual, like trump, by signaling her to lead an obviously wrong suit, such as toward the AQT8 in dummy. High or Low? There s no absolute high or low card - - a 7 can be a low card or a high card, depending on what other cards are in view. Look at the dummy and your hand and review the bidding to judge whether a card is high, low or middling. Confused? Suit Preference signals can be confused with Attitude or Count Signals, so be careful. Attitude is generally shown when following suit, and suit preference when not. Suit preference should be played when further information about Count or Attitude is useless, such as when the dummy is void in your bid suit. Pay Attention! Don t play lazy and simply discard the lowest card you have in a suit, especially on your first discard - - that s a signal if partner is paying attention. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 186

12 DISCARDING GUIDELINES Discarding is an art, like many other things in bridge. Some generalities follow, independent of the bidding, which is always relevant in competitive bridge. Keep equal length with dummy s suits. Ex: You hold K642 and dummy has AQ53. Don t discard Spades! Signal with cards in short suits, not suits with equal length with dummy (above example) Discard the highest of an honor sequence, guaranteeing partner you have the lower ones Ex: With QJT9, discard the Q, not the 9. He ll know you aren t wasting honors. Give count in suits you don t want led Ex: Holding 962 in a suit dummy will run, show odd count Know how to discard negatively, i.e., know how to tell partner Don t lead such and such a suit Ex: Discard of a 2 or a 3 using Standard discards, hoping partner can figure it out or use suit preference (far better) to point to a suit. Use the Rule of Eleven to defend. Ex: Partner s lead of a 7 tells you there are 4 cards outstanding between the dummy, your hand and declarer s hand. (Subtract the card led from 11 to get this number) If discarding in partner s led suit, play the card you would have played if you were on lead. Ex: From 9642, start a count signal on the first round and complete it if you are on lead. Discard cards declarer knows you have, not new suits. If you bid Clubs, discard Clubs. Don t discard the last card in your partner s suit until you are sure you can never get the lead. Don t signal with 9 s, 8 s or 7 s: they are too valuable as stoppers or trick-takers Don t endplay yourself. If an isolated dummy has winners, get cards of that suit out of your hand ASAP. Don t discard at random: every discard tells a story, so tell the same one over and over; not new ones. Always falsecard when it can t mislead partner. Ex: With QJT9 in a side suit, play the Jack, not the 9. Weak hands tell all; strong hands don t. Strong hands don t need to tell weak ones anything on defense, because it also tells the declarer. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 187

13 UNBLOCKING What is Blocking? Blocking occurs when one hand has to take a trick and then can t lead the suit to the other hand because it has no low card to lead. Example: East has T9876 and has AKJ. can win 2 or 3 Spade tricks, but can t get to East s hand to run Spade tricks, except in another suit. This is an unavoidable block because of the way the cards were dealt. Unblocking is the art of avoiding the blocking of a suit that you and your partner can run if played right. Examples: - Partner leads the K against NT and you have the A7: overtake with the Ace and lead the 7 to partner s Q?xx, setting up her Club suit and maybe finessing declarer s J. If you duck the King, you ll win the second Club trick and can t get back to partner in Clubs. - Partner leads the 4 and you have AJ82. Win the Ace first and then lead the Jack. (You have to get out of partner s way so he can run his Hearts if of you later get in). If partner gets in again and leads the Queen or 10 or 9, play your 8, under her card, so she can keep the lead. If you get in first, lead your 8 and NOT your 2, so as to get your high cards out of her way. - Partner opens the K against NT and you have J82. Play your J to show her where all the high cards in Clubs are, and unblocking your high card so you can lead your smaller cards if you get in. Don t follow with your 2 from J82 -- you will probably block her suit from running. Play the 8 next. How? Partner s K is taken by Declarer s A and you will later win the third round of Clubs but then can t lead them back. Because partner won t know you have the J, she will take the Q on the second round. You could unblock the J under the Queen, but why make it hard on your partner? Start to unblock at your first opportunity. When is there a Blocking situation? When partner leads a suit showing length and strength, try to visualize her cards before you play your first card. Visualize what will be the situation on the second or third round of that suit, and play your cards so as to get out of her way. Don't hoard your high cards: get rid of them and keep your little cards to lead to partner so she can run her long suit - - winning bridge is a game of partnership defense. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 188

14 COUNTING AT DUPLICATE Duplicate bidding and play, on defense or as declarer, is all about counting. You have to count everything, all the time, to be a decent player /defender / declarer / partner. Things to count at all times: - High Cards around the table. The bidding went: 1N P 3NT and you have 5 HCP. How many points does your partner have? - Suit distribution. The bidding goes [2 P 4 ], with 3 trumps in the dummy. You have 7, so your partner has how many Spades? - Defensive distribution. Opener leads the Heart deuce to your 3NT contract. How many Hearts does she have? Her partner? - Declarer s distribution. With 5 trumps, declarer has 8 cards that aren t Spades. What could they be? - Anyone s distribution. If you can figure out either your partner s or declarer s distribution, you know all 52 cards. - Number of cards already played in a suit. Going around twice takes 8: you can see yours and dummy s, so... - Number of a suit in partner s hand. Declarer opened 1 and plays 3NT. How many Hearts does your partner hold? - Number of tricks to set declarer or to make your contract. There are always 13 tricks: how many do you need? - Number of cards your partner holds. He plays high-low. How many has he? How many has declarer? (Signals) - Score for making / going down X tricks. Down two not vulnerable is better or worse than allowing opponents to make 3 Clubs? - Points played so far. North leads A, K, Q but didn t open. Can she have the Ace? The King? - Tricks. Count before the first dummy card is played. How many tricks are you short? Where can additional ones come from? Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 189

15 Practice: Practice counting all the time for just 2 rounds per session. In a month, you will be a substantially better bridge player. Counting counts -- be a winner and not a slouch. Counting constantly keeps you focused on the hand, too. Or start with just one thing: try to count declarer s total distribution for one whole session. Then, try to count partner s distribution or high card points during another session. It will soon become a habit -- a winning habit. Before you play the first card; try to estimate everyone s HCP, and then see how close you were during the play - - it s easy to be within a point or two with just a little practice. Once you get this habit in place, move on to something else. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 190

16 INFERENCE Inference is the application of logic in the absence of complete information. Bridge is a game of inference, especially on defense. The basic assumption is that declarer and defenders play logically, even if the logic of their play isn t obvious. By assuming logical play (except for deceit, a characteristic of all good declarers), defenders can often figure it out by considering the inferences of actions taken or not taken. Inference from action taken. Defending Spades, you can see 10 Clubs between dummy and your hand. You lead the Heart King and partner overtakes. Inference: partner is not void in Clubs, or she would not overtake, hoping you will figure it out to lead Clubs. Inference from unusual action taken. With Spades as trump, dummy comes down with AQTxx after declarer opened NoTrump, suggesting she has the K. But partner wins the opening lead and plays a Spade. Inference: Partner is shifting to a passive defense because she has the Diamond suit stopped. Inference from action not taken. Spades are trump and partner leads a Diamond. Dummy comes down with 3 small Hearts and you have Qxxx. Inference: Partner doesn t have AK(x) as Ace or King from Ace and King is typically the best lead in a suit contract. Declarer has both top honors in Hearts, or, if partner bid, they are probably split. Inference from unexpected action. On opening lead, partner leads trump even though a long Club suit is expected in dummy. Inference: partner has the Club suit under control and is choosing a Passive defense. Partner bids Heart, but leads Clubs. Inference: partner has something like AQxxx and is reluctant to lead it: she wants you to lead Hearts through declarer. OR Inference: she s missing the King and doesn t want to play her Ace, giving declarer a trick, OR Inference: she is leading from a safe suit, like an honor sequence, OR Inference: she is leading a singleton and has a trump entry, intending to put you on lead later in your suit so she can get a ruff. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 191

17 Inferences from the bidding In a competitive auction, Spades are never bid. Dummy comes down with two and you, in 3rd seat have three. What is the distribution in the other two hands? Inference: almost surely 4 4, as Spades would usually be bid in a competitive auction. In a 1NT P 3NT auction, partner leads the 2. Dummy comes down with a doubleton Heart and you have a doubleton as well. How are the Hearts divided? Inference: declarer has 5 hearts, as partner would have lead one from a 5-card suit. In a 1NT P 3NT auction, partner leads the 2 and later turns up with a singleton Diamond. What is her hand shape? Inference: She led from a 4 card suit because she didn t have a 5 card suit. With KQJ5 in a dummy with entries, declarer doesn t play Spades. Why? Inference: she has the missing honor (the Ace) and is stealing, or else she would have set up Spades early in the hand. The same if AQJTx is in the dummy. Inferences from declarer play choices KT72 Dummy AQ5 The Spade 2 is led at a suit contract. Declarer plays the Ace. How many Spades does she have? Inference: one. Declarer plays the Queen. Who has the Jack? Inference: Partner. Declarer plays low. What is her holding? Inference: the Jack Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 192

18 DEFENDER PLAY PROBLEMS #1 Hand #1 North K South (you) 742 AKJ T873 A32 East QJ86 Q83 Q North East South P 3 or 2 3 P 3 All pass Your partner, North, leads the King against s 3 Spade contract. How do you signal her to lead Hearts? Hand #2 North K South (you) AQT63 A8 J73 T73 East J5 KT A9852 KJ85 North East South P 3 P 4 All pass Your partner, against all logic, always leads the highest card in your suit. ( K) How do you beat this contract? Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 193

19 DEFENDER PLAY PROBLEMS #1 ANSWERS Hand #1 North K South (you) 742 AKJ T873 A32 East QJ86 Q83 Q North East South P 3 or 2 3 P 3 All pass Your partner, North, leads the King against s 3 Spade contract. How do you signal her to lead Hearts? Overtake the K, play the Ace or King, then return a Club killing the Queen when she leads another Heart. Signals don t always have to be subtle. When you can see how to tell your partner something with virtually no chance of error on his part, do it. Hand #2 North K South (you) AQT63 A8 J73 T73 East J5 KT A9852 KJ85 North East South P 3 P 4 All pass Your partner unfortunately always leads the highest card in your suit. How do you beat this contract? Overtake the K, lead a LOW Heart, retaining a tempo. To play Ace and another Heart would prevent a Spade ruff in dummy, but it would let declarer pitch his 3 rd Spade on dummy s long Club. You must prevent both the ruff of declarer s 3 rd Spade and a pitch on Clubs, so you must keep your tempo by NOT playing Ace and a Heart. You ll get in with the A and win your 3 rd Spade for down 1. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 194

20 DEFENDER PLAY PROBLEMS #2 Hand #1 North 4 South (you) QT A52 East AK QT94 QT3 J963 North East South P 3 P 4 All pass Your partner, North, leads the 4. How should you, South, plan the defense? Answer: Hand #2 AQJ QJT KJ53 K63 North 5A2 South (you) T742 7 A86 QJT98 East 3 47 North East South P 1 P 3NT* P 4 P 4 All pass You lead the Q, winning. Then you lead the Jack, dummy s King is covered by the partner s Ace and East ruffs. Declarer then leads the Ten. What is your defensive plan? * = Strong Spade raise in an opening hand. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 195

21 Hand #1 North 4 DEFENDER PLAY PROBLEMS #2 ANSWERS South (you) QT A52 East AK QT94 QT3 J963 North East South P 3 P 4 All pass Your partner opens the 4. How should you, South, plan the defense? Take the Ace and return the 7, looking for a 3 rd round ruff. Spades and Hearts are hopeless on the bidding and the dummy, and you have only this one tempo to attack. If you blindly return a Club, you will set up dummy s Jack. Partner must have a Diamond trick ( Ace or King) and the Ace or King to beat this contract. Hand #2 AQJ QJT KJ53 K63 North 5A2 South (you) T742 7 A86 QJT98 East 3 47 North East South P 1 P 3NT* P 4 P 4 All pass You lead the Q, winning. Then the Jack, dummy s King covered by the partner s Ace and East ruffs. Declarer then leads the Ten. What is your defensive plan? Declarer is trying to steal her 10 th trick. Take the Ace. Your partner can t have the Queen because there s no points left for her to have. You and she have already shown 11 high card points, dummy has 17, so opener must have all the other 12. This means declarer has no other side suit losers. Lead another Club, forcing her to ruff. You will then have more trumps than declarer, who will then lose control of this hand. Bob McConnell, 2014 Defense at Duplicate 196