BOB s LEADS and DEFENSIVE CARDING: LEADS (circle card led if not in bold) Versus Suits Versus Notrump Xx xxxx Xx xxxx xxx xxxxx Xxx xxxxx AKx T9x AKJx AQJx KQx KJTx AJT9 AT9x QJx KT9x KQJX KQT9 JT9 QT9x QJTx QT9x KQT9 JT9x T9xx LENGTH LEADS 4 th Best vs Suits vs NT Primary signal to partner s leads Attitude SPECIAL CARDING ASK DEFENSIVE CARDING Vs Suits vs NT Standard Except Coded 9 s, T s, Jacks Upside-Down Count Attitude FIRST DISCARD Upside Down LEADS: I play Coded 9 s, 10 s and Jacks leads, (AKA Journalist ), otherwise Standard honor sequences and Boston leads. OTHER CARDING: none. (These are trump signals) AKx Ace from Ace and King. With a stiff doubleton, lead the King first. KQJ Top of an honor sequence JT9 Lead of a Jack denies any higher honors, but often includes the 10. KQT9 A special Standard case: It asks partner to drop the Jack if she has it. T9x A Coded 10: shows either 2 or no higher cards in the suit. KT9x The lead of a Nine shows two higher cards both honors or none. xx Count? Standard Hi-Lo is Even. Attitude? No! xxx 2 nd highest: not the Top of Nothing. (An exception to Boston.) xxxx 2 nd highest: not the Top of Nothing. (An exception to Boston.) G. Why Coded Leads? This is our non-standard Lead. It often tells partner the honor situation in all 4 hands on the first lead of a suit. She looks in her hand and at the dummy and asks herself: Could my partner have 2 honors higher than her 9 or 10 that she led? If not, then where are all the missing honors? Right Declarer has them. If the answer is Yes, she could, then the play of the next honor in the suit by partner or Declarer - completes the picture. Using the printed Standard Leads, do you see anything remotely as sophisticated or even as simple as Coded? H. DEFENSIVE CARDING (Signals): Upside Down Attitude and First Discards and Suit Preference. (Actually, initial discards in every suit are Upside Down.) Why Upside Down? In Standard, if you play a 9 on the first lead of a suit, do you suppose Declarer will read that signal as a Yes!? But what if you play a 3? More important is that we don t waste high intermediate cards as positive signals, like 8s and 9s, because they are not only more noticeable to Declarer, they may later become pushers or threat cards or sometimes even tricks. But s that s all just about What to lead or Signal; far more important is Why and When? I call it Context for Defense. Pg. 1 Bob McConnell, 2017
1. CONTEXT. Standards, whether the ACBL s or Bob s or yours are guidelines they are not real Standards, meaning something you always do. Where are we in this hand and What has gone on so far? is much more important than a Standard. Context is it in the hand. 2. What to Lead? Who Bid? The first contextual issue as we start to play a hand, is Did either or both defenders bid? If so, has partner raised my suit? What to lead if she did? Or didn t? How many ways could a Yes answer to any of these questions change the logic of what we lead or what we play or signal in 3 rd seat? If there s been a defensive suit bid and raise, can t we arrive at the count all around the table quickly once the dummy comes down probably even before 3 rd seat plays? Can an overcall vs. a balancing bid be a different looking suit? Could it make a difference? GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR OPENING LEADS These are NOT in any recommended sequence - - - you must figure it out from the bidding. Don t forget that it s OK to lead trump if you can t figure it out. - The top of honor sequences. It starts a Passive defense mode attack. ( KQJx) - An Ace against a suit slam contract, but not against a Notrump slam. -Your partner's suit. If partner has bid a suit, lead it unless you can name a specific reason not to, or are void in her suit. Don't lead highest of partner s suit from honor third K83, for example: Lead the 3; not the K. - 4th from your longest/strongest suit at NoTrump, unless you have a totally trickless hand. If so, lead the top card in your shortest suit to maybe 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 Jack or 10 or 9 to show a Coded Lead. - An 8,7,6, etc. to show top of nothing, the 2 nd highest, so the 7 from 9762- not the 9. - Through strength. Lead suits that the dummy 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 may make his King or Jack. - Toward worthless suits in dummy. Lead toward 9xx in dummy on your right. The 10 is best if you have it. ( Dummy on the Right, lead the weakest thing in sight - 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. With a stiff AK in dummy, lead Hearts. It costs nothing. Pg. 2 Bob McConnell, 2017
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. Much better is to lead trump, holding high honors in all other suits. OPENING LEADS AGAINST NOTRUMP CONTRACTS The most important piece of information to your partner is to know if 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. (Unblocking) - Lead of an Ace: Shows suit strength or length, including the King of the suit. - Lead of a King: Either from an honor sequence or short suit like KQJ(xx) or AK. - Lead of a Queen: The top of a QJT(x) sequence, or a combination headed by the KQT9. In this Special Standard lead, partner must play the Jack if she has it. - Lead of a Jack: Jack denies there is no higher honor in the suit. JTx but not KJT(x) The lead of a Jack often suggests the Ten is behind it, but there s no guarantee. - Lead of a Ten: Two or None higher a Journalist or Coded lead. - Lead of a Nine: Either two higher honors (often including the Ten) or Top of nothing. - Don t lead 9 s or 8 s as top of nothing from 4+ card suits. They are too valuable as they can become 4 th round tricks. With 9742, lead the 7, not the 9 if you must lead Diamonds. OPENING LEADS AGAINST SUIT CONTRACTS - When Partner Has Bid: Don t automatically lead your highest card in partner s suit. The exception is with 2 cards (a doubleton) in partner s suit: lead ( Kx, Qx, 9x), - 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, 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, otherwise high. - Exceptions: (i.e., not first leading partner s suit.) - With a honor sequence, 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 her suit at the 2 nd trick if nothing interesting appears. Hold the opening lead if you can. When Partner Hasn t Bid: Don t lead a low side suit doubleton, hoping for who knows what? - Best is Ace or King from AK(x) to see the dummy before making the 2 nd lead. - Next best is from an honor 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, or you should lead it. - Avoid leading suits partner could have overcalled at the 1-level but didn t. - If Declarer can trump losers, lead trump. Trump is the least likely to be a bad lead. - Coded Leads J s, 10 s and 9 s, per the above Pg. 3 Bob McConnell, 2017
Pg. 4 Bob McConnell, 2017 LEADS DURING THE PLAY The opening lead is the first shot fired by the defense to try to beat a contract. Logically, the leads thereafter should continue the attack. However, sometimes there needs to be a switch in defensive tactics. Either defender can switch because: - Declarer is trying to ruff tricks in the dummy: 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 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 a suit and plays in another; and keep leading trump later. She probably has losers in her original suit to ruff. - Lead through strength (a broken suit to your left) or toward weakness (on your right) - Lead (and play) any card you are known to hold, like the 2 nd in a sequence after your opening top-of nothing lead. - Lead to pin declarer on the board so she has to lead away from dummy into your hand. - If the dummy is on your right, lead a card just higher than it holds so as to maybe 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: Through Strength on the Left & Toward weakness on the Right. 3. Active or Passive Defense? What does that mean? How to start the Defense. Should it be Passive, Active or Neutral? Some opening leads, like K from the KQJx are easy, almost always safe and suggest a Passive Defense mode to partner. Why would the opening leader lead an unsupported Ace?, i.e., one without the King? What does a 2 opening lead mean when defenders have bid Hearts? As usual, there s no Standard Lead, so the answer is It depends. It depends on what? Some of the many things It depends on are: if and what the dummy bid; did my partner bid? What is the declarer s apparent length and strength, based on the bidding? Given the level of the contract and the HCP in the opening leader s hand, what is the range of HCP partner could possibly have? If there in game and you have 9 HCP, how many could he have? Will dummy have a side suit to pitch losers for the declarer? If, so, we d better take our top tricks right now Be active! Are we in a slam or near-slam, or in a 2-level suit contract that we chose not to balance against, maybe because of our Vulnerability? Did Declarer balance against us, but we declined to take-the-push? Did Dummy invite but the Declarer declined, or Declarer invited but Dummy declined? Or either one accepted game after a tentative auction?
4. Choose the Opening Lead. No problem here, as the opening leader has maybe 10 seconds to go through all the above questions, answer them and then decide among a variety of possible Defensive modes. After the 10 seconds, a face-down lead appears (before the Any questions, Partner? ) and then becomes face-up. Then the 2 nd most important contextual event happens. 5. The Dummy Appears. The 13 cards in Dummy answer many of the questions the opening leader had, and confirm or negate her assumptions about a Defense Plan. It also partially completes both defenders estimate of length and strength in partner s and Declarer s hands. Flat vs Dangerous vs. Neutral Dummys: A. A 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. B. A 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. C. A 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 a defender knows the side suit won t be useful as a place to dump declarer s losers, he should play it as a Balanced or Ruffing Power Only dummy. He could know the side-suit is not usable because he has multiple stoppers in the suit, for example, QT98 behind the dummy s Clubs. Passive defense works best in Case 2. Pg. 5 Bob McConnell, 2017
EXAMPLES A. A Balanced Dummy. Contract: 2. Dummy A965 A64 J72 T54 73 Lead the King. KQT5 When it holds, switch to a trump - 2. A854 Q72 A passive defense is called for because dummy has little added value. B. A Ruffing Power Only Dummy. Contract: 4. Dummy A45 82 6543 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 may lose 3 Hearts and a Spade, going off 1. C-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. 8632 JT5 AKJ94 8765 An active defense is necessary because of Dummy s Clubs. C-2. 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 Dummy s Clubs because JT5 East has them well stopped, and trump leads are QT83 passive. Wait for your winners. Pg. 6 Bob McConnell, 2017
We read that the Dummy could drastically change the Defensive mode on the opening trick and we now see why. If it s flat, defenders may be able to go Passive and make Declarer generate tricks, but few extra ones in Dummy, except as its HCP provide. But, with a shapely dummy, not only may it be short in the suit that defender s bid for ruffing tricks, it may also have a decent side-suit to generate extra tricks beyond ruffs and HCP tricks. Is that drastic enough for a Dummy? And dummy may not have suggested shortness in Defenders suit nor bid her decent 5 -card side suit: she may have simply raised Declarer s suit to some level. But, when it hits the table, all 3 hidden hands can see the hand change maybe even drastically. Defenders may have to switch to Active Mode, meaning take their Aces and Kings right away to prevent them being ruffed away or see Declarer pitch her losers on dummy s side suit. Declarer s losers are, of course, Defenders winners if they collect them in time. But a Flat dummy can lead to a change to a Passive (the most common) Defense Mode, as it won t be able to ruff defenders tricks early in the play, or ever. 6. The Dummy Plays. Declarer may think for a while before playing the first card from dummy, but it will happen, and 3 rd seat must use that time, plus a few more seconds of his own time, to decide what his first play will be. A Signal? Count or Attitude? Yes? or No! or Eh? Overtake the opening lead and change suits to lead through the Declarer on trick two? 3 rd seat must go thru this thought process in those few seconds before she plays, and she may even decide to change the opener s decision on mode because she, 3 rd Seat has seen the dummy. We ve read that Dummy could drastically change the Defensive mode on the opening trick! Answers to these questions may come from a guess as to what the Opening leader s decision was about the Defensive Mode which determined his opening lead: Active (take Aces immediately) or Passive (sit back and wait for Declarer to play into defenders hands?) or Neutral, where the opening leader can t decide on a Mode, so simply leads the top of an honor sequence, or maybe a singleton. Having the Dummy in view puts a lot of information, direct and implied on the table. All see Dummy s STP Shape, Tricks and Points - even before the 1 st trick is completed: before 3 rd Seat has to play. With a few seconds reflection, all can visualize where the missing cards and HCP are, based on the bidding and the 27 cards everyone can see at once: the dummy, one s own hand and the 27th card the Opening lead. Can visualize means must visualize all the above to be a successful defender. 7. Visualization by all Players is a major Defense topic on its own, but, for today, let s just start with STP (Shape, Tricks, Points) for all hands after Dummy appears. It s a good start if you quickly visualize everything possible re STP on defense, then gradually adjust your visualization as tricks are played. For example, partner shows out on the 3 rd round of Clubs: now you know exactly how many Clubs Declarer started with if you are counting Clubs. Tracking the Two Highest Cards in Every Suit. In addition to keeping track of the total number of cards played in each suit, keep track of the highest unplayed card spot in each suit, and the 2 nd highest as well. Every trick played provides confirmation or negation of everyone s initial STP visualization. Obviously, the Declarer is also doing STP visualization, but she sees and controls her partners cards 100%, whereas defenders don t control partner nor see anything Pg. 7 Bob McConnell, 2017
except single cards as they are played. But defenders can Signal to show count, preferences, etc., albeit indirectly and with strict ethical Rules about behavior at the table. And, you must Count, Count, Count every card and HCP and remember each throughout the play of the hand. Did partner play the 7 and then the 4, even though Clubs started 5 tricks ago? Or was it the 2 and then the 4? Does it matter? The remaining section of this document is homework reading for next week and for the rest of your duplicate career. It s topics other than Carding, as we ve studied: or Why?, not What. 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. If you hold K642 and dummy has AQ53, don t discard any Spades. Signal with cards in short suits, not suits with equal length with dummy (see above example.) Discard the highest of an honor sequence, guaranteeing partner you have the lower ones 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 With 962 in a suit dummy will run, show odd count. Know how to discard negatively, Know how to tell partner Don t lead such and such a suit Example: Discard of a 7 or 8, playing Upside Down discards, hoping partner can figure it out or Upside Down Suit Preference to point to a specific suit. Use the Rule of Eleven to defend. 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) How many does Declarer have in his hand? If discarding on partner s suit, play the card you would have played if you were on lead. From 9642, start a count signal (6) 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 know you will 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 thee dummy has winners, get cards of that suit out of your hand Don t discard at random: every discard tells a story, so tell the same one over and over. Always falsecard when it can t mislead partner. With QJT9 in a side suit, play the Jack. Weak hands tell all; strong hands don t. Strong hands don t need to tell their weak partners anything on defense, because it also tells the declarer. Pg. 8 Bob McConnell, 2017
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 back. 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 back to partner s QTxx, setting up her Club suit and maybe finessing declarer s J. If you duck the King, you ll win the 2 nd 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 must get out of partner s way so he can run his Hearts if you later get in to lead them again. 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 him where all the high cards in Clubs are, and unblocking a high Club so you can lead a smaller card back to him if you get in. Don t follow with your 2 from J82 -- you will probably block his 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, he 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 he can run his long suit - - winning bridge is a game of partnership defense. Pg. 9 Bob McConnell, 2017
COUNTING Duplicate bidding and play, on defense or as declarer, is all about counting. You must 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: 1NT P 3NT and you have 5 HCP. How many HCP does your partner have? You know declarer s range and can see the dummy. - Suit distribution. The bidding goes [2 P 4 ], with 3 trumps in the dummy. You have the 7, so your partner has how many Spades? - Defensive distribution. Opener leads the 2 into your 3NT contract. How many Hearts does she have? Her partner? - Declarer s distribution. With 5 Spades as trump, declarer has 8 cards in her hand 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? (Count Signal) - Score for making / going down X tricks. Down two not vulnerable is better or worse than allowing opponents to make 3 Clubs? - Discovery. 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. As either Declarer or Defender, how many tricks are you short? Where can additional ones come from? Pg. 10 Bob McConnell, 2017
Counting Practice Suggestions Practice counting all the time for just 2 rounds per session. In a month, you will be a better bridge player. Counting counts -- be a winner and not a slouch. Counting constantly keeps you focused on the hand, too: not dinner. Or start with just one hand: count declarer s total distribution for one whole session. Then, during another session, count partner s distribution or high card points. It will soon become a habit -- a winning habit for you. Before you play the first card in a hand; try to estimate everyone s HCP, mentally write them down and afterwards 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. Pg. 11 Bob McConnell, 2017
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 habit 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 King and partner overtakes with the Ace. 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 your opening lead and leads 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 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 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. Pg. 12 Bob McConnell, 2017
Inferences from the bidding In a competitive auction, Spades are never bid. Dummy comes down with 3 and you, in 3rd seat have 4. What is the distribution in the other opponent s hands? Inference: almost surely 3 3, as Spades will usually be bid in a competitive auction. In a 1NT P 3NT auction, partner leads the 2. Dummy comes down with a doubleton Spade and you have a doubleton as well. How are the Spades divided? Inference: Declarer has 5 Spades, 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 s shape? Inference: 4 4 4 1. 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? xxx2 Dummy AQ5 The 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 from Dummy. What is her Spade holding? Inference: the Jack Inference: she has the missing honor (the Ace) and is stealing tricks, or else she would have set up Spades early in the hand. The same if AQJTx is in the dummy. She has the K in hand. Pg. 13 Bob McConnell, 2017
DEFENDER PLAY PROBLEMS Hand #1 North K North East South South (you) 742 AKJ T873 A32 East QJ86 Q83 Q64 876 - - - 1 2 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 North East South South (you) AQT63 A8 J73 T73 East J5 KT A9852 KJ85 - - 1 2 2 3 P 3 P 4 All pass Your partner, against all advice, always leads the highest card in your suit. ( K) How do you beat this contract? Pg. 14 Bob McConnell, 2017
Hand #3 North 4 North East South - - - 1 P 3 P 4 East AK QT94 QT3 J963 All pass Your partner, North, leads the 4. South QT874 632 76 A52 How should you, South, plan the defense? Answer: Hand #4 North 5A2 North East South P 1 P 3NT* P 4 P 4 AQJ QJT KJ53 K63 South (you) T742 7 A86 QJT98 East 3 T 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. Answer: Pg. 15 Bob McConnell, 2017
DEFENDER PLAY PROBLEMS - ANSWERS Hand #1 North K South 742 AKJ T873 A32 East QJ86 Q83 Q64 876 North East South - - - 1 2 P 3 or 2 3 P 3 All pass Your partner, North, leads the King against s 3 Spade contract. How do you signal him to lead Hearts? Overtake the K, play the Ace or King, then return a Club to his Q, killing the Queen when he leads another Heart through Dummy. Signals don t always have to be subtle. When you can see how to tell your partner something with 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 - - 1 2 2 3 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 and lead a LOW Heart, retaining a trump 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. Pg. 16 Bob McConnell, 2017
Hand #3 North 4 North East South - - - 1 P 3 P 4 East AK QT94 QT3 J963 All pass Your partner opens the 4. South (you) QT874 632 76 A52 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 #4 North 5A2 North East South P 1 P 3NT* P 4 P 4 AQJ QJT KJ53 K63 South (you) T742 7 A86 QJT98 East 3 T 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 defense plan? Declarer is trying to steal a 10 th trick with the King. Take your Ace. Your partner can t have the Queen because there s no points left for her to hold. 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 the hand. Pg. 17 Bob McConnell, 2017
My Five Phases of Defense: Phase 1. During the Auction. Defense starts during the bidding. Every bid by partner and opponent tells you something about the unseen hands, from both positive and negative perspectives. Listening to the auction helps your bidding, and remembering the auction helps your defense. Phase 1 is Counting (Estimating) Points and Shape during the bidding. Phase 2. Making the Opening Lead. The opening leader must pick an Active or Passive style of attack, then select the suit and card to lead. This requires reviewing the implications of every bid and analyzing the possibilities of the dummy before it comes down. The leader s partner should be doing the same thinking. In-sync defenders will ideally come to the same conclusion as to defensive style and the best suit to lead. Phase Two includes Dummy Estimation, Active or Passive mode and Picking a card to lead. Phase 3. When Dummy Appears. The appearance of the dummy fills in a large part of the picture of all four hands because 26 or 27 cards are in view for everybody. Some unseen cards and HCP are inferred from the bidding. The suit distribution and location of the 16 Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks begins to become apparent, like an evolving jig-saw puzzle. Phase V is Counting Tricks and Estimating Declarer s Play Plan after the Dummy appears. Phase 4. When Declarer s Plan Becomes Apparent. Declarer, after her allocated minute or so to make her Declarer Plan, will start to work that Plan. Most of the time, Declarer s play to the first few tricks will tell observant defenders what Declarer s plan is and may once again suggest changes to Defenders plan and/or style. Phase VI is Adjust Defensive Style if necessary and think about Signalling. Phase 5. During the Play of the Hand. Declarer may attempt to hide her plan temporarily, stealing tricks or end-playing or squeezing defenders. Defenders are declarers on other hands, so you can put yourself in declarer s place to ask Why is she doing that? or Why isn t she doing this? questions. Anything unusual can provide clues to an unexpected declarer plan. For example; Why hasn t she claimed yet? Phase V is putting yourself in Declarer s place mentally and ask Why questions, while continuing your Defense Plan. Pg. 18 Bob McConnell, 2017