Tournament Bridge for Notrump Contracts: Fourth Edition 2020

Copyright © 2020 by Ken Casey.

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Rev. date: 06/30/2020

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CONTENTS

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTION

HOLDING UP AT NOTRUMP

1.     HOLD OFF UNTIL 2ND ROUND WITH 6-CARD SUIT OR 3RD ROUND WITH 5 CARDS

2.     DON’T HOLD UP WITH VULNERABLE SIDE SUIT

3.     DON’T HOLD UP IF YOU WILL FINESSE INTO W

4.     DON’T HOLD UP WITH ACE IN DUMMY & 6-CARD SUIT

FINESSING UP TO LONE HONOR

5.     LEAD TO LONE JACK

6.     LEAD TO LONE QUEEN (OR QJ)

7.     LEAD TO LONE KING

FINESSING WITH HONOR COMBINATIONS

8.     FINESSING WITH A-K COMBINATION

9.     FINESSING WITH KING COMBINATION

10.   FINESSING WITH A-Q COMBINATION

11.   FINESSING WITH JACK COMBINATION

12.   FINESSE INTO W 1ST, THEN INTO E

13.   CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR 4-3 (OR 5-2) SUIT SPLITS 3-3 BEFORE TAKING FINESSE

14.   WITH 4 OF TOP 6 HONORS, FINESSE MEDIUM HONOR

15.   USE REVERSE FINESSE WITH 4 HONORS

16.   PLAY FOR DROP OF Ax(x), Kx(x), Qx(x) or Jx(x)

17.   THE RULE OF 11

INFERENCES

18.   INFERENCES FROM DEFENDER’s LEAD

19.   INFERENCES FROM DEFENDER’s BID & PLAY

SPURNING A FINESSE

20.   SPURN FINESSE WITH ONLY ONE ENTRY

21.   SPURN UNNECESSARY FINESSES

HANDLING A 4-1 SPLIT AT NOTRUMP

22.   WITH 2 SUITS TO MAKE CONTRACT, SEE IF 1ST SUIT 4-1 (or 5-0)

23.   PLAN ON 4-1 SPLIT WITH 4 OF 6 TOP HONORS AND TAKE DEEP FINESSE

24.   CONCEDE TRICK IN YOUR LONG SUIT IF SIDE SUIT CONTAINS AK&Q WITH SINGLETON A, K OR Q

WITH SPLIT K&Q, LEAD THROUGH ACE

25.   WITH SPLIT K&Q, LEAD THROUGH ACE & HOPE FOR Ax(x) DROP

26.   WITH K-Q OR KQ OR SPLIT KQJ, LEAD THROUGH ACE & HOPE TO STEAL THE 9TH TRICK

PROTECT AGAINST Qx OR Kx

27.   WITH AJxx-Kxx (or AKJx-xxxx), PLAY A&K 1ST TO PROTECT AGAINST Qx

28.   WITH xxx-AQxx, PLAY ACE, CONCEDE TRICK & LEAD TO Q TO PROTECT AGAINST Kx

29.   WITH Jxxx-Axx(x); LEAD ACE & DUCK, HOPING Kx OR Qx DROPS

DUCKING

30.   DUCK W’s LOWEST CARD INTO E, THE SAFE HAND, IF W’s SUIT IS CLEARED

31.   DUCK E’s LOW CARD INTO W, THE SAFE HAND, IF E CAN CLEAR W’s SUIT

32.   DUCK TO PREVENT LOSS OF 2 TRICKS IN SUIT

AVOIDANCE PLAY

33.   FINESSE INTO SAFE HAND WITH A VULNERABLE SUIT

34.   CONCEDE DEFENDER’s HIGH CARD IF SAFE HAND WILL WIN

NOTRUMP ENDPLAY

35.   LET W RUN HIS SUIT AFTER STRIP WITH TENACE

36.   CONCEDE 4TH CARD IN SUIT TO OPPONENT FOR ENDPLAY

37.   ENDPLAY DEFENDER; HE WILL FINESSE FOR YOU

SQUEEZE PLAY

38.   LEAD OUT YOUR SOLID SUITS HOPING FOR FAVORABLE DISCARD

39.   LEAD OUT SOLID SUITS FOR A COUNT AT GAME OR SLAM

40.   RECTIFY THE COUNT

41.   THE STANDARD SQUEEZE

42.   THE ENDPLAY SQUEEZE

NOTRUMP TRANSPORTATION

43.   CREATE EXTRA ENTRIES

44.   PRESERVE LOW SPOT CARD

45.   OVERTAKE HONORS WHEN SHORT OF ENTRIES

46.   TO GET ENTRY TO N, TAKE UNNECESSARY ACE (K OR Q)

47.   TO GET ENTRY TO N, DROP HONOR UNDER E’s ACE

48.   WITH LONG SUIT IN N & xx IN S, CONCEDE 1ST TRICK

49.   WITH Qx-AJxx, TEMPT DEFENDER TO TAKE JACK TO REACH DUMMY

DECEPTION

50.   TEMPT DEFENDER TO PLAY 2ND HAND LOW

51.   FALSECARD HIGH TO MAKE E THINK W HAS A 5-CARD SUIT

52.   FEIGN WEAKNESS

53.   FEIGN STRENGTH

UNBLOCKING

54.   UNBLOCK

55.   DUCK TO JETTISON BLOCKING CARDS

56.   USE N’s LONG SUIT TO JETTISON YOUR BLOCKING CARDS

SAFETY PLAY

57.   IF DEFENDERS CAN’T BE LET IN, TRY TO DROP Qx BEFORE FINESSING

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

DEDICATION

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Issac Newton

Normally I try to avoid showering praise on a single individual since most projects are a group effort. Nevertheless, I will make an exception here. Frank Stewart, a world-renowned bridge columnist has done more than anyone I know to advance the science of bridge and to inspire others. A large part of my learning has come from Frank even though we have never met nor even know each other. My books are infused with his teachings. There is no one to whom I owe more. Thank you, Frank; I can never repay you for all you’ve taught me. Frank is the champion of counting points and distributions. My two favorite books of his are called Who Has the Queen? and Play Bridge With Me. Other award-winning books published by Frank are Winning Defense for the Advancing Bridge Player, Frank Stewart’s Bridge Club and Frank’s World of Bridge.

My second hero is Eddie Kantar. No one comes up with more interesting hands in the Bridge Bulletin. I avidly read his Chalk Talk and his Test Your Play in every edition. I love his books, Take All Your Chances at Bridge, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2. Some of his other great books are Eddie Kantar Teaches Modern Bridge Defense, Eddie Kantar Teaches Advanced Bridge Defense, and Eddie Kantar Teaches Topics in Declarer Play at Bridge. When it comes to defense, you will always find yourself immersed in Eddie Kantar’s hands. He is a genius at all aspects of bridge, not just defense.

My third hero is David Bird. He is the king at giving tips. His 3 books, 52 Great Bridge Tips, Another 52 Great Bridge Tips, and 52 Great Bridge Tips on Declarer Play are 3 books that must be included in any expert’s bridge book collection. These 3 books alone would make David one of the greatest bridge authors. Then David published Winning Suit Contract Leads, and Winning Notrump Leads, two books which destroyed all previous thinking on leading. David would be my first to be included in any Bridge Hall of Fame for bridge authors. David has also written several other award winning books including Notrump Contracts, Miracles of Card Play, Win at Bridge in 30 Days, Secrets of Expert Card Play, Secrets of Expert Defense, and Defensive Signaling at Bridge. Two other excellent books are Squeezes for Everyone, Yes, Even You and Bridge Endplays for Everyone, Yes, Even You.

William Root is another favorite author of mine. Reading William Root’s books is like dancing with a fine dancer. He anticipates your every move. He anticipates your questions before the question even arises in your mind. His explanations are always succinct and to the point. At one point, bridge players wanting to learn how to play bridge would read Louis Watson’s book, Watson’s the Play of the Hand. Today that honor goes to William Root for his book, How to Play a Bridge Hand. He has also written three other fine award-winning books: Modern Bridge Conventions, Commonsense Bidding, and How to Defend a Bridge Hand."

My favorite books on bidding are Betty Starzec’s Bidding in the 21st Century, Audrey Grant’s Better Bridge Bidding, and Audrey Grant’s Opening the Bidding.

My favorite books on conventions are Barbara Seagram & Marc Smith’s, 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know, William Root & Richard Pavlicek’s Modern Bridge Conventions, and Audrey Grant’s Popular Conventions.

My favorite books on the 2/1 System are Audrey Grant and Eric Rodwell’s 2 Over 1 Game Force, Mike Lawrence’s Workbook on the Two-Over-One System, Max Hardy’s Two-Over-One Game Force, Max Hardy’s Standard Bridge Bidding for the 21st Century, Paul Thurston’s 25 Steps to Learning 2/1, Paul Thurston’s The Rest of the Story, and Marty Bergen’s Understanding 1NT Forcing.

My favorite books on slam bidding are Marty Bergen’s Slam Bidding Made Easier, Ron Klinger & Andrew Kambites’ Understanding Slam Bidding, and Eddie Kantar’s Roman Keycard Blackwood. Two good books on squeeze play are Stephen Kennedy’s Crocs on Squeeze Play, Vol. 1&2. If you buy Marty Bergen’s book on Slam bidding, you also get a full explanation of the Bergen point count system, which I find to be the best point count system.

Some other favorite books of mine are Ned Downey & Ellen Pomer’s Standard Bidding with SAYC, David Berkowitz & Brent Manley’s Precision Today, Andy Stark’s The Weak Notrump, Ron Andersen’s The Lebensohl Convention Complete, Victor Mollo’s Card Play Technique and Ruth Harrison’s The Player’s Guide to the Rules of Duplicate Bridge.

INTRODUCTION

In playing a tournament, be aware that the hands are designed to thwart the average player. You cannot depend on a finesse working 50% of the time. In most cases, the finesse will fail. If the contract looks too easy, plan on the key suit splitting 4-1. If you have KJxx-A9xx, lead out dummy’s K and finesse your 9. The programmers will likely give E the Q10xx since most players will finesse the KJxx. If you have 4 of the top 6 honors, do a reverse finesse leading the J from your Axxx-KJ9 distribution and then finesse E for the 10. Beginners will finesse S’s J.

The first thing you want to concentrate on is the bidding by the opponents. At a 3NT contract, the opponents will generally have about 14 high card points (40 – 26 = 14). If W has opened, E has at most 2p so assign W all the missing honors. If W has overcalled, showing a 5-card suit and 8+p, assume that E has maybe one K (or perhaps one Ace). If W fails to open and shows 9p, you can be sure E has the missing Ace.

When W lays down his lead, pay attention to whether the lead card is the 5 or 6 (4th highest), which invariably shows a 5-card suit. If W leads the 4, 3, or 2, W invariably has a 4-card suit. This is important because if you have 2 stoppers in W’s led suit, you can set up a suit with a split QJ10 such as 10xxx-QJxx, without having to worry about W running his suit. You have to force out the opponents’ A&K but W will only take 2 winners in his led suit. Similarly, if you have to drive out two Aces from the opponents, you will also make the contract if you have 2 stoppers in W’s suit and W has a 4-card suit.

Once W makes his lead, you must then plan your attack. Opponents will get antsy if you take more than 30 seconds. It is important to plan your play because the first trick is the most important. If you take the trick in the wrong hand, it could spell defeat. In counting tricks, you count sure winners (treating finesses as though they will fail). For example, suppose hearts and the minors will yield 6 tricks. You know you need 3 tricks from the spade suit. If spades are ♠QJxx-Axx, your best bet is to play your ♠Ace and then lead up to dummy’s ♠Q&J, hoping W takes his ♠K. In such case, you have 3 spade tricks.

Very often your count will show 8 winners with a possibility of the 9th trick coming from a 3-3 split. Be attentive to this fact whenever you have a 4-3 (or 5-2) distribution. For example, suppose you have the AKxx-xxx and you also have a finesse of dummy’s AQ. You should 1st concede a trick in the suit in order to determine whether the suit will split 3-3. If the suit splits 4-2, you take the finesse of dummy’s AQ for your 9th trick. Similarly, you may have a long suit, such as AKxxx-xxx. This suit will produce 4 tricks if you concede a trick and the suit splits 3-2. If the opponents have cleared W’s suit, you will not be able to avail yourself of conceding a trick since W will run his suit, setting the contract if he has 5-cards in his suit.

Sometimes the contract will depend on a finesse. If so, plan on the finesse working. If you must assign the King to W and W has show 6p, you can be sure the missing Ace will be with E (13- (6 + 3) = 4). Sometimes, the contract will depend on spurning the finesse. This often happens when you have 7 tricks and a suit with the xxx-AQxx. In such case, you need to play your Ace and concede a trick. You then lead up to dummy’s Q. This insures 2 tricks if W has the doubleton Kx and E has the J10xx. Similarly, if you hold the AJxx-Kxx and you have 6 tricks, you need to play your A&K and lead up to dummy’s Jack. If W or E has the Qx, you win 3 tricks. If W has the doubleton Qxx, you win 3 tricks. If you finesse dummy’s J and E has the Qx, you will only make 2 tricks. An expert will protect against a doubleton honor in the defender’s hand.

Suppose you have the split K-Q, e.g. Kxx-Qxxx or perhaps the split KQJ, e.g. QJx-Kxxx. Let’s further suppose that E has bid; assign E with the Ace. Or if W has shown 9p without bidding, E must also have the Ace. In either case, lead through E’s Ace to your K or Q and concede the next trick, hoping E has the Ax. If so, you take dummy’s other honor for that extra trick. Similarly, if you have QJxx-Kxx, you lead from dummy through E’s Ace. If E takes his Ace, you have 3 tricks. If E ducks, you can establish a trick in another suit such as a suit with a split K-Q and then lead up to dummy Q&J for a 2nd trick in the first suit.

Suppose you have two finesses and one is a finesse into E, whereas the other is a finesse into W. Take the finesse into W first. W can then clear his suit. When you next finesse into E, E will be out of W’s suit. At this point E is called the safe hand. Sometimes you have to knock out the Ace of a suit to establish your 9th trick e.g. dummy holds the KQ of a suit. Do you knock out the Ace first or do you finesse into E? Since W may have the Ace in the first suit, you should first knock out the Ace and later finesse E.

Sometimes, there is simply no way to generate an extra trick without winning a finesse. Do you take the easy road out? No, you endplay the opponents, if possible. Let the defenders finesse for you. The easiest way to endplay W is to let him run his suit. For example, if you have 2 stoppers in W’s suit and you have two tenaces, such as the A&Q and the Kx, you strip W of his 4th suit and let W run his suit. W will take 3 tricks in his suit and perhaps a 4th trick in another suit but W will have to lead away from his K into you AQ or will have to lead away from his Ace, setting up your King. Either way you have your 9th trick.

Another way to endplay either W or E is to concede your 4th card in a suit, e.g. xxx-AKQx, after stripping the non-tenace suits. Assume the suit splits 4-2 with E holding the Jxxx and W holding a doubleton. In this case, you throw E into the lead. E will have to lead into dummy’s tenaces.

Now let’s suppose that you are in a 6NT contract and count 11 sure tricks. What can you do? If you have one long suit and one hand with the K as a threat card, you can employ the endplay squeeze. Suppose W is holding the ♥Ax (you have the ♥Kx in your hand) and the ♠Jx (you have the ♠Q10 remaining). You now play the squeeze card and W has to unguard one of the major suits. W chooses to discard a heart. You now lead your low heart to W’s bare ♥Ace. West will have to lead into your tenace.

Next, let’s suppose that you are again in a 6NT contract and count 11 sure tricks. You have two 4-card suits. You have to hope the same defender has to guard both those suits. Let us say W is the guard for those suits. W will have to hold 4 cards in each suit to prevent you from cashing your 4th card in either suit. If W is guarding two 4-card suits, W will be forced to unguard one of those suits on the play of the 6th card in the non-threat suits (13 – 8 guards +1 = 6). Your 6th card is the squeeze card. Once W unguards one of those suits by discarding, your 4th card in that suit is good for your 12 trick.

Once you get a count of your hand, you next have to know how to handle W’s initial lead. You will generally need 2 stoppers in W’s suit to make your contract. Sometimes, you will have only 1 stopper. After you take your Ace on the 3rd round, you will need to make 8 more quick tricks. This is rare and usually depends on a successful finesse.

The 1st lesson holding 6 combined cards in W’s suit is to hold up on the 1st round (unless this will cost you your 9th trick). You then take the 2nd trick (or perhaps the 3rd trick if you have to knock out 2 Aces). The 2nd lesson is that you should hold up until the 3rd round with only 5 combined cards in W’s suit, unless you will not be finessing into E (or you have a side suit which is vulnerable to attack). In other words, if there is no likelihood of E gaining the lead, you can take the trick. For example, if you hold the ♠x-KQx and W leads the ♠5, take your ♠K if you are not planning on finessing into E.

Another important aspect of playing the hand is to avoid the danger hand. Suppose W’s suit has been cleared, e.g. you took the 3rd round of W’s suit with your Ace. E is then the safe hand so feel free to finesse into E. Suppose E took his King on the first trick and you still have a stopper in W’s suit, e.g. Qx. In such case, W is the safe hand. Suppose again that you have a vulnerable suit such as the ♦Qxx. You do not want E to win and then lead through your weak diamond suit. Sometimes you have a 2-way suit and can finesse either W or E; always finesse into W first if you have a stopper in W’s suit. For example, if you hold the ♦K10xxx-Q9xx, you would finesse your ♦9 into the safe W hand, rather than finesse dummy’s ♦10 into the E hand.

You will often need to set up dummy’s long suit with either no side entries or perhaps only one side entry. For example, suppose you hold ♦KQJxx-xx and E holds the ♦A10xx. If you lead up to dummy’s ♦K, E will duck. Now when you play dummy’s Q&J, E will take the J with his Ace. You get to dummy’s side entry, the ♠Ace, and lead dummy’s 4th diamond. E then takes his ♦10, killing the suit in dummy. You end up winning only 2 diamonds. If instead, you concede the 1st diamond, you can then force out E’s ♦Ace, return to the dummy with the side ♠Ace and win 4 diamond tricks. The bottom line is that with a 5-2 suit, it is best to concede the first trick.

Another common problem is when you have a 5-card suit (or a 6-card suit) in dummy and no entries and you also have a 5-card suit in S. You need to determine whether dummy’s suit will split 3-2 if E holds the K. For example, suppose you hold the ♦AQxxxx-10x and the ♣xxx-AQxxx. If E has the ♦Kxx, E can kill the suit to the delight of the programmers. You can still make the contract, however, by winning dummy’s ♦Q (E has to hold up) and finessing E’s ♣K (who holds the ♣Kxx) with your ♣Q. You then cash your ♣Ace (dropping W’s ♣J) and force out E’s ♣Q with your 3rd club. You return to dummy with the ♦Ace. You end up winning 4 clubs and 2 diamonds, making the contract.

The difference between a good notrump player and an average notrump player is the use of the endplay to produce an extra trick. Letting W run his suit is one of the most unused methods of endplaying W. Do not be satisfied at taking the easy finesse; that is for dreamers. Also, take all your chances as Eddie Kantar says. This means being alert to set up the 4th card in your suit whenever a 3-3 split is available.

When in doubt as to how to play a hand, let the opponents take your sure losers. It is amazing how often on opponent will lead into your strength. If you have a long, solid suit, lead it out. It may squeeze the opponents or cause the opponents to make a fatal discard. If you are in an endplay situation, lead out the A&K of a suit (or 1st concede a trick in the suit), hoping that this strips the defender of that suit.

When you start making mistakes, you will often feel frustrated. You may want to blame your partner. Try to avoid that scenario. Oftentimes a partner can help lead you out of your quandary, so be good to your partner.

HOLDING UP AT NOTRUMP

CHAPTER 1: HOLD OFF UNTIL

2ND ROUND WITH 6-CARD SUIT

OR 3RD ROUND WITH 5 CARDS

With ♠xx-Qxxx, hold up until 2nd round

Here the contract is 3NT (E having opened 1♠) and W leads the ♠8. If E inserts the ♠10, do not rise to the bait but rather let it ride. In the actual case, S took E’s ♠10 with his ♠Q. S now led clubs and when W took his ♣Ace, W led a spade and E reeled off his spade winners setting the contract. If S holds up, he always makes the contract because W will be out of spades. Here you have 6 combined spades and therefore 7-6 = 1 which is the number of times you should hold up under the Rule of 7. This rule is based on the fact that E has 5 cards in his suit; if E has only 4 cards in the suit then you need not worry about the suit. If you have 6 combined cards in E’s suit and E has 5 cards in the suit, then W has only 2 cards in the suit. Therefore, you need hold up only 1 round.

With ♥Axx-QJx, duck E’s ♥10 on the 1st trick.

You can then knock out E’s ♦Ace safely

Here the contract is 3NT and W leads the ♥4, covered by E’s ♥10. Do you take the 1st trick? If you do, you go down. Suppose you next play a diamond and E takes his ♦Ace. E will return W’s heart suit. If you play your ♥Q, W will play his ♥K and dummy will play the ♥Ace. The suit is cleared but you still have to drive out the ♠Ace to bring home the contract. You should almost always duck the 1st trick with 6 or fewer combined cards in the suit. If you duck E’s ♥10, you are safe. E will return a heart at trick two, covered by the ♥Q, ♥K and ♥Ace. You still have a stopper with your ♥J so if you next try to knock out the ♠Ace, you are safe. Furthermore, E is now out of hearts after the 2nd round so if you lose to E’s ♦Ace, he cannot hurt you. You still have time to knock out W’s ♠Ace.

With ♥xxx-KQx, duck E’s ♥10 on the 1st trick.

You can then knock out E’s ♦K safely

Here the contract is 3NT and W leads the ♥4, covered by E’s ♥10. Do you take the trick with your ♥K? If you do, E will mow down your ♥Q when he gets in with his ♦K. You must let the E’s ♥10 win. You have no need for an extra heart trick since you have 10 tricks: 3 spades, 1 heart, 4 diamonds and 2 clubs. If you duck E’s ♥10, E will surely continue with a 2nd heart, W will take his ♥Ace and clear the suit, losing to your ♥Q. You can now run your ♦Q, losing to the safe E hand. With no heart to return, you will make an overtrick.

With ♠10xx-Axx, hold up until 2nd round;

you have a vulnerable club suit

Here the contract is 3NT and W leads the ♠4. E takes his ♠Q and leads a low spade. Do you hold off? If you do, you go down. With 6 cards in the suit, you should take the 2nd trick if you have a vulnerable suit. Here S held up on the 2nd round and W took his ♠J and switched to clubs, leading the ♣J. S put up dummy’s ♣Q, which was taken by E’s ♣K. E then returned his ♣9 and S took his ♣Ace. S next finessed his ♦Q, losing to E’s ♦K. E then proceeded to take 4 club tricks. Down two. It is evident that S had a vulnerable club suit and that S could have prevented this disaster by taking the 2nd spade and finessing in diamonds.

With ♠xxx-AJ9, duck E’s ♠K; when you

later finesse in ♥s, E is out of ♠s

Here the contract is 3NT and W leads the ♠5. E plays the ♠K. Do you take it with your ♠Ace? If you do, you will go down. E will take your heart finesse and lead through your ♠J9 into W’s ♠Q10. Down one. The solution when you have 6 cards in W’s lead is to duck the 1st trick and take the 2nd trick. Then when you finesse in hearts, E will be out of spades. If W started with 4 spades, then E will be able to lead a spade but the opponents will get only 3 spades and 1 heart so you still make your contract.

With ♥10xxx-Qx, duck W’s lead of the ♥J.

You are protected by N’s ♥10; when you later

finesse into W’s ♣K, W will be out of ♥s

Here the contract is 3NT (E having overcalled 1♥) and W leads the ♥J. You have 3♠s, 1♥ & 2♦s. You need 3 clubs. If you take the 1st trick with your ♥Q, you cannot finesse into W’s clubs since W will win and then mow down dummy’s ♥10. The opponents will get 4 heart tricks to go along with W’s ♣K. Down one. With 6 combined cards in W’s suit, duck the first trick. Yes, you will lose your ♥Q but dummy’s ♥10 will provide a stopper. If you hold up, W will continue hearts and you can then finesse into W knowing that W will be out of hearts. You end up losing 3 hearts and the ♣K, making the contract.

With the need to knock out Aces in 2

suits, duck 1st trick; if you lead to E’s

Ace 1st, E will be out of W’s ♠ suit

Here the contract is 3NT and W leads the ♠5, covered by E’s ♠J. You take the trick with your ♠Q, happy that you have 2 stoppers. You have 8 tricks if you knock out the ♥Ace, so you have to knock out both outstanding Aces, the ♥Ace and the ♣Ace. If you choose to knock out the ♥Ace first, E will clear the spade suit. When W gets in with his ♣Ace, W will run his spade suit. Down one. Therefore, you have to guess which Ace W holds. The natural reaction is to play hearts first because it is the longer suit. The programmers know what your natural instinct will be. As a consequence, try to buck your natural instinct. Here, try to force out the ♣Ace first; it will usually be the shorter of the two suits. Generally, W will only have one entry to his hand outside his led suit. If you lead that entry, W’s long suit will generally be dead. The best approach here is to duck the 1st trick. E will continue spades. If you make the wrong choice, here hearts, E will win his ♥Ace but E will be out of spades so W will never be able to set up his spades.

With ♠x-AKxx, hold off until 3rd round; when

E gets in with his ♦Ace, he has no more ♠s

Here the contract is 3NT and W leads the ♠Q. When the likely split is 5-3, refuse the 1st 2 tricks so that E will not be able to lead back W’s suit, here spades, after the suit is cleared. After