Syr 1 CleverPlaysInTheTrumpSuit

Master Point Press • Toronto, Canada
Text © 2012 David Bird

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Master Point Press

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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Bird, David, 1946-

Clever plays in the trump suit [electronic resource] / David Bird.
Electronic monograph.
Issued also in print format.
ISBN 978-1-55494-181-0 (PDF).--ISBN 978-1-55494-436-1 (HTML).--
ISBN 978-1-55494-986-1 (MOBI)
1. Contract bridge. I. Title.
GV1282.3.B57 2012 795.41’53 C2011-908638-7
Editor Ray Lee

Copy editor/interior format Sally Sparrow
Cover and interior design Olena S. Sullivan/New Mediatrix
Dedication
To William Bailey, whose wonderful Deep Finesse software has saved

me (and fellow bridge writers around the world) countless hundreds of
hours of hard labor. Many thanks!
Contents
Introduction7
Chapter 1: Timing the Play of the Trump Suit 9
Chapter 2: Trump Safety Plays 23
Chapter 3: Timing Trumps to Combine Chances 37
Quiz I: Trump Timing, Trump Safety Plays 49
Chapter 4: Trump Throw-in Plays 57

Chapter 5: Retaining Trump Control 73
Quiz II: Trump Throw-ins, Trump Control 87
Chapter 6: Using the Trump Suit for Entries 95

Chapter 7: Playing with Fewer than Eight Trumps 109
Quiz III: Trump Entries, Fewer than Eight Trumps 125
Chapter 8: Unblocking Plays in the Trump Suit 133

Chapter 9: Surviving a Bad Trump Break 151
Quiz IV: Trump Unblocks, Bad Trump Breaks 165
Chapter 10 : Accumulating Trump Tricks 173

Chapter 11: Avoidance Plays in the Trump Suit 187
Quiz V: Accumulating Trump Tricks,
Trump Avoidance 199
Introduction
This book pays homage to the power of the trump suit. Imagine how dull
bridge would be if every contract was played at notrump! We will look
at subjects such as trump timing — should you draw all the defenders’
trumps straight away, some of their trumps, or perhaps perform some
other vital task first? We will study situations where you need to unblock
in the trump suit or to throw a defender on lead with a trump. We will see
how to make maximum use of the entries provided by the trump suit, also
how to perform a trump safety play or a trump avoidance play. Two other
important topics are how to make your contract against a bad trump break
and how you can survive a forcing attack on the long-trump holding.
Further chapters will explain how you can play contracts with fewer
than eight trumps at your disposal, also how to conjure extra tricks from
the trump suit. Every couple of chapters or so, there is a nine-problem
quiz section. By tackling these play problems, you can convince yourself
that you have mastered the associated techniques and will be able to put
them into action next time you play.
Once again, I am indebted to my long-time friend and fellow writer,
Tim Bourke, for creating some of the most instructive deals in this book.
My warm thanks go to him.
Introduction | 7 |
Chapter 1:
Timing the Play of the Trump Suit
There are many reasons why you might choose not to draw the defenders’
trumps immediately. Some of these are well known: you need to take ruffs
in the dummy; you have to take a quick discard or establish a discard; you
will require dummy’s trumps as entries to establish a side suit there. In
this chapter we will assume you are familiar with such basic plays and look
a little deeper into the subject. In particular, we will look at some deals
where you can improve your chances by drawing some of the defenders’
trumps but not all.
Chapter 1: Timing the Play of the Trump Suit | 9 |

Leaving one trump in dummy
It is often necessary to leave one trump in dummy, to act as ruffing
protection in a side suit. This may mean that you cannot draw all the
trumps until you have established one of your side suits. Look at this deal:
 K 8 4
 6 5
 A 7 5 3
 K Q 9 4
 10 2  J96
 K Q J 9 4 N  10 7
 Q 10 9 4 W E  K86
S
 7 3  A8652
 A Q 7 5 3
 A 8 3 2
 J 2
 J 10
West North East South

1 pass 1
pass 1NT pass 2
pass 2 pass 4
all pass
South uses a checkback 2 to uncover the 5-3 spade fit. How will you
play the spade game when West leads the K?
You win with the A and see that you cannot draw all the trumps
before setting up the clubs. If you did, you would have no protection in
the heart suit. Suppose instead that you play the J at Trick 2. Noting
his partner’s count signal of the 7, East will duck the first round of clubs
and win the second round. A third round of clubs will then promote a
trump trick for the defenders, beating the contract. (Discarding a diamond
from your hand would not help you. West would ruff and play hearts,
promoting East’s J96.)
To give yourself a better chance, you should draw two rounds of
trumps with the king and ace before playing clubs. A third club will not
then achieve a trump promotion because West holds only two trumps.
East can cross to the J and score an overruff on the third round of hearts,
yes, but the remaining tricks will be yours. You can discard a heart and a
diamond on dummy’s good clubs.
| 10 | Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

Here is a second deal on the same theme:
 A 7 6 4
 K J 8 7 4
 4
 K 10 6
 Q 2  J 10 5
 Q 6 2 N  A5
 Q 8 5 3 W E  A K 10 6 2
S
 J 5 4 2  Q87
 K 9 8 3
 10 9 3
 J 9 7
 A 9 3

1 pass
2 dbl 3 4
all pass
You or I might have regarded a bid of 3 as adequate on the South cards.

South stretched to 4, however, and a low diamond was led to East’s K.
How will you play the contract when East continues with the A?
You expect to lose one spade and one diamond and must therefore
hope that the Q is onside. Suppose you play the A and K after ruffing
the second round of diamonds. That’s no good. When you run the 10,
East will win with the A, draw dummy’s last trump with the J and cash
a diamond trick for one down. Instead you should cross to the K at Trick
3 and run the 10. When East wins the first or second round of hearts, he
cannot damage you. If he plays a third round of diamonds, for example,
you will ruff with dummy’s 7 and draw another round of trumps with the
A. You can then cross to the A and run the 9, picking up West’s Q.
East can take his master trump when he wishes.

Controlling the trump suit by ducking a round
When your trump suit is something like A10762 opposite 853 in the
dummy, it may be advantageous to duck the first round of trumps. You
can then play the ace on the second round and perhaps use dummy’s
remaining trump for ruffing. Deals such as the following are commonplace:
 8 5 3
 A 10 8
 9 7 4 3
 6 4 3
 J 9  KQ4
 7 4 2 N  9653
W E
 A K Q 10 6 5  J8
S
 8 2  J 10 9 5
 A 10 7 6 2
 K Q J
 2
 A K Q 7

1
2 2 pass 4
all pass
West plays two top diamonds and you ruff the second round with the 2.
What is your plan?
Play the A at Trick 3 and you can wave goodbye to the contract. If
you continue with another trump, East will draw a third round and you
will not be able to ruff your fourth club. If instead you play the three top
clubs without drawing any more trumps, West will ruff with the J and
you will lose three trump tricks.
To control the trump suit, you must lead a low trump from your hand
on the third trick. Let’s say that West wins with the 9 and plays a third
round of diamonds. You will ruff with the 7 and play the A. When the
trumps break 3-2, all is well. You continue with the three top clubs, not
worried if a defender ruffs with the master trump. Come what may, you
will be able to ruff your fourth club with the 8 and then play the heart
winners. You will lose just two trumps and a top diamond.

It’s an important theme, worthy of a second deal:
 10 7 6 2
 A 9 5
 8 3
 A 8 7 2
 J 5  KQ9
 J 10 2 N  Q876
 Q J 10 6 4 W E  92
S
 Q J 4  10 9 5 3
 A 8 4 3
 K 4 3
 A K 7 5
 K 6

1NT
pass 2 pass 2
pass 3 pass 4
all pass
You win the Q lead with the A. How will you continue?
Playing ace and another trump is no good, East would win the second
round and draw a third round of trumps, leaving you a trick short. Suppose
instead that you play the A and set about taking the ruffs that you need
to bring the total to ten. You would make the contract, somewhat luckily,
if you decided to ruff two diamonds in dummy. (East would overruff
the third round from the three-card holding and you could then fell the
two outstanding trumps with a second round of the suit.) If instead you
decided to ruff two clubs in your hand, you would go down. West would
overruff the fourth round of clubs from the shorter trump holding. You
would then lose three trump tricks and a heart.
There is no need to assign your contract to the roulette wheel in this
fashion. After winning the diamond lead, you should duck a round of
trumps. You can then win the return and draw a second round of trumps
with the ace. After this splendid start, it will make no difference which suit
you choose to ruff first. The defenders will score two trumps and a heart,
leaving you to score up your game.

Look back to the full diagram and imagine that you swap dummy’s
10 with East’s Q. Playing ace and another trump would still cost the
contract. Instead you should begin with a low trump to dummy’s queen.
If this happened to lose to the king, you would play as before: drawing a
second round of trumps with the ace and then crossruffing the minor suits.
Preparing for ruffs before playing the top trumps

Suppose your trump holding is AK852 in your hand opposite 9643 in
the dummy. When you need two ruffs in the dummy, it can prove costly
to play the AK at an early stage. If the trumps break 3-1, a defender may
gain the lead and draw a third round of trumps before you can take your
ruffs. Let’s put that trump holding into the context of a full deal:
 5 2
 9 6 4 3
 A K 7
 A 9 7 4
 K J 9 4  10 8 7
 Q 10 7 N  J
 J 6 2 W E  Q 10 9 4 3
S
 Q J 5  K 10 3 2
 A Q 6 3
 A K 8 5 2
 8 5
 8 6

1
pass 3 pass 4
all pass
West leads the Q and you win with the A. What now? If your next
move is to draw two rounds of trumps, you will go down! You need to
ruff two spades in the dummy but West will draw a third round of trumps
when the spade finesse loses. You can draw one round of trumps but you
must then cross to the A and finesse the Q. The finesse loses but West
can do you no damage. When you regain the lead, you will draw a second
round of trumps (if West has not done that for you) and ruff two spades at
your leisure. West can score his master trump when he wishes.

Establishing a side suit when dummy has low trumps
When you are attempting to establish a long side suit in your hand, it is
not always easy to decide how many rounds of trumps (if any) should
be drawn before you take your first ruff in the side suit. Only a first-rate
technician would bring home this contract:
 Q 8 7 6
 7 4 3
 A 5
 10 8 7 4
 J 9 4 2  A K 10 5
 Q J 5 N  82
 J 3 W E  Q 10 7 2
S
 K Q J 9  652
 3
 A K 10 9 6
 K 9 8 6 4
 A 3

1
pass 2 pass 4
all pass
When the deal arose, declarer won the K lead and drew two rounds
of trumps, finding a 3-2 break. He then continued with ace, king and
another diamond. West was out of diamonds and held the Q in front of
dummy’s 7. If West had unwisely ruffed with his master trump, declarer
would have survived. He would have been able to ruff the fourth round
of diamonds with dummy’s last trump. West did no such thing, of course.
He discarded a club, allowing declarer to score a ruff with the 7. Much
good did it do him, because he was then faced with a loser in each suit,
going one down.
What will happen if you play on diamonds without drawing any
trumps? You win the club lead, play the AK and lead another diamond.
West ruffs in with the J, cashes a club, crosses to partner’s hand with a
spade and a diamond return promotes West’s Q. The same fate will await
you if you draw one round of trumps before playing diamonds.

It’s a much more difficult hand than it seems. You cannot afford to
play diamonds until you have killed the route to the East hand (for a
trump promotion). You win the second round of clubs (in case East holds
the J, which could be used as an entry). You then play a spade to cut
communications in that suit. East wins and returns a trump to your ace.
Without drawing any more trumps, you play ace, king and a low diamond.
West ruffs with the J but now has no way to reach the East hand for a
trump promotion. You will ruff his black-suit continuation, draw West’s
last trump with the K and ruff a fourth round of diamonds with the 7.
The game is yours, as you will deserve after such a virtuoso performance!
Surviving an attack on dummy’s trump entries

Sometimes you plan to establish a long side suit in the dummy and the
entry to the eventual long cards lies in dummy’s trump holding. The
defenders may try to make life difficult for you by forcing you to ruff with
dummy’s trumps. Would you have spotted the counter on this deal?

 Q
 A Q J 10
 A K Q 9 8 4
 9 4
 A K J 7  10 8 5 3
 9 7 6 N  32
 6 W E  J 10 5 2
S
 A Q 5 3 2  10 8 6
 9 6 4 2
 K 8 5 4
 7 3
 K J 7

1 pass 1
dbl 3 pass 4
all pass
West leads the A and continues with the K, attacking the trump entries
in dummy. How will you play the heart game?
You ruff with the 10 and draw one round of trumps with the A. If
you draw a second round of trumps at this stage, you will wave goodbye

to the contract! Instead, you must turn to your side suit, playing two of
the top diamonds. When the cards lie as in the diagram, West will ruff
the second diamond. Since he began with three trumps, this will not
damage you. You will ruff West’s J continuation with the J, ruff a third
round of diamonds with the K and then cross to the Q, drawing the two
outstanding trumps. You can then enjoy the remaining diamond winners
at your leisure.
Suppose instead that the diamonds had broken 3-2. You would
then draw a second round of trumps with dummy’s Q. A 3-2 trump
break would make life very easy. If instead East held four trumps, you
would play good diamonds through him until he ruffed. You could then
overruff with the K and cross to the J, drawing East’s last trump. Only
an unlikely four trumps with West would defeat you.
Developing a ruff in a different suit

When you are trying to establish a side suit in your hand, the defender in
second seat may be able to ruff higher than dummy. If he does choose to
ruff, you will have the chance to discard from dummy in some other suit,
possibly setting up a ruff in that suit. Declarer did well on this deal:
 10 4 3
 8 5
 8 7 2
 K 7 6 4 2
 8 7 5  2
 7 3 N  Q J 10 2
 K J 9 6 W E  10 5 4 3
S
 J 10 9 5  A Q 8 3
 A K Q J 9 6
 A K 9 6 4
 A Q
 —

2
pass 2 pass 2
pass 3 pass 4
pass 4 pass 6
all pass
How will you play 6 when West leads the J?

You ruff the club lead and can afford to draw just one round of trumps.
Both defenders follow to the two top hearts and you continue with a third
heart. West has to ruff with the 7, or you will score two heart ruffs and
make the slam easily. You overruff with dummy’s 10, return to your hand
with a club ruff and lead a fourth round of hearts. West ruffs with the 8
and you discard one of dummy’s diamonds.
West exits safely with another club, which you ruff. There is a still a
trump in dummy! You play the established long card in hearts and discard
another diamond from dummy. You then play the A and ruff the Q in
dummy for your twelfth trick.
Reading the lie of the trump suit

When you have some important task to perform before drawing trumps,
evidence may come to light on the lie of the trump suit. Would you have
been alert to the situation on this deal?
 J 10 4 2
 A K 8 6
 A K 9
 9 3
 3  9 7 6 5
 Q J 10 9 7 5 N  2
 Q 7 W E  J 10 8 4 3 2
S
 Q J 6 2  8 5
 A K Q 8
 4 3
 6 5
 A K 10 7 4

1
2 dbl pass 4
pass 4NT pass 5
pass 5 pass 6
pass 7 all pass
North’s 5 was part of the Roman Keycard Blackwood convention and

asked ‘Do you hold the Q?’ South’s 6 response said ‘Yes indeed, also the
K.’ How will you play 7 when West leads the Q?

You win the heart lead and set about establishing the clubs immediately.
All follow to the AK and you lead a third round. When West follows
with the Q, you wisely ruff with dummy’s J. East shows out and you
return to your hand with a trump to the ace, West producing the 3. You
ruff the fourth round of clubs with the 10, establishing your last club and
must now draw trumps. You have KQ8 remaining. Should you finesse
the 8 or not?
You can place West with six hearts for his 2 overcall (backed up by
East’s play of the 2 at Trick 1). He has also shown up with four clubs.
Since you hold eight spades between the hands and only five diamonds,
West’s most likely shape is 1-6-2-4, which requires you to finesse the 8
now. Even if West’s shape is 2-6-1-4, his remaining spade may not be the
nine. Overall, the odds strongly favor a finesse of the 8. It will give you
the contract 80% of the time.
Ducking when a defender splits trump honors

To allow yourself to draw trumps smoothly, you sometimes have to duck
when a defender splits trump honors in front of you. By retaining a tenace
over his remaining honor, it will be easy to draw trumps when you regain
the lead. Look at this example:
 K 4
 A 9 6 2
 A K 5
 A K Q J
 Q 10 9 8 5 2  J7
 K N  J 10 7 3
 Q J 10 W E  9862
S
 9 5 3  10 6 4
 A 6 3
 Q 8 5 4
 7 4 3
 8 7 2

2 dbl pass 3
pass 4NT pass 5
pass 6 all pass

With two good cards in his hand, South decides to overbid slightly. He
responds 3, which suggests 8 or more points when playing the Lebensohl
convention (with 0-7, you would respond 2NT). West leads the Q, won
in the dummy. When you play the A, the K falls from West. How
would you continue?
It is vaguely possible that the K is a clever false card from such as
KJ, but you decide to discount this possibility. Since you will need a
spade ruff to bring your total to twelve, you play the K and A and ruff
a spade with the 9. All will be easy if East overruffs. You will win his
return and pick up his remaining trumps with a finesse of the 8. Let’s say
that East discards a club instead. What then? These cards remain:
 —
 6 2
 K 5
 A K Q J
 Q 10 9  —
 — N  J 10 7
 J 10 W E  9 8 6
S
 9 5 3  10 6
 —
 Q 8 5
 7 4
 8 7 2
You lead the 2 and East splits his honors, inserting the 10. If you win
with the Q, you will go down. You can return to dummy with a club and
lead a trump towards the 8, yes, but East will rise with the 10 and stick
you back in the dummy. You cannot then avoid East scoring a club ruff
with his remaining trump.
All will go smoothly if instead you follow with the 5 under East’s
10. You can then win his return in the dummy, finesse the 8 and draw
the last trump with the Q.
Making a plan before drawing any trumps

Inexperienced players feel an irresistible urge to draw trumps immediately.
As the years go by, they are drawn in a quite different direction. The first
thing they do is… to make a plan.

If making a plan is not a regular part of your own strategy at the table,
give it a try on this deal:
 A Q 8 7
 9 5 3
 A 9 4
 A J 5
 —  10 9 6 3
 K J 4 N  10 8 7 2
 7 6 3 2 W E  10 8
S
 K Q 10 9 7 4  863
 K J 5 4 2
 A Q 6
 K Q J 5
 2

1
2 3 pass 3
pass 4 pass 4
pass 6 all pass
West leads the K and you win with the A. If trumps are no worse than
3-1, you can draw trumps and play four rounds of diamonds to discard a
heart from dummy. A heart ruff will then produce your twelfth trick.
What can be done when a defender (presumably East) holds four
trumps? It is unlikely then that you will be able to play four rounds of
diamonds without suffering a ruff. Do you see how else you can bring
your total to twelve?
The answer lies in a play that produces more blind spots that any other
— you must reverse the dummy, ruffing two clubs in your hand. If you
play a trump at Trick 2, winning in either hand, you will go down! Against
a 4-0 trump break, it is essential to take the first club ruff immediately. You
ruff the 5 and continue with a trump to dummy’s ace. If both defenders
follow to this trick, you will draw trumps and make the slam easily. When
the 4-0 trump break comes to light, you ruff the J with a low trump.
You can then play the KJ and enter dummy with the A to draw the last
trump with the Q. Four trump tricks, two club ruffs, four diamonds and
the two aces will bring your total to twelve.
If you are unconvinced about the consequences of playing a trump at
Trick 2… give it a try!

Preventing an overruff
Let’s end the chapter with a deal where you fear that an early play on the
trump suit will allow the defenders to score an overruff.
 J 5
 J 8 5 2
 A K 7
 A J 7 6
 A K Q 10 8  73
 A N  963
 8 5 3 W E  Q 10 9 4 2
S
 9 8 4 2  10 5 3
 9 6 4 2
 K Q 10 7 4
 J 6
 K Q

1 dbl pass 4
all pass
West scores the first two tricks with the K and A. How will you play the
heart game when he continues with the Q?
You should ruff the third round of spades with dummy’s J. This
prevents an overruff from East, who decides to throw a club. How will
you continue?
If you give the matter little thought and play a trump to the king next,
the outcome is entirely predictable. West will win with the A and lead
another spade. You will have to ruff with the 8, in the hope that West
holds the 9. East will dispel any such illusion, overruffing with the 9,
and you will be one down.
A better idea is to delay playing trumps while you seek to discard the
last spade from your hand. You cash the K and Q and cross to dummy
with the A. When you play the A, hoping to discard a spade, East can
thwart you for the moment by ruffing (he threw a club on the third round
of spades, remember). You overruff and return to dummy with the K to
play the J. Once again East can ruff and you have to overruff. You are
now safe, however. The defenders hold only one trump each. You play
the K, West winning with the A. East’s last trump falls to the baize and
the contract is yours.

Chapter 2:
Trump Safety Plays
Sometimes the main risk to your contract is that you will lose too many
trump tricks. In this chapter we will see some of the plays that you can use
to reduce the chances of this happening.
Catching a bad trump break directly

It is easy to focus your mind on the next slam deal. The side suits are solid
and your sole task is to lose at most one trump trick.
 10 6
 Q 9 6 2
 A Q J 2
 A 7 5
 J 9 7 4 2  —
 K 7 5 N  J 10 8 4 3
 7 5 W E  10 9 6 3
S
 J 10 8  Q 9 6 2
 A K Q 8 5 3
 A
 K 8 4
 K 4 3

1 pass 1
pass 1NT pass 3
pass 3NT pass 4NT
pass 5 pass 6
all pass
West leads the J against your small slam. What is your plan?
Your club loser can be thrown on dummy’s fourth diamond, so the
only concern is that you might lose two trump tricks. When this deal
arose, declarer won the first trick with the K and laid down the A. How
could he rescue the situation when East showed out?
Chapter 2: Trump Safety Plays | 23 |

The answer is that he would need to find West with a very helpful
distribution in the side suits. If West’s shape was 5-2-4-2, for example,
declarer could strip West’s side-suit cards and run the 10 to West’s J,
forcing a lead back into South’s KQ8. On the present layout, with West
holding only two diamonds, no recovery would be possible.
However, this is not the point of the deal. Declarer should have dealt
with the threat of a 5-0 trump break directly, by leading a low card towards
the 10 at Trick 2. Whether or not West takes his J on the first round
of the suit, he will make only one trump trick. The play would succeed
also if East began with J9742. He could win the 10 with the J, as West
showed out, but you would then finesse the 8 on the second round,
picking up the remaining trumps.
The trump combination on the next deal occurs quite frequently.
 K 10 5 4
 K 9 7
 A K 5
 A K 7
 —  QJ87
 J 6 4 2 N  10 8 5 3
 J 9 4 2 W E  10 8 7
S
 Q J 10 5 4  83
 A 9 6 3 2
 A Q
 Q 6 3
 9 6 2

1
pass 4NT pass 5
pass 6 all pass
How will you play the spade slam when West leads the Q?
Again you have no losers in the side suits, so you can address your full
attention to preventing two losers in the trump suit. The safety play here
is to lead low to the 9 or low to the 10. If the finesse loses, trumps will
be 3-1 at worst and the AK will pick up the remaining cards in the suit.
The original declarer won the first trick with the A and led a low
trump from dummy. When the 7 appeared, he covered with the 9.

West duly showed out and the slam was made for the loss of one trump
trick. What did you make of that?
It is commendable that declarer was aware of the safety play with this
spade combination. However, he might have gone down if West had won
the first round of trumps and then given East a club ruff. The opening lead
of the Q was almost certainly from a sequence. Once West is known to
hold the QJ10, the odds of him holding six clubs are much higher than
they would be normally. In particular, they are higher than those of East
holding all four trumps. It would have been a better line of play to cross
to the A and lead a low trump from the South hand, intending to finesse
dummy’s 10. Playing that way, you would go down only in the much
less likely case that West had led a singleton Q. (When the cards lie as
in the diagram and West shows out on the first spade, you can finesse the
10 to East’s J; you will later pick up his remaining trumps with a finesse
of the 9.)
When you are missing three trump honors and a lowly spotcard, the
safety play will often be to cover the spotcard, should it appear from the
defender in the second seat.
 J 8 5 2
 A 7
 A K 8 4
 4 3 2
 Q 7 3  K 10 9 6
 K Q 10 6 N  —
 Q J 10 2 W E  9 7 5
S
 J 7  Q 10 9 8 6 5
 A 4
 J 9 8 5 4 3 2
 6 3
 A K

1 pass 1
pass 1NT pass 4
all pass
How would you play 4 when West leads the Q?

You have only one loser in the side suits, so your sole task is to avoid
three trump losers. After winning the diamond lead in dummy, you

should cross to the A to make the first trump lead from your hand. You
lead the 2 and a blithe 6 appears from West. The safety play now is
to cover with dummy’s 7. No matter if this loses to some trump honor
in the East hand. The trumps will then be breaking 3-1 at worst and you
cannot lose more than two trump tricks. When the cards lie as in the
diagram, dummy’s 7 will win and a ‘Well played!’ will be in order from
your partner.
As you see, it would do West no good to insert the 10 on the first
round. You would win with the A and concede just two trump tricks to
the K and Q.
Calculating the right safety play

There are many hundreds of possible trump holdings, of course, and even
the world’s top players do not have all the safety plays at their fingertips.
Let’s look at a typical holding and see how you can work out the best safety
play.
 A Q 7 5 4
 A 2
 Q J 3
 A 4 2
 K 10 8 6  2
 J 7 3 N  Q 9 8 6 5
 8 6 W E  10 7 4 2
S
 Q J 10 6  9 8 5
 J 9 3
 K 10 4
 A K 9 5
 K 7 3

1NT
pass 2 pass 2
pass 5NT pass 6
all pass
North’s 5NT asks his partner to ‘pick a slam’ and South elects to play in
spades, despite his 4-3-3-3 shape. How will you play 6 when West leads
the Q?

Dummy’s losing club can be discarded on the fourth round of
diamonds, so the side suits are under lock and key. The slam will be yours
if you can restrict the trump losers to no more than one. What is the best
play in the suit to achieve this?
A 3-2 break will cause no problems. What if East holds K10xx? You
can hardly finesse the 9 on the first or second round, since you might
then lose two trump tricks against a 3-2 break. So, whatever play you
make on the first round of trumps (cashing the ace or finessing the queen,
for example), you cannot in practice succeed against a strong four-card
holding with East.
What if West holds four trumps? If you begin with a low trump to the
queen, you will succeed when this drops a singleton 8 or 10 from East,
but you will face two certain trump losers when East’s singleton is the K,
6 or 2. Playing the A on the first round is slightly better; you will lose
two tricks only when East’s singleton is the 6 or 2. How about running
the J on the first round? That’s better! You lose to only one singleton with
East: the king. When the cards lie as in the diagram, the J will be covered
by the K and A. You will continue with a low card to the 9, driving out
West’s 10, and can then finesse the 7 on the third round.
Test yourself on just one more combination:
 K 7 4 2
 A 2
 Q J 7 2
 K 5 3
 A J 9 3  6
 J 10 9 3 N  Q 8 7 5 4
 8 4 W E  10 6 3
S
 Q 9 6  J 10 7 2
 Q 10 8 5
 K 6
 A K 9 5
 A 8 4

1NT
pass 2 pass 2
pass 4 all pass

West leads the J against your spade game and you see that you have just
one loser in the side suits. You must therefore look for a safety play that
gives you the best chance of avoiding three trump losers. What is it to be?
How about starting with a low card to dummy’s K? That’s no good.
When West began with AJ9x, as in the diagram, he will score three trump
tricks. What about a low card to your 10 on the first round? That’s
not safe either. When the finesse loses to the J, you will have to guess
whether to play the K or Q next. A wrong guess could result in two
further trump losers. The same will be true if you start with a low card to
the 8, losing to West’s 9.
It looks a bit strange, but maybe a low card to the Q is the answer.
Suppose this loses to West’s A and he plays another heart. You can then
lead a low card towards dummy on the second round, planning to finesse
the 7 if a low spot card comes from West. If East wins this trick, trumps
will break 3-2 and pose no problem. Yes, and if West happens to show out
on the second round of trumps, you can rise with the K and lead back
towards the 108. A third round of hearts will not inconvenience you
because you can ruff with dummy’s last trump and cross to the South hand
to draw East’s 9 with your 10.
Well, you get the idea. You consider which adverse breaks you can
pick up, without risking the contract against more friendly breaks. You
then calculate the line of play that will succeed most often.
Avoiding a second-round guess

When you can afford to lose one trump trick but not two, it is often right
to play the ace on the first round rather than taking a finesse.
 A K Q
 A Q 5 2
 8 4
 A K J 2
 9 7 5  J8632
 J 10 9 7 3 N  K8
 K W E  J96
S
 10 8 6 4  Q93
 10 4
 6 4
 A Q 10 7 5 3 2
 7 5

3
pass 4NT pass 5
pass 6 all pass
North settles for 6 when he hears that South has only one keycard in
trumps. How would you play the slam when West leads the J?
You win with dummy’s A and play three rounds of spades, discarding
your heart loser. Suppose your next move is a trump to the queen. This
will lose to West’s king and you will face an unpleasant guess on the second
round of trumps. If you then play the A, hoping to drop the J, you will
lose when the cards lie as in the diagram. If instead you finesse the 10,
you will go down when West started with KJ.
To avoid such a dilemma, you should play a trump to the ace on
the first round. If both defenders produce a spotcard, you will cross to
dummy and lead towards the Q on the second round. In this way, you
will avoid the possible loss of two trump tricks when West began with KJ
or a singleton K. Indeed, in the latter case you can cross to dummy for
a second-round finesse of the 10 and will score an unexpected overtrick.
Catering for a singleton ace of trumps

When a singleton ace of trumps might cause you to lose too many trump
tricks, you should lead the first round of trumps through the hand that
you think may hold the ace. Suppose East opens the bidding with one-of-
a-suit and you arrive in 4 with this trump holding:
 Q 4 2
 J 10 8 3  A
 K 9 7 6 5
If you begin trumps with a low card to the queen, you will lose three tricks
in the suit. Since East opened the bidding and is therefore likely to hold
the A, you do better to lead low from dummy on the first round. This
will save a trick when the A is bare.
An interesting situation would arise if there were no convenient entry
to make the first trump lead from dummy:

 8 4
 Q 4 2
 10 7 5 4
 J 8 4 2
 10 7 5 2  K Q J 9 3
 J 10 8 3 N  A
 9 3 W E  J 8 2
S
 10 7 5  Q 9 6 3
 A 6
 K 9 7 6 5
 A K Q 6
 A K

1 dbl
pass 2 pass 2
pass 3 pass 3
pass 4 all pass
How would you play 4 when West leads the 2 to East’s J?
The best play is to win the spade lead and duck a round of trumps!
When the A is bare, you will escape for the two trump losers that you
can afford. If trumps break 3-2, the play will cost you nothing because
the king and queen of trumps will restrict your further trump losers to
just one. (You will lead the K on the second round, to prevent a trump
promotion from East when spades are 3-6.)
Determining if a trump safety play is appropriate

On some deals you need to test one suit before you can decide on the best
play in another suit. A trump safety play may or may not be advisable,
depending on whether you have a loser in one of the side suits. Test
yourself on this club slam:

 A K 5
 Q J 5
 8 2
 Q J 7 5 2
 10 9 6  J 8 7 4
 7 3 2 N  10 9 8 4
 10 7 6 W E  K J 9 5 4
S
 K 10 8 6  —
 Q 3 2
 A K 6
 A Q 3
 A 9 4 3

1
pass 2 pass 2NT
pass 3NT pass 6
all pass
North used the Criss-cross (or Crossover) convention to show a game-

forcing raise in clubs. He limited his hand on the next round and South
then closed the auction with a leap to 6. How would you play this
contract when West leads the 10?
At the table, declarer won the spade lead in dummy and immediately
led the Q. East showed out and the slam could no longer be made. The
diamond finesse was working, yes, but two trump losers were unavoidable.
To decide how to play the trump suit, you need to know whether you
have a diamond loser. After winning the spade lead in dummy, you should
finesse the Q. When the finesse wins, as here, your only possible losers
are in trumps and you should therefore seek a safety play in the suit.
To guarantee only one trump loser, you begin with a low card to the
Q. When East shows out, you continue with ace and another trump,
easily succeeding. Suppose instead that West had shown out on the
first round of trumps. The Q would lose to East’s K but you could
subsequently pick up his remaining trumps with a finesse of the 9.
How would you play if the diamond finesse had failed? You would
then need to pick up the trump suit for no losers. After winning West’s
return, you would lead the Q from dummy, hoping that East held Kx
or West held a singleton 10.

Trump safety play to avoid a ruff
When you sense an impending defensive ruff, it may be dangerous to take
a finesse against the king of trumps. Playing ace and another trump will
often reduce the chance of suffering a ruff and you should choose this
option when you can afford to lose a trump trick.
 Q 9 5 2
 K 3
 A K 6 2
 K 3 2
 K 8  4 3
 Q 9 2 N  J 10 8 7 5 4
 Q J 10 8 3 W E  7
S
 J 7 5  Q 9 8 4
 A J 10 7 6
 A 6
 9 5 4
 A 10 6

1
pass 2NT pass 4
all pass
North’s Jacoby 2NT shows a sound game raise in spades. South’s 4

rebid indicates a balanced hand in the 11-14 range and there is no further
bidding. How will you play the spade game when West leads the Q?
Suppose you win with the A and make the ‘normal play’ in the trump
suit, running the Q. West will win with the K and continue with the
J. When you cover with the K, East will ruff and there will be no way to
escape two further losers in the minor suits. You will be one down.
The first point to note is that a diamond ruff was not particularly
unexpected. Much of the time when a queen is led, the leader’s holding
will be headed by the QJ10. This leaves only three diamond spot cards to
be distributed between East and West. When West holds two of the three
missing spot cards, diamonds will be 5-1 and a ruff is threatened.
An important second point is that there is no need to expose yourself
to the risk of a ruff. Instead of running the Q, you should play ace and
another trump. When the cards lie as in the diagram, West will win the

second trump but East will be out of trumps, unable to ruff a diamond
continuation. Suppose that you play this way and East holds Kxx. When
he wins the second round of trumps, he will have no way to reach his
partner’s hand for a ruff. Again the contract will be yours.
You would make the same play with one trump fewer: Q952 opposite
AJ107. You could not avoid a ruff if West held Kx, leaving East with
three trumps, it’s true, but you could save the day when West held Kxx
and East had only two trumps.
Reducing a defender to three trumps for a throw-in

On the next slam deal the side suits are solid; your sole task (not that it is
an easy one) is to lose no more than one trump trick.
 K 7 3 2
 9 6 3
 K Q 8
 K Q 5
 Q J 10 6  —
 10 5 2 N  K Q J 8 7 4
 J 5 4 W E  10 9 7 2
S
 10 7 3  9 8 2
 A 9 8 5 4
 A
 A 6 3
 A J 6 4

1 2 2
pass 3 pass 6
all pass
How will you play the small slam when West leads the 2?
Only a 4-0 trump break can cause you any problem. West is the more
likely defender to hold four trumps after East’s overcall, so you broach the
suit with the 4 from the South hand. If West follows with the 6, you
will make the trump safety play of covering with dummy’s 7. (If East
wins this trick, the trumps will be 3-1 at worst and the slam will be yours.)
Let’s suppose next that West has a high regard for your game and
suspects that you are about to play dummy’s 7. He inserts the 10 to

prevent this and you win with dummy’s K, East throwing a heart. What
now?
You must aim to strip West of his non-trump cards and then endplay
him to restrict his trump winners to one. Since he will need to hold at least
three clubs for this to be possible, you will play clubs before diamonds.
You cross to the K and ruff a heart in your hand. You return to dummy
with the Q and ruff dummy’s last heart, stripping West of that suit.
Everyone follows to the A and you continue with three top diamonds,
ending in your hand. These cards are left:
 7 3 2
 —
 —
 —
 Q J 6  —
 — N  K 8
 — W E  10
S
 —  —
 A 9
 —
 —
 J
The end is nigh! You lead the J and West has to ruff with an honor,
to prevent dummy’s 7 from scoring. He must then lead away from his
remaining honor, allowing you to score the last two tricks with the 9 and
the A. The slam is yours.
It may seem that it made no difference which minor suit you played
first. Suppose, however, that West had turned up with four clubs and only
two diamonds. You would then have been able to cash a fourth round of
clubs, throwing a diamond from dummy. The same endplay would have
resulted, except that you would have led a diamond instead of a club at
Trick 11.
Safeguarding yourself against multiple ruffs

On the next deal, declarer managed to go down in an apparently secure-
looking spade game. See if you can spot the moment when he threw away
the contract.

 5 4
 A Q 8 6 5 4 3
 Q 6
 Q 10
 A J  86
 9 N  K J 10 7
 J 5 3 2 W E  10 8 7
S
 K J 9 7 4 3  A862
 K Q 10 9 7 3 2
 2
 A K 9 4
 5

1
pass 2 pass 4
all pass
West led the 7 to the A and East returned the six of trumps. Declarer
put up the king, losing to the ace and ruffed the K return. What now?
Since there might have been a second trump loser, declarer decided to
ruff his diamond loser with dummy’s last trump. He played the Q and A
and ruffed the 9 in dummy, everyone following. He then needed to reach
his hand to play another round of trumps. The A drew the 7 and 9
from the defenders. When declarer played a second round of hearts, East
followed cleverly with the K, pretending that he was short in the suit.
Declarer ruffed with the 10 and disaster struck. West overruffed with the
J and gave his partner a diamond ruff. Three trump tricks had been lost
and the contract was one down!
Distracted by East’s falsecard of the K, declarer had missed a safety
play. He should have ruffed the second round of hearts with the Q,
avoiding any risk of an overruff. When he continued with the 10, there
would be no way that the defenders could score two further trump tricks.
Either trumps would break 2-2 or the defender winning with the J would
hold the remaining trump. No ruff would be possible.

Chapter 3:
Timing Trumps to Combine Chances
The first chapter of this book looked at various aspects of timing your play
of the trump suit. We will now see how you can combine more than one
chance of making the contract, by playing the trump suit to maximum
advantage.
Combining your chances in trumps and a side suit

Let’s suppose that you have the commonplace trump suit of K854
opposite AJ72. If you need to pick up the trumps for no losers, you will
cash the K and then finesse the J. Sometimes a close inspection of the
whole deal will tell you that you should play the ace and king of trumps
instead. By following this path, you will be able to combine more than
once chance. That’s the situation here:
Chapter 3: Timing Trumps to Combine Chances | 37 |

 6 2
 K 8 5 4
 A J 7 5
 A 7 4
 J 10 8 4  5
 Q 10 6 N  9 3
 10 6 W E  K 9 8 4 3 2
S
 10 9 8 6  K Q 5 3
 A K Q 9 7 3
 A J 7 2
 Q
 J 2

1
pass 2 pass 2
pass 4 pass 4
pass 6 all pass
How will you tackle 6 when West leads the 10 to dummy’s A?
You should cross to the A and test West’s reactions by firing out
the Q. When he follows impassively with the 6, you decide that East
probably holds the K and rise with dummy’s A. What now?
If you take the percentage play in hearts, looking at that suit on its
own, you will go down when a finesse of the J fails; the defenders will
quickly take their club trick. Suppose instead that you make the second-
best play in trumps, playing the K and A. This will be an immediate
success when West began with Qx. When instead four spot cards appear
in trumps, you will not be dead. You can turn to the spade suit, hoping to
discard two clubs from dummy.
You continue with the two top trumps, then. All follow but the Q
does not appear. You then play the KQ, hoping that the defender with
the Q will follow three times. As it happens, East shows out on the
second spade but is unable to ruff. You discard one club from dummy and
establish the spade suit with a ruff. You can then return to your hand with
a diamond ruff and play a good spade, discarding a club from dummy.
West can take his Q whenever he wishes.
By combining the second-best play in trumps with the extra chances
in spades and diamonds, you give yourself a much better chance of making
the contract. You might make the same sort of play when missing three

trumps to the king: lay down the trump ace and then try for a discard of
the loser (or losers) that have been exposed by the opening lead.
When the next deal arose in a match, neither top-class declarer spotted
the best way to combine two chances:
 A Q 7 3
 J 8
 10 8 7 2
 K Q 4
 J 9 8 6 2  10 4
 K 2 N  Q 10 6
 A Q 3 W E  KJ64
S
 10 9 5  7632
 K 5
 A 9 7 5 4 3
 9 5
 A J 8

1 pass 1
pass 1NT pass 4
all pass
How will you give yourself the best chance in 4 when West leads the
10?
Both declarers won the club lead, drew a round of trumps with the
ace and then looked for a diamond discard on the spades. East ruffed the
third spade with the 10, as declarer ditched one of his diamonds. East
then crossed to his partner’s hand with a diamond and ruffed a third round
of spades with the Q. The defenders had three tricks before them and
West’s K was good for a fourth trick. One down!
If three rounds of spades are due to stand up, the contract is assured
on a 3-2 trump break. If a defender is due to ruff the third spade from
a doubleton trump holding, the contract is very likely to fail. The key
situation arises when a defender holds two spades and three trumps. In
that case you may fare better by playing spades without cashing the A
first!
Suppose you win the club lead and play the king, ace and queen of
spades. If East ruffs with the 6, you will overruff and continue with ace
and another trump, losing only one trump trick. If instead East ruffs with

the 10, you will discard a diamond. A diamond to West’s ace followed
by another spade will then do you no damage. You will be able to overruff
East and escape for the loss of two trumps and one diamond.
Playing for an extra chance when establishing a suit

You can often combine two chances by drawing some of the trumps but
not all.
 Q 4 2
 A K 9 7 4
 J 9 5
 J 10
 10 6  985
 6 N  J 10 8 3
 A 10 4 2 W E  863
S
 K Q 9 8 3 2  765
 A K J 7 3
 Q 5 2
 K Q 7
 A 4

1
2 3 pass 4
pass 4 pass 4NT
pass 5 pass 6
all pass
How will you play the small slam in spades when West leads the K?
All will be easy if hearts break 3-2 but you would like to give the slam
a chance against a 4-1 heart break. It can be done when the defender with
four hearts also holds three trumps.
You win the club lead and draw just two rounds of trumps with the
A and K. You then play the Q and A. If hearts break 3-2, you will
draw the last trump and score an easy twelve tricks. When the cards lie as
in the diagram, your ‘extra chance play’ will pay off. West is out of hearts
but cannot ruff. You continue with the K and ruff a heart in your hand.
You can then return to the Q to discard your club loser on the established
9. The defenders will just score one diamond trick.

What if West had held three trumps along with his singleton heart?
He would have ruffed the second heart and cashed the A. Yes, but in that
case you could not make the slam anyway.
Let’s see another deal where an extra-chance play allows you to cope
with a bad break in the side suit that you need to establish.
 6
 A 8 7 4
 K 7 6 3
 K J 8 5
 Q 10 5 3  2
 Q J 10 2 N  K 9 6 5 3
 10 9 5 W E  J 8
S
 7 3  Q 10 9 6 4
 A K J 9 8 7 4
 —
 A Q 4 2
 A 2

1
pass 2 pass 2
pass 3 pass 5
pass 5 pass 5NT
pass 6 pass 7
all pass
South’s 5 was Exclusion Blackwood, asking for keycards outside the

heart suit. The partnership was playing 1430 responses, so the first-step
response showed one keycard (the K). 5NT asked for kings and 6
denoted the K. How would you play the grand slam in diamonds when
West leads the Q?
You win with the A, throwing a spade, and continue with the king
and ace of trumps. You are over the first hurdle when trumps break 3-2.
How will you continue?
If your next move is to draw the last trump, you will need spades to
break 3-2 (or the Q to drop singleton, or the 10 singleton with East).
To give yourself an extra chance, you should play a spade to the ace before
drawing the last trump. When no interesting card shows, you make the
cost-nothing play of ruffing a spade with the 6. If spades break 3-2, you

will draw the last trump. When the cards lie as in the diagram, your extra
chance materializes. East will show out but since he does not hold the
defenders’ last trump he will be unable to overruff. You will return to the
A to ruff another spade with dummy’s last trump. Finally you will return
to your hand with a heart ruff to draw West’s last trump.
Ruffing in the dummy while there is still a trump out

Suppose you have three low trumps in dummy opposite AKQxx in your
hand. There are various situations where the winning play is to draw just
two rounds of trumps and then to take a ruff with dummy’s remaining
trump. For the play to succeed, you may require a favorable break in the
side suit that you plan to ruff. That’s the case here:
 A 9 7 6
 7 6 3
 J 7 4
 A Q 7
 Q 3  K J 10 8 4
 9 8 4 N  10 5
 K Q 10 6 W E  A982
S
 J 9 5 2  10 4
 5 2
 A K Q J 2
 5 3
 K 8 6 3

1
pass 1 pass 2
pass 3 pass 4
all pass
How will you play 4 when the defenders begin with three rounds of
diamonds?
You have a certain third loser in the spade suit, so you must make
plans for the fourth round of clubs. A 3-3 club break would ease your
task, of course. What other chance can you see?
When the same defender holds four clubs and three trumps, you will
be able to ruff your potential club loser in dummy. After ruffing the third

round of diamonds, you should draw just two rounds of trumps. You then
play the three top club honors. If clubs break 3-3, you will draw the last
trump. When the cards lie as in the diagram, an extra chance will deliver
the contract. East will show out on the third round of clubs but he will be
unable to ruff since West holds the last trump. You will ruff your last club
with dummy’s 7 and eventually reach your hand with a high spade ruff
to draw West’s remaining trump.
It was easy on the previous deal to play exactly two rounds of trumps
before heading for your ruff. Life is more complicated on the next deal and
a rather surprising play is required to make the contract.
 7 5 2
 9 7 4 2
 Q 4 3
 A 5 3
 J 4  10 8 3
 Q 10 8 5 N  J63
 J 10 9 7 2 W E  AK5
S
 J 8  Q 10 9 4
 A K Q 9 6
 A K
 8 6
 K 7 6 2

1
pass 2 pass 4
all pass
West leads the J and the defenders persist with three rounds of the suit.
What is your plan?
As on the previous deal, a 3-3 club break will solve all your problems.
When clubs do not divide so helpfully, you would like to draw just two
rounds of trumps and then attempt to ruff the fourth round of clubs in
dummy.
Suppose your first move, after ruffing the third diamond, is to draw
two rounds of trumps. That’s no good. When you subsequently surrender
a round of clubs, preparing for your ruff in the suit, East will be able to
play a third round of trumps.

After drawing just one round of trumps, your next move is to duck
the first round of clubs.. If you have not seen such a play before, you will
no doubt be as surprised as I was when I first read about this play (back in
the mists of time). See how well it works, though. You win the defenders’
return and draw a second round of trumps. You then continue with the
A and K. West shows out on the third round of clubs but he cannot ruff
because East holds the outstanding trump. You ruff your last club with
the 7 and return to your hand with a heart to draw East’s last trump. The
game is yours.
Combining the extra chance of ruffing down an honor

Many players fail to spot an extra chance that involves ruffing down a
defender’s honor. For example, suppose that you hold K943 in dummy
opposite 7 or 75 in your hand. The bidding may have told you that
the A lies over dummy’s king. Yes, but if the defender holds only two or
three spades to the ace, you may be able to establish the king by ruffing
down the ace.
Look for the extra chance on this deal:
 8 6 3
 K Q 2
 A 8 2
 Q 5 4 2
 K 9 5  J 10 7 4
 6 N  843
 Q J 10 6 5 W E  974
S
 10 8 7 3  K96
 A Q 2
 A J 10 9 7 5
 K 3
 A J

1
pass 3 pass 6
all pass
How will you play the heart slam when West leads the Q?

Even if the club finesse loses, you will have one spade discard available
on the Q and can make the contract with a successful spade finesse. Can
you see an extra chance, one that may work when the spade finesse is
destined to fail?
You should win the diamond lead with the king and draw two rounds
of trumps with the ace and queen. West shows out on the second round
and you must abandon trumps for the moment to test your luck in clubs.
A club to the jack wins the next trick and you cash the A. You cross to
the trump queen, drawing East’s last trump, and ruff a club in your hand.
The extra chance pays off when East’s K appears on this trick, setting up
dummy’s Q. You return to dummy with the A and discard your low
spade on the Q. You can then finesse the Q, seeking an overtrick. You
are delighted to see that the spade finesse loses; any declarer who relies on
this chance alone will therefore go down.
Seeking a discard before committing yourself in trumps

The extra chance on the next deal is, once again, that you may be able to
establish a discard. You should test for this chance before deciding how
to play the trump suit.
 J 7 4 2
 A 6 2
 A 9 5 2
 Q 6
 K 9 3  8
 Q J 10 8 N  9 5 3
 K 7 W E  Q J 8 6 3
S
 K 10 9 4  J 8 7 2
 A Q 10 6 5
 K 7 4
 10 4
 A 5 3

1
pass 3 pass 4
all pass
How will you tackle 4 when West leads the Q?

If West holds the king of trumps, you are in danger of losing a trick
in each suit; West will clear the heart suit when he wins with the K. By
all means rely on the trump finesse if you’re a lucky player; otherwise it is
better to combine two chances. You should win the heart lead in the South
hand and lead a low club towards dummy’s queen. When West holds the
K, you have a good chance of avoiding a heart loser. Let’s say that West
goes in with the K and plays another heart honor. You win with the
ace and unblock the Q. You cannot afford to take a trump finesse now,
because it would give the defenders a chance to cash four tricks. Instead,
you play a trump to the ace. You can then discard dummy’s last heart on
the A before returning to the trump suit. You will lose one trump and
one trick in each minor suit.
What would happen if East turned up with the K? You would then
need to pick up the trumps for no loser. The best play in the trump suit
is to lead the J. You can then pick up the suit when East holds K983.
(You will have the remaining red-suit ace and a club ruff as your entries for
subsequent finesses in trumps.)
Testing a side suit before you draw the last trump

Sometimes the trump that will draw the defenders’ last card in the suit
represents the only remaining entry to dummy. In that case you may have
to delay drawing the last trump until you have tested a side suit in your
hand.

 A K 5
 9 7 4 2
 8 7 4 3
 Q 2
 6 3  974
 Q J 10 8 6 N  K5
 5 W E  J962
S
 J 9 7 4 3  10 8 6 5
 Q J 10 8 2
 A 3
 A K Q 10
 A K

2
pass 2 pass 2
pass 3 pass 4NT
pass 5 pass 5NT
pass 6 all pass
South would have bid a grand slam if North held the K. The 6 response
to 5NT denied a side-suit king and ended the auction. What is your plan
when West leads the Q?
Suppose you draw trumps in three rounds and then tackle the
diamond suit. West will show out on the second round and there will be
no way back to dummy to finesse against East’s J. A better idea is to play
just two rounds of trumps, the A and Q. You then test the diamond suit
by playing the ace and king. West shows out on the second round, but
your extra chance pays off: he does not hold the last trump! You return to
dummy with the K and take the marked finesse of the 10.
You would make the same play if your diamonds were AKQ9. This
might rescue the slam when West held a singleton J or 10.

Quiz I: Trump timing, trump safety plays
1.  K 852
 9 8643
 K Q
 7 4
J led Contract: 4
 A 10 6 4 3
 KQ
 85
 AK86
You bid to 4 and West leads the J, East winning with the A. How will
you tackle the contract when East returns the 3? (Answer on page 52.)
2.  J752
 A92
 A96
 Q32
K led Contract: 6
 A K 8 6 4
 8
 K Q 5
 A K J 5
How will you play 6 when West leads the K? (Answer on page 52.)
3.  K42
 976
 KQ8
 A963
 AQ853
 J5
 A753
 42
How will you give yourself the best chance in 4 when West leads the K,
followed by the 2 to East’s A and a third round of hearts? (Answer on
page 53.)
Quiz I: Trump timing, trump safety plays | 49 |

4.  A 7 53
 A 8 4
 A K 7
 A K 8
Q led Contract: 6
 9
 Q 10 9 7 5 3 2
 Q 6 4
 5 2
How will you play 6 when West leads the Q? (Answer on page 53.)
5.  J3
 J5
 Q2
 A 10 9 7 5 4 3
K led Contract: 6
 A K Q 8 7 6 4 2
 A 4
 J
 K Q
West opens 1 and North overcalls 3. You Blackwood your way to 6 and
West leads the K and A. What is your plan? (Answer on page 54.)
6.  Q42
 K872
 A83
 854
2 led Contract: 4
 AKJ965
 63
 K 10 6
 A7
You arrive in 4 after East has opened 1. How will you play the spade
game when West leads the 2, East playing the Q? (Answer on page 55.)

7.  K4
 Q64
 10 8 6 5 4 2
 74
Q led Contract: 6
 A
 A K 10 5 3
 A K Q
 K 9 5 3
How will you give 6 the best chance when West leads the Q? (Answer
on page 55.)
8.  A J 6 5
 6
 A K 3
 A 8 5 3 2
2 led Contract: 5
 K Q 4
 J
 J 8 7 6 4 2
 K J 4
East opens 3, you pass and West raises to 4. North doubles for takeout
and you bid 5. How will you play this contact when West leads the 2 to
East’s A and he switches to the 10? (Answer on page 56.)
9.  94
 Q 10 8 6 4
 752
 K83
K led Contract: 6
 A
 A K 3
 A 10 8
 A Q 9 7 6 2
You reach 6 after West has overcalled 1 and then bid 4 after receiving
a single raise from East. West leads the K to your A. When you play the
ace and queen of trumps, West shows up with a singleton 5. How will
you continue? (Answer on page 56.)

Answers to Quiz I
1.  K 852 to question
 9 8643
 K Q
 7 4

 A 10 6 4 3
 KQ
 85
Contract: 4  AK86
West leads the J, East winning with the A and returning the 3. If your
next move is to play the king and ace of trumps, you will go down when
a defender holds three trumps and the A. You need to ruff two clubs
in dummy and will have no quick entry to your hand to take the second
ruff. When the defender wins with the A, he will draw a third round of
trumps.
You draw one round of trumps with the king and must then play a
heart, establishing a route to your hand. If the defenders take the first
heart, you will win the return and draw a second round of trumps. You
can then ruff two clubs in dummy, returning to your hand in hearts for
the second ruff. If instead the defenders hold up the A, you will persist
with a second round of hearts. There is no risk from a trump promotion,
should East win and play a third round of hearts. You cannot lose more
than one trump and the two red aces.
2.  J752 to question
 A92
 A96
 Q32

 A K 8 6 4
 8
 K Q 5
Contract: 6  A K J 5
Your only concern is to avoid two losers in the trump suit. You win the
heart lead with the ace and play the 2. If East follows with the 3, you
will cover with an artistically pleasing 4! If this deeper-than-the-deep

finesse loses, your AK will pick up the remaining trumps and the slam
will be yours. The play gains when East began with Q1093. If instead
East shows out on the first trump, you will win with the A and lead back
towards the J, again making the slam.
3.  K42 to question
 976
 KQ8
 A963

 AQ853
 J5
 A753
Contract: 4  42
The defenders play three rounds of hearts and you ruff the third round with
the 3. You will need a 3-2 trump break and all will be easy if diamonds
also break 3-3. When they do not, you can give yourself an extra chance
by drawing just two rounds of trumps with the K and A. You continue
with the three top diamonds. If they break 3-3, you will simply draw
the last trump. When a defender holds four or more diamonds, you will
still make the contract when he holds the last trump. The other defender
will be unable to ruff the third diamond and you can then ruff your last
diamond with dummy’s 4.
4.  A 7 53 to question
 A 8 4
 A K 7
 A K 8

 9
 Q 10 9 7 5 3 2
 Q 6 4
Contract: 6  5 2
You must look for a safety play to avoid losing two trump tricks. The safest
play, after winning the spade lead, is a low trump from dummy. If East
follows with the 6 and your Q loses to the K with West, the trumps are
2-1 and you can draw the outstanding trump with the A. If instead East

shows out, West will win the Q with the K and you can enter your hand
with the Q to finesse against West’s remaining J6 on the second round.
In practice, you could seek an overtrick by crossing to the Q at Trick
2 and leading the 10, intending to run the card unless West shows out
(you will then rise with the A and lead back towards the Q). This
would give you an overtrick when West began with a singleton K. It
would cost the contract only when East won with the singleton J and
could give his partner a ruff.
 J5
 Q2
 A 10 9 7 5 4 3

 A K Q 8 7 6 4 2
 A 4
 J
Contract: 6  K Q
West, who opened 1, leads the K followed by the A. You ruff the
second round of diamonds and lay down the A, both defenders following.
What now? If you draw the last trump, play the K and overtake the Q
with the A, you will make the slam when clubs break 2-2 or the J falls
singleton. You can give yourself an extra chance by playing the K before
drawing a second round of trumps. If the J falls on the first round, you
will draw the outstanding trump and run the clubs. Otherwise you will
play the Q, following low in the dummy. You will still make the contract
when clubs are 2-2. This way, you give yourself the extra chance that a
defender will hold a singleton club and a singleton trump. He will not be
able to ruff the Q and you can then enter dummy with the J.

6.  Q42 to question
 K872
 A83
 854

 AKJ965
 63
 K 10 6
Contract: 4  A7
East opens 1 and you reach 4. You win the club lead and see that
you will need to set up a diamond discard on dummy’s heart suit. East’s
opening bid makes it a near certainty that he holds the A, but you can
ruff it out when he holds three hearts or fewer. Draw one round of trumps
with the A and duck a heart. Win the diamond return with the king, cash
the K (West showing out) and duck another heart. Win the trump return
with the Q and duck a third heart, bringing down East’s ace. You can
then cross to the A to discard a diamond on the established K.
 Q64
 10 8 6 5 4 2
 74

 A
 A K 10 5 3
 A K Q
Contract: 6  K 9 5 3
You win the Q lead with the A. Easily the best chance of twelve tricks
is to employ dummy’s diamond suit. You begin by drawing two rounds of
trumps with the A and K. If trumps are 4-1, you will sigh deeply and
move to the next deal. Let’s assume that they break 3-2. You continue
with the AK. If diamonds are 2-2, you will cross to the Q and discard
the blocking Q on the K. You can then run the remaining diamonds,
scoring an overtrick. When a defender holds three diamonds to the jack,
you will still be okay if he also holds three trumps. You will continue with
the Q and then cross to the Q to enjoy the remaining diamonds.

8.  A J 6 5 to question
 6
 A K 3
 A 8 5 3 2

 K Q 4
 J
 J 8 7 6 4 2
Contract: 5  K J 4
The potential club loser can be discarded on the fourth round of spades,
so the game is yours if you can avoid two trump losers. Win East’s spade
switch with the king and lead the 6. If West produces the 5, play the 3
from dummy. If East wins the trick, trumps will be 3-1 at worst and you
will lose only one trump trick. By running the 6, you guard against West
holding Q1095.
If instead West shows out on the first round of trumps, rise with the
A, play the K and lead towards the J.
9.  94 to question
 Q 10 8 6 4
 752
 K83

 A
 A K 3
 A 10 8
Contract: 6  A Q 7 6 5 2
West, who bid strongly in spades, leads the K to your A. When you play
the ace and queen of trumps, West discards a spade on the second round.
Before drawing the last trump, you should test the hearts by playing the
ace and king. If all follow, you will draw the last trump and score an
overtrick. If East began with a singleton heart and ruffs the K, you will
win his return and take the marked finesse of the 10 to establish two
discards for the diamond losers. If instead West has a singleton heart, you
will cross to the Q and ruff a heart. You can then enter dummy with the
K, drawing East’s last trump, and discard a diamond on the thirteenth
heart.


Chapter 4:
Trump Throw-in Plays
Throw-in plays are familiar but somehow it seems unnatural to throw a

defender on lead in the trump suit. There are many situations where this
is possible and in this chapter we will take a look at those that arise most
frequently.
Throw-in to a master trump

We begin with a straightforward example, where you have a third-round
loser in the trump suit. Your aim will be to concede a trick to the defender’s
master trump at a time when he will have to assist you with his return.
 A K 4
 K 8 5 2
 A K J
 J 7 2
 Q J 10 7  9 6 5
 Q J 4 N  9
 8 5 4 W E  10 9 7 3 2
S
 Q 10 5  9 8 4 3
 8 3 2
 A 10 7 6 3
 Q 6
 A K 6

1
pass 2NT pass 4
pass 6 all pass
North uses the Jacoby 2NT to show a strong heart raise. South’s rebid
indicates a balanced hand in the minimum range and North wastes no
more time, leaping to a small slam. You win the spade lead with the ace
and play the king and ace of trumps, East showing out on the second
round. How will you continue?
Chapter 4: Trump Throw-in Plays | 57 |

You play three rounds of diamonds, discarding a spade from your
hand. Then you play the K and ruff a spade in your hand. This is the
position that you have reached:
 —
 8 5
 —
 J 7 2
 J  —
 Q N  —
 — W E  10
S
 Q 10 5  9 8 4 3
 —
 10 7
 —
 A K 6
Now comes your throw-in play. You lead a trump to West’s queen and he
is forced to give you an extra trick with his return. A club will allow you
to win with dummy’s J, avoiding a loser in that suit. If instead West plays
the Q, you will ruff in one hand and discard a club from the other. Either
way, the slam is yours.
This was an example of ‘elimination play’. You removed spades and
diamonds from your own hand and the dummy, ensuring that West could
not play either of these suits safely when he was thrown in.
On the next deal more preparation is required:
 J 8 3
 J 10 5 2
 10 9
 K 7 6 2
 6  Q 10 7
 A 8 7 N  K Q 9 6 4 3
 J 8 5 3 2 W E  Q 6 4
S
 J 9 5 3  10
 A K 9 5 4 2
 —
 A K 7
 A Q 8 4

2 dbl
pass 2NT pass 3
pass 3NT pass 4
pass 5 pass 6
all pass
North’s 2NT response to the takeout double is part of the Lebensohl

convention, showing a hand in the 0-7 point range. South followed a
strong sequence to 4 and North cooperated well to reach the slam. You
ruff the A lead and play the AK, West showing out on the second round.
You must seek some way to deal with a 4-1 club break. You play the
AK and ruff your last diamond with dummy’s jack, East following suit. (If
East were to overruff, his shape would be 3-6-2-2 and there would be no
problem in the club suit). Aiming for a throw-in on East, who is marked
with at most one club, you continue with dummy’s J. East covers with
the K and you ruff in your hand. These cards remain:
 —
 10 5
 —
 K 7 6 2
 —  Q
 7 N  Q 9 4 3
 J W E  —
S
 J 9 5 3  10
 9 5
 —
 —
 A Q 8 4
When you play the A and Q, East delays his fate by discarding a heart.
You throw him in with the Q and he has no escape. Whether he plays
the Q or a low heart, he will allow you to discard your club loser on
dummy’s 10.

Varying the ‘normal play’ in the trump suit
When you first learn the game, you are taught some basic guidelines as
to whether you should finesse in a suit. If you are missing the queen,
for example, the rule is ‘eight ever, nine never’, meaning that you should
finesse with a combined holding of eight cards and play for the drop when
you hold nine cards. That’s sound advice in general, but by flouting the
rule in some situations you can give yourself a better chance of making the
contract. Look at this deal:
 K 8 6
 A 8 2
 J 7 4 3 2
 A 7
 5  Q92
 Q J 10 6 3 N  975
 K 8 5 W E  10 9 6
S
 10 8 3 2  J954
 A J 10 7 4 3
 K 4
 A Q
 K Q 6

1 pass 1
pass 2 pass 4NT
pass 5 pass 6
all pass
What is your plan in 6 when West leads the Q?

Suppose you win the heart lead and play for the drop in trumps (‘nine
never’). The Q will not drop and you will have to rely on the diamond
finesse. Who would have thought it? The K is offside and you go down.
A trump finesse against East would have worked, as it happens, but you
might then go down when West held Qx.
Let’s try something different. You win with the K, cross to the K
and play three rounds of clubs, throwing a heart from dummy. You then
play the A and lead a second round of trumps towards your hand, East
following with the 9. You can guarantee the contract now by finessing
the J. When East began with Q92, the finesse will win and you will

not lose a trump trick. If instead West wins with the bare Q, he will be
endplayed. He will have to lead into your diamond tenace or give you a
ruff-and-sluff.
The second-round trump finesse (ignoring the ‘nine never’ guideline)
became correct because of the diamond position. West would be endplayed
if the finesse lost.
Choosing which top trump honor to play first

Suppose you have a trump holding of K10954 opposite AJ732. You
can pick up a 3-0 break, provided you guess correctly which top honor to
play first. In such a situation you should ask yourself: If I guess wrongly,
leaving myself with a trump loser, will a second chance be available?
This approach will guide your play of the trump suit. Decide how you
would play the trumps on this deal:
 K 5
 K 10 9 5 4
 K 4
 K 7 6 3
 Q J 10 3  8 7 6 4 2
 Q 8 6 N  —
 J 8 6 W E  Q 9 7 5 3
S
 Q 10 4  9 8 2
 A 9
 A J 7 3 2
 A 10 2
 A J 5

1
pass 2NT pass 6
all pass
West leads the Q and the slam looks good. You can go down only if
trumps are 3-0 and you misguess which honor to play first. Even then,
you will still make the slam if the club finesse wins. Can you improve on
this?
After winning the spade lead, you must decide which top trump honor
to play first. Any ideas? You should play the K first. If West shows out,

you will finesse against East’s Q. Suppose instead that the cards lie as
in the diagram and the K appears to have been an unlucky guess. You
will lose a trump trick, yes, but you will still make the contract! After a
second trump to the ace, you will eliminate spades and diamonds to leave
this position:
 —
 10 9
 —
 K 7 6 3
 J 10  8
 Q N  —
 — W E  Q 9
S
 Q 10 4  9 8 2
 —
 J 7 3
 —
 A J 5
You throw West in with a trump and he has to lead a club in your tenace (or
give you a ruff-and-sluff, allowing you to ruff in the dummy and discard
the 5 from your hand).
Make sure you understand why it was right to play the K first, rather
than the A. The reason was that if this proved to be an unlucky guess,
so far as the trump suit was concerned, you would be able to recover with
a trump throw-in play. Suppose instead that you cashed the A first and
West showed out. No effective throw-in would be possible and you would
have to rely on a finesse of the J.
Throw-in to a bare trump honor

When you are missing two or three trumps to the ace, there is a chance
that the ace is bare and you can endplay the defender who holds it. East
was the victim when the next deal arose:

 Q J 7 6 5
 Q 8 4
 K J
 K 6 3
 8  A
 A 9 6 5 N  K 10 7
 10 9 7 6 W E  Q 8 5 4 3
S
 Q 8 7 4  J 10 9 2
 K 10 9 4 3 2
 J 3 2
 A 2
 A 5

1
pass 4 all pass
How will you handle the spade game when West leads the 10?
If you have to play the heart suit for two losers yourself, you will need
some luck. A better idea is to force the defenders to make the first play
in hearts. You win the diamond lead and play a second round of the suit.
You continue with the A and K and ruff the third round of clubs with
the 9. With both minor suits eliminated, you exit with a trump.
Trumps break 1-1, as you had hoped. When East wins with the bare
A he has two losing options. A heart return will ensure that you lose only
two tricks in the suit. A minor-suit return will give you a ruff-and-sluff,
allowing you to throw a heart loser from one hand or another.
If West had led his singleton trump (not an attractive option, from his
point of view), this would have beaten the contract. When East won with
the A, he could have exited safely with the J.
To squeeze a bit more juice from the deal, suppose next that North
had been the dealer and had ended up playing the spade game. East
could then beat the contract only by leading the A, thereby avoiding a
subsequent throw-in. It is always a risk, as a defender, to leave yourself
with a bare ace of trumps.

Trump throw-in to gain an entry
Sometimes the purpose of a trump throw-in play is to force a defender to
give you an entry to dummy:
 4 3
 Q 5 4
 9 8 5 4
 K 6 3 2
 Q 10 9  5
 A K J 10 8 6 N  7 3 2
 6 W E  Q J 10 7
S
 10 9 4  Q J 8 7 5
 A K J 8 7 6 2
 9
 A K 3 2
 A

1 pass 2 4
all pass
West leads the K, East playing the 2 to show an odd number of cards in
the suit. You win the 10 switch with the ace and play two top trumps,
East showing out on the second round. What now?
All will be easy if diamonds break 3-2, giving you only one loser in
that suit. When you play the A and K, West discards a heart on the
second round (he sees that he may be in trouble for a safe exit if he ruffs
with the master Q). These cards remain in play:
 —
 Q 5
 9 8
 K 6 3
 Q  —
 A J 10 8 N  7 3
 — W E  Q J
S
 9 4  Q J 7
 J 8 7 6 2
 —
 3 2
 —

You throw West in with a trump and he has no safe continuation. If
he plays a club, you will win with dummy’s K and throw one of your
diamond losers. Suppose he tries his luck with the A instead. You will
discard one of your diamond losers, leaving West on play. He will then
have to give dummy the lead by playing a heart or club. Your remaining
diamond loser will vanish into the mist and the game will be yours.
Would you have seen how to force an entry to dummy on the next
deal?
 8 6 5 2
 Q 6 4
 Q 8 7 4
 7 4
 —  QJ74
 9 8 3 2 N  J 10 7 5
 J 9 5 2 W E  10 6 3
S
 Q J 10 8 3  96
 A K 10 9 3
 A K
 A K
 A K 5 2

2
pass 2 pass 2
pass 4 pass 6
all pass
You win the Q lead and play the A, West discarding a club. How will
you recover from this unfair development?
You may be tempted to reach dummy with a club ruff, but this plan
will fail. East will overruff and exit in a red suit, leaving you with no
further hope.
A better idea is to play off the red-suit winners in your hand. When
you continue with your second club winner, East follows suit. These cards
are still to be played:

 8 6 5
 Q
 Q 8
 —
 —  Q J 7
 9 8 N  J 10
 J 9 W E  10
S
 J 10  —
 K 10 9 3
 —
 —
 5 2
Ruffing a club with the 8 is no good, as before. East will overruff and
exit with a trump. You can finesse the 10, yes, but the lead will be in the
South hand and you cannot avoid an eventual further loser in clubs. The
key play (roll of drums…) is to lead the 10. What can East do? If he wins
with the J, any return will allow you to reach the dummy. For example,
if he exits with the 7, you will run this to dummy’s 8. You can then take
two discards on the red queens. If instead he exits in a red suit, you will
discard your club losers and then finesse against East’s remaining Q7.
East will fare no better if he refuses to win the 10. You will continue
with the K, followed by a club ruff. Here East will overruff with his last
trump and will then have to lead a red card to the dummy. If instead East
held three clubs, you would reach dummy with your club ruff and could
discard your last club loser.
Trump throw-in followed by a second throw-in

Throw-in plays in the trump suit offer many possibilities. Just for a
moment, I will cast aside my brief to concentrate on those plays that arise
relatively frequently. Let’s enjoy an exotic double throw-in play:

 7 4 3
 8 6 4
 Q 6 3 2
 K 6 3
 Q J 10 9 6 5  82
 10 N  J952
 J 7 4 W E  10 9 8 5
S
 Q 10 5  AJ8
 A K
 A K Q 7 3
 A K
 9 7 4 2

2 pass pass 4
all pass
You bid a modest 4 on your splendid hand and this assessment is

rewarded when nothing special goes down in the dummy. You win the
Q lead and play two rounds of trumps, West throwing a spade on the
second round. How will you continue?
You should play one more round of trumps, followed by your
remaining spade honor and the two top diamonds. These cards remain:
 7
 —
 Q 6
 K 6 3
 J 10  —
 — N  J
 J W E  10 9
S
 Q 10 5  A J 8
 —
 7 3
 —
 9 7 4 2
You will not be surprised by the next move — you throw East in with a
trump. What can he do? If he plays a club, you will score extra tricks
with the K and the Q. Suppose instead that he exits with a diamond

to dummy’s queen. You will discard one club and then throw him in
again with the fourth round of diamonds, discarding another club. Out
of options, East will have to give a trick to dummy’s K and the game will
be yours.
Throw-in that sacrifices a trump trick

A particularly pretty play arises when you could draw trump without loss
but you choose instead to exit with a low trump, expecting to gain two
extra tricks in exchange. How would you have fared on this spade slam?
 6 5
 9 8 4
 10 8 4 3
 K J 6 3
 8  10 7 4 3
 K Q J 10 6 5 N  7
 9 7 6 W E  J 5 2
S
 10 7 2  Q 9 8 5 4
 A K Q J 9 2
 A 3 2
 A K Q
 A

2 pass pass 6
all pass
Hoping that dummy will allow you to dispose of at least one of your heart
losers, you surprise all present by leaping to a small slam at your first
turn. West leads the K and you await the dummy. If the East hand had
appeared on the table, thirteen tricks would have been easy. How will you
play the slam when partner puts down the much less helpful North hand?
Prospects are quite good, in fact. You can expect East to hold a
singleton heart. If he holds three or four trumps, and you can strip his
diamonds, a trump throw-in will come to your aid.
You win the heart lead and play two rounds of trumps, West showing
out on the second round. You continue with a third top trump, followed
by the A and your three diamond winners. When East shows up with
only three diamonds, a glint comes to your eye. Even though you could

have drawn East’s last trump with the J, you prefer to lead the 2. East
has to win and must then lead a club into dummy’s tenace. Away go your
two heart losers and twelve tricks are made.
When West showed out on the second trump, it was clear that East
could be thrown in with the fourth round of trumps. If both defenders
had followed to two trumps, you would have played your top cards in the
minors and led the 2 on the third round. You would have to hope that
East held the outstanding trump — very likely, in fact, when West holds
six hearts to East’s one.
Finally, suppose we swap the 2 and the 3. An expert defender in
the East seat could then defeat you by retaining the 2 until the fourth
round. No throw-in would be possible and you would eventually lose two
heart tricks, going one down.
Ruffing high to retain a throw-in card

Sometimes you must take steps to preserve the low trump that you may
need to use as a throw-in card. That’s what happens on this deal:
 K 3
 8 6 4
 K 6 3
 A K 8 7 5
 J 10 6 5 2  AQ98
 7 N  952
 J 9 7 4 W E  A Q 10
S
 J 6 2  Q 10 3
 7 4
 A K Q J 10 3
 8 5 2
 9 4

1 2
pass 4 all pass
A spade or diamond lead would have worked well, as it happens, but West
places the 2 on the table. How will you tackle the contract?
It seems from the opening lead that clubs are breaking either 1-5 or
3-3. You win the club lead with the ace and draw two rounds of trumps,

West throwing a spade on the second round. When you play a second
round of clubs to the king, West follows suit. You lead a third round of
clubs and ruff with the 10, preserving your 3 as a potential throw-in
card. Clubs do indeed break 3-3 and you have reached this position:
 K 3
 8
 K 6 3
 8 7
 J 10 6 5  A Q 9 8
 — N  9
 J 9 7 4 W E  A Q 10
S
 —  —
 7 4
 Q J 3
 8 5 2
 —
It may be only Trick 6 but the time has come for your throw-in. You lead
the 3 to East’s 9 and East can score no more than his two aces. He will
then have to give the lead to dummy, allowing you to take two discards on
the established 87.
Note that on this occasion it would not assist East to follow with the
9 and 5 on the first two rounds of trumps (retaining the 2 to avoid the
throw-in). You would then be able to reach dummy with the 8.
Elimination play when a defender holds four trumps

When a defender holds four trumps that are apparently worth two tricks,
you can sometimes perform a throw-in on the second round of trumps.
The defender must then surrender his second trump trick or give you a
trick by leading another suit. Let’s see an example of this exotic play.

 A 6 3 2
 10 6
 K Q 3 2
 K 5 2
 Q 10 8 7  —
 A K Q 7 4 2 N  J 9 8 5
 7 W E
 10 9 6 5
S
 J 7  Q 10 9 6 3
 K J 9 5 4
 3
 A J 8 4
 A 8 4

1
2 3 pass 3
pass 4 all pass
West leads two top hearts and you ruff the second round. You continue
with a trump to dummy’s ace and are surprised to see East show out.
What next?
If West holds fewer than three clubs, you can catch him in a trump
endplay. You play a club to the ace and lead a low club towards the king.
If West had begun with a singleton club, he could not gain by ruffing
your club loser with a winning trump. As it happens, West follows to the
second club and you continue with two rounds of diamonds.
West has no answer to this line of play. If he ruffs a diamond, he will
have to lead a trump into the KJ or concede a ruff-and-sluff, allowing
you to dispose of your club loser. He cannot rescue himself by discarding
hearts on your winning diamonds; you would then throw him in with a
trump, to the same effect.
Defender ruffs and has no safe return

Sometimes you cannot prevent a defender from scoring a ruff against you,
but you can arrange that he will have no safe return:

 6 5 2
 J 9 4
 10 5
 10 9 5 3 2
 10 8  93
 A K 10 7 3 N  Q865
 Q 8 W E
 J9763
S
 A Q J 7  64
 A K Q J 7 4
 2
 A K 4 2
 K 8

1 pass 3 4
all pass
East’s 3 is preemptive and West leads the K against your contract of 4.
How will you play the contract when West continues with the A?
Prospects do not look too good initially, because West is very likely to
hold the A. You ruff the second round of hearts and draw one round of
trumps with the ace. This would allow you to score two diamond ruffs
unimpeded if the defender who is shorter in diamonds had started with
only one trump.
When you lead a third round of diamonds, your preparation pays off
in a different way. West ruffs in with his 10 and you discard dummy’s last
heart; West is then endplayed! A club switch would allow you to score the
K, making the game easily. Suppose West plays a third round of hearts
instead, giving you a ruff-and-sluff. You ruff in the dummy and discard the
8 from your hand. You then play a club to the K, establishing a route
back to your hand. West wins with the A but cannot remove dummy’s
last trump. You ruff his club return, ruff your last diamond in the dummy
and return to your hand with a club ruff to draw East’s last trump. You
have made the contract.
The same line of play would succeed when West held three diamonds.
You would ruff the third diamond, as both defenders followed suit, and
return to your hand by ruffing the J. If West then ruffed ahead of dummy
when you led the fourth round of diamonds, he would have no safe return.

Chapter 5:
Retaining Trump Control
One of the less pleasant experiences you can have as declarer is to ‘lose
trump control’. What does that mean? It means that a defender ends
up with more trumps than you have. He will be able to ruff one of your
winners and perhaps enjoy some winners of his own. In this chapter we
will see some of the techniques that you can use to avoid such an indignity.
Discarding to avoid the force

If the defenders can force you to ruff in the long-trump holding, you may
end with fewer trumps than one of the defenders. The most important
technique to counter this is to discard from the long-trump hand until
you can ruff in the short-trump hand. Here is a straightforward example:
 A 9 6 2
 Q 8 5
 Q 2
 Q J 7 5
 Q 8 5  J73
 2 N  10 7 4 3
W E
 A K 10 9 7 5  J843
S
 A 6 2  84
 K 10 4
 A K J 9 6
 6
 K 10 9 3

1
2 3 pass 4
all pass
West opens the defense with the K and A. How will you play the
contract?
Chapter 5: Retaining Trump Control | 73 |

Suppose you ruff the second diamond with the 6. You continue with
the ace and queen of trumps, discovering the 4-1 break, and pause for
reflection. You cannot draw East’s remaining trumps immediately because
this will exhaust your trumps; you would have no protection in diamonds
when you knocked out the A. Suppose, however, that you decide to
establish the clubs while East still has a couple of trumps, leaving dummy’s
last trump as protection against the diamonds. West can then defeat you
by holding up the A on the first round and then delivering a club ruff.
You can easily prevent such a tale of woe by discarding a spade on the
second round of diamonds. This costs you absolutely nothing because you
were due to lose a spade trick anyway. A third round of diamonds will not
then assist the defense, since you can ruff in the dummy. Whatever else
West plays, you will be able to draw trumps in four rounds (still leaving
yourself with one trump) and establish the club suit.
You should be particularly wary of a forcing defense when you are
missing five trumps to the ace. A defender holding Axxx in the trump suit
will then have the option of holding up the trump ace until your shorter
trump holding is exhausted.
 K 9 6
 9 7 4 3
 A K J 6
 K 3
 A 7 4 2  8
 J 6 N  Q 10 8 5
 10 5 W E  9 7 3
S
 Q J 10 9 5  A 8 7 4 2
 Q J 10 5 3
 A K 2
 Q 8 4 2
 6

1 pass 1
pass 2 pass 4
all pass
West leads the Q, covered by the king and ace, and East returns another
club. As with the previous deal, let’s see first what will happen if you
ruff at Trick 2. When you play trumps, West will hold up the A for two

rounds. If you then play a third round of trumps, exhausting dummy’s
holding, West will win with the A and force your last trump with another
club. You will have lost trump control. Nor will you fare any better if you
turn to the diamond suit after the first two rounds of trumps are ducked.
West will score a ruff with a low trump and you will still lose a heart trick,
going one down.
The solution is the same as before. On the second round of clubs, you
should discard the 2. A third club can then be ruffed in the dummy and
all will be well. You will lose just two clubs and the A.
Discarding to avoid a future force

When the defender with the long trumps is known to be relatively short
in the suit that is being used to force you, you may be able to remove his
cards in the force suit by discarding on an early round. See what you make
of this deal:
 9 2
 J 9 5 4 3
 K 7 6 2
 5 4
 J 8 7 5 3  —
 8 N  10 7 6
 Q J 5 W E  A 10 9 8 4
S
 8 7 6 2  K Q 10 9 3
 A K Q 10 6 4
 A K Q 2
 3
 A J

2
pass 2 2NT 3
pass 4 all pass
East cannot resist the opportunity to wield the Unusual 2NT and you end
in a modest 4 on your splendid hand. How will you manage this contract
when West leads the Q followed by the J?
If you ruff the second diamond, you will go down against best defense.
Suppose, for example, that you continue with a low trump towards
dummy’s 9. West will rise with the J and force you again with a third

round of diamonds. (You cannot discard on this trick, because East would
play a fourth diamond.) If you then draw three rounds of trumps, West
will delay his ruff in hearts until the fourth round. You will then be stuck
with a club loser for one down.
To make the game, you must discard the J at Trick 2. West continues
the force with a third round of diamonds, but he is now out of the suit.
You ruff with the 4, cash the A and lead the 6 to dummy’s 9. West
will score a trick with his J but he will have no further diamond to play.
The game will be safe.
Discarding to preserve a ruffing entry

The usual purpose of a forcing defense is to shorten declarer’s trumps,
thereby promoting the value of a defender’s trumps. On the next deal, the
possible effect of a force is different: it may remove a ruffing entry to the
established winners in a side suit.
 A Q J 6
 3 2
 9 7
 A K 8 6 2
 K 9 3  84
 K Q J 8 5 4 N  10 9 7 6
 A Q W E  643
S
 10 5  QJ97
 10 7 5 2
 A
 K J 10 8 5 2
 4 3

1 dbl 3 3
pass 4 all pass
How will you play the spade game when West leads the K?
You win with the A and must select your next card carefully. Only
one of your twelve remaining cards will give you a chance of success!
Your fingers alight on the 10 and West declines to cover. After
running the ten, you repeat the spade finesse, all following. You then draw
the last trump and run the 9 to West’s Q. These cards remain in play:

 Q
 3
 7
 A K 8 6 2
 —  —
 Q J 8 5 4 N  10 9
 A W E  6 4
S
 10 5  Q J 9 7
 7
 —
 K J 10 8 5
 4 3
When West plays the Q you cannot afford to ruff with the 7, since
this is your planned entry to reach the established winners in diamonds.
You resist the force by discarding a club and the defense is at an end. If
West persists with another heart, you will ruff in dummy and establish
the diamonds. A club ruff will allow you to reach your diamond winners.
Retaining the trump ace to survive a force

Suppose you are in a 4-4 trump fit, including the ace of the suit, and the
defenders have already forced a trump from one of the two hands. When
trumps break 4-1, it may not work well to play ace and another trump.
This will give a defender the chance to draw a third round of trumps and
then to force your last trump. You will have lost control.
The next deal illustrates how you can control such a situation by
retaining the ace of trumps.

 A Q 5 3
 K 7 3
 Q 8 7 6 3
 5
 8  KJ72
 Q J 10 8 N  9 6 5 2
 9 W E  J4
S
 A K Q 9 8 7 6  J 10 3
 10 9 6 4
 A 4
 A K 10 5 2
 4 2

1
2 dbl pass 2
3 4 all pass
How would you play 4 when West begins with two top clubs?
You ruff the second club in dummy. Although East has not tipped
his hand with an unwise double of 4, West’s advertised length in clubs
means that there is more chance than normal that trumps will break 4-1.
You can afford two trump losers but if you continue with the ace and
another trump, you will go down. East will draw a third round of trumps,
exhausting dummy’s trumps, and force your own last trump with another
club. You will lose three trumps and a club, going one down.
A better idea is to lead the Q from dummy, East winning with the
king. If he plays his last club now, you will easily survive. You will ruff
low in dummy, cash the A, cross to your hand and force out the J. East
will then have no club to play. Let’s suppose that East returns a heart
when he captures the Q. You win with the king and lead the 5 from
dummy’s A5. East wins with the J and returns his last club. You ruff
with dummy’s A, return to your hand with a heart and draw East’s two
low trumps with the 109. It was a struggle but the game is yours. As the
cards lie, you can succeed also by crossing to a diamond (not a heart) at
Trick 3, to finesse the Q.

Maintaining trump communications as you draw trumps
When a forcing defense shortens the trumps in the strong hand, you may
have to take special steps to maintain trump communication with the
weaker hand. Danger lurks on this deal:
 A K 2
 A Q 4 2
 —
 A K Q 9 5 4
 J 10 8 6  Q 9 3
 6 N  K 8 7
 A K 7 5 3 W E  Q 10 9 6 4 2
S
 J 10 6  8
 7 5 4
 J 10 9 5 3
 J 8
 7 3 2

2 pass 2
pass 3 pass 3
pass 5NT pass 6
all pass
North’s 5NT asks partner to show how many of the three top trump honors
he holds. When South denies the K, North settles for a small slam in
hearts. How would you play this contract when West leads the K?
Suppose you ruff the diamond lead and continue blithely with the
ace and queen of trumps. East will win with the K and play another
diamond. You will have to ruff with dummy’s last trump and will then be
stuck in the dummy. With no quick way to reach your hand to draw the
last trump, you will have to play clubs. East will ruff the second round
and you will be one down.
At Trick 2, you must lead the Q instead of the A. What can East
do? If he wins and plays another diamond, you will ruff with dummy’s
A and draw trumps, claiming the slam. If instead East ducks, you will
cash the A and run your side-suit winners, allowing East to score the K
when he wishes.

Declining a trump finesse to retain control
When a forcing defense is underway, it may be unwise to finesse in trumps.
If the finesse were to lose, the defense would have another chance to force
you. The situation arises most often when you are missing five trumps to
the queen:
 K 7 5
 10 7 4 3
 Q 10 8
 J 9 3
 Q 10 2  93
 K J 8 6 2 N  A Q 5
 A 6 3 W E
 9542
S
 6 2  10 8 5 4
 A J 8 6 4
 9
 K J 7
 A K Q 7

1
pass 2 pass 4
all pass
West leads the 6 to East’s A and the Q is returned, which you ruff.
Suppose you give the matter little thought and make the ‘normal play’
in trumps, crossing to the K and finessing the J. The finesse loses and
West will then beat you by continuing the force, reducing you to the bare
A in your hand. If your next move is to establish the diamond suit, West
will win with the A and play yet another heart. When you ruff with the
A, West’s 10 will be promoted and you will lose two trump tricks.
Instead you should rely on a 3-2 trump break. You play the king and
ace of trumps, the queen not falling, and then switch to diamonds. The
defenders can pack their bags.

Establish the side suit to retain control
When you are in a 4-4 fit and the trumps break 4-1, it may be impractical
to draw trumps before setting up your main side suit. This would leave
you with no ruffing protection in the defenders’ strong suit. In such a
situation you have to establish your side suit before drawing trumps, even
if this exposes you to a possible ruff.
 A 7
 A J 6 3
 Q J 9 8 4
 8 2
 10 9 5 4  J62
 2 N  10 8 7 5
 A 6 W E
 732
S
 K Q J 9 7 3  10 6 4
 K Q 8 3
 K Q 9 4
 K 10 5
 A 5

1 pass 1
2 2 pass 4NT
pass 5 pass 6
all pass
What is your plan for the heart slam when West leads the K?
You win with the A and play the ace and king of trumps, West
throwing a club on the second round. You cannot afford to draw the
remaining trumps at this stage, because you would then have no protection
in clubs when you knocked out the A. Instead you should play three
rounds of spades, discarding dummy’s club loser. You must then play on
diamonds, even though there is a risk that East will score a ruff in the suit.
As it happens, West has only two diamonds and the defenders cannot
score a ruff. Let’s say that West wins the second round of diamonds and
continues with his remaining spade. You ruff with dummy’s J and lead
the 6, finessing the 9 in your hand. You can then draw East’s last trump
and claim the remaining tricks. It was important to leave a high trump in
dummy, so that you could avoid an overruff on the fourth round of spades.

Here is another example of this important style of play. It becomes
necessary even though the trumps are breaking 3-2.
 A 8 4
 Q 8 3
 A Q 7
 10 9 7 5
 10 9 2  7 6
 J 10 9 4 N  A K 7 6 5
 9 4 W E
 10 8 6 3 2
S
 K 8 3 2  A
 K Q J 5 3
 2
 K J 5
 Q J 6 4

1 1 1
3 pass pass dbl
pass 3 pass 4
all pass
West leads the J against your spade game and persists with the 10 at
Trick 2. How will you play the contract?
You ruff and play the king and queen of trumps, everyone following.
If you draw the last trump now, you will lose control. You will reduce
yourself to just one trump in the South hand and the defenders will
remove this with another heart when you knock out the first club stopper.
You must therefore play on clubs while there is still one trump out, taking
the risk that a defender will score a ruff in the suit.
A club to the ten loses to East’s ace and he forces your 5 with a third
round of hearts. You now have the bare A in dummy and the bare J in
your hand. You continue to play clubs now. When West wins with the
K he cannot deliver a club ruff because he holds the outstanding trump.
If instead he chooses to play a fourth round of hearts, you will be able to
ruff in one hand, cross to the other hand with a diamond and draw his
last trump.

Retaining a high trump as an entry
On the next deal a forcing defense threatened to cut declarer off from the
thirteenth card in his long side suit. Watch how the original declarer went
down and see if you can improve on his play.
 9 8 6 3
 A K 7
 10 5
 K Q 7 4
 Q J 10 7  5
 5 3 N  Q 10 9 6 2
 J 9 6 4 3 W E  A K Q 8 2
S
 10 8  5 3
 A K 4 2
 J 8 4
 7
 A J 9 6 2

1 1 1
pass 2 3 4
all pass
Not interested in looking for a heart ruff, with his chunky four-card trump
holding, West led a diamond against the spade game. When East won and
continued the suit, declarer ruffed with the 2. His next move was to draw
two rounds of trumps, East throwing a heart on the second round.
Declarer had not lost control, as such, because he could now turn
to his solid side suit, clubs. Unfortunately for him, though, West was a
competent defender. He delayed his club ruff until the fourth round of the
suit, killing the club link with the South hand, and then played his master
trump. Declarer had to ruff West’s diamond exit in the dummy and had
no way to avoid a heart loser. He was one down.
How can you do better? You can afford to lose two trump tricks, along
with a diamond, and should therefore draw only one round of trumps
before running the clubs. West is then welcome to delay his club ruff
until the fourth round. When he returns a trump, you will win with the
K and play a fifth round of clubs, discarding a heart from dummy. You
lose the tricks that you visualized at the start, two trumps and a diamond.

When the trumps break 3-2, you will sacrifice an overtrick by playing in
this fashion. It is a worthwhile investment, particularly as East’s vigorous
bidding in the red suits rather suggests a 4-1 trump break.
Allowing a ruff to retain control

When four trumps in a defender’s hand may prove an obstacle, it can
be right to allow the defender to ruff while you go about your business.
His awkward trump holding will be reduced and you can then put the
finishing touches to the play. Look at the next deal and see if you would
have found the winning line:
 J 6 4 3
 A K Q 6 4
 A
 K 7 2
 10 9 7 5  8
 10 N  J 8 5 3
 Q J 10 6 W E  K 9 7 5 2
S
 J 9 8 3  Q 10 4
 A K Q 2
 9 7 2
 8 4 3
 A 6 5

1 pass 1
pass 4 pass 6
all pass
How will you play the spade slam when West leads the Q?
You win with the A, cross to the A and ruff a diamond in dummy.
The next move may surprise you. The only continuation to make the
contract is to play the ace and king of hearts!
If hearts break 3-2, you will simply draw trumps and claim at least
twelve tricks. Suppose instead that the second round of hearts is ruffed by
a defender, as it would be when the cards lie as in the diagram. This will
cause no problem at all. Suppose that West returns the 10, for example.
You will win in your hand, take a second diamond ruff, return to the A
and draw West’s last trump. You can then establish a long heart with a

ruff and return to dummy with the K to discard your club loser on the
thirteenth heart.
Count the tricks that you made: four trump tricks, two diamond
ruffs, three top cards in the minor suits and three hearts (two honors and
the thirteenth heart). By allowing West to ruff a top heart, you retained
control of the hand.
Developing a two-suiter
When you hold a marked two-suiter and your trump holding is under
attack, you must consider carefully whether you can draw trumps before
establishing the side suit. Declarer played too quickly on this deal:
 6 3 2
 8 4 2
 7 5 4
 9 7 5 3
 9  8 5 4
 K Q 10 9 N  5
 10 9 6 W E  Q J 8 3 2
S
 K Q J 6 2  A 10 8 4
 A K Q J 10 7
 A J 7 6 3
 A K
 —

2
pass 2 pass 2
pass 2NT pass 3
pass 3 pass 4
pass 4 all pass
Realizing that as little as the Q in dummy would give him good play for
a slam, South was reluctant to pass out 4. West led the K and declarer
basked in his excellent judgement when he saw that no slam had been
missed. How would you have played the modest contract of 4?
Declarer ruffed the club lead and drew trumps in three rounds. When
he continued with ace and another heart, the 4-1 break came to light. To

set up the thirteenth heart, he had to lose the lead three more times. At
every opportunity West played another club and declarer then lost control.
To make the contract, you must abandon trumps after two rounds.
You play ace and another heart and ruff West’s club exit. You give up
another heart and again ruff the club exit. At this stage dummy has the
6, East the 8 and you hold the Q. Because you have left one trump in
dummy, you can now ruff the fourth round of hearts! East has to overruff
(or you will return to the A, draw his last trump and make an overtrick),
and the remaining tricks are yours.
Rather surprising, isn’t it, that you make the contract by ruffing a heart
in the dummy?

Quiz II: Trump throw-ins, trump control
10.  764
 K842
 Q 10 9
 J82
Q led Contract: 6
 A K Q 8 5 2
 A
 A J 2
 A Q 6
You win the Q lead with the A and play the A, not overjoyed to see
West discard a heart. How will you continue? (Answer on page 90.)
11.  J43
 973
 AKJ94
 85
K led Contract: 4
 10 8
 AKQ52
 Q32
 AQ7
West, who opened 1, leads the three top spades against 4. How will
you plan the play? (Answer on page 90.)
12.  A73
 A863
 AK72
 10 5
 6
 K Q 7 4 2
 J 10 8
 A K Q 8
You open 1 and West overcalls 2. You reach 6 and West leads the K
to dummy’s A, East playing the 2 (suggesting three spades). How will
you play when West shows out on the first trump? (Answer on page 91.)
Quiz II: Trump throw-ins, trump control | 87 |

13.  QJ4
 8432
 10 7
 K842
 K 10 9 6 5
 A K J
 6
 A Q J 6
How will you play the spade game when West leads the K, followed by
the Q? (Answer on page 91.)
14.  10 4 2
 853
 Q 10 5
 K876
J led Contract: 6
 A K Q 9 8 3
 A K Q 2
 A 8
 A
You win the J lead with the A and play two top trumps, West throwing
a diamond on the second round. What now? (Answer on page 92.)
15.  962
 Q75
 Q J 10 8 3
 65
K led Contract: 4
 A75
 AKJ96
 AK
 10 8 3
West wins the first two tricks with the K and Q. How will you play
the contract when West continues with a low club? (Answer on page 92.)

16.  AKQ63
 AQ
 AQ
 Q873
 10 9 7 4
 73
 852
 AKJ5
West opens 3 and North doubles for takeout. You respond 4, raised
to 6, and West leads the 10. You win with the Q and play the A,
West throwing a diamond. East is favorite to hold the K. How will you
continue? (Answer on page 93.)
17.  AQ3
 K75
 A53
 10 7 5 2
J led Contract: 4
 K J 10 9 2
 A3
 K7
 J963
You win with the A and play the A and J, West throwing a diamond on
the second round. How will you continue? (Answer on page 93.)
18.  62
 10 4 2
 7653
 KQ75
 A K Q J 8 3
 A K 7 3
 Q 9
 A
West opens 1, followed by two passes, and you double. West rebids 2
and after two further passes you bid 4. How will you play this when West
begins with the A, K and J, East throwing a club on the third round?
(Answer on page 94.)
Answers to Quiz II
 K842
 Q 10 9
 J82

 A K Q 8 5 2
 A
 A J 2
Contract: 6  A Q 6
You win the Q lead and West shows out on the first round of trumps.
You will need to find East with both the minor-suit kings. You are short
of entries for the finesses, but you can force East to assist you by throwing
him in with a fourth round of trumps. If East switches from either of
his kings, this will make life very easy. Let’s say that he returns a heart
instead. You win with dummy’s K, throwing a club. You then run the
Q, unblocking the J. When this wins the trick, you continue with the
10. If East declines to cover, you will remain in dummy to take a club
finesse. If instead East does cover, you will win with the A and return to
the 9 to take the club finesse.

 973
 AKJ94
 85

 10 8
 AKQ52
 Q32
Contract: 4  AQ7
West, who opened 1, leads the three top spades against your game in
hearts. You ruff the third round and must consider your play in the trump
suit carefully. If you play the A and K next, you may go down when
East has four trumps. He will be able to ruff the third round of diamonds,
depriving you of any discards on that suit.
Play the A but you must then duck the second round of trumps.
When East holds four trumps, he cannot effectively play a fourth round

of spades, since dummy still has the 9 left. He will doubtless switch to
a club. You rise with the A, draw East’s remaining trumps and run the
diamond suit for two club discards.
12.  A73 to question

 A863
 AK72
 10 5

 6
 K Q 7 4 2
 J 10 8
Contract: 6  A K Q 8
West, who overcalled 2, leads the K against 6. You win with the A
and play the A, West discarding a spade. You must now look for a way
to make the slam when East holds the Q in addition to his trump trick.
To endplay East with a trump (to lead away from the Q), you will need to
remove his spades. Ruff a spade at Trick 3 and play the KQ. Continue
with the AK and cross to the A to ruff dummy’s last spade. Suppose
East has 3-4-4-2 shape. When you play the Q, he may decide not to
ruff, since he would then have to lead a diamond. You continue by ruffing
your last club with the 8. East has to overruff and lead away from the
Q. Twelve tricks are yours. (If instead East has 3-4-2-4 shape, a club ruff
will be your 12th trick.)
13.  QJ4 to question

 8432
 10 7
 K842

 K 10 9 6 5
 A K J
 6
Contract: 4  A Q J 6
West leads the K and then the Q against your spade game. If you ruff
the second diamond, you will lose control when a defender holds four
trumps to the ace. He will hold up the A for two rounds. If you play a
third round of trumps, he will win and force your last trump with another

diamond. If instead you turn to the side suits, the defender will score a
ruff with a low trump; you may then lose two trumps, a diamond and a
heart.
At Trick 2 you should discard the J instead of ruffing. A diamond
continuation can be ruffed in the dummy, leaving the long trump holding
intact. Whatever West plays at Trick 3, you will draw trumps and lose just
two diamonds and the A.
14.  10 4 2 to question
 853
 Q 10 5
 K876

 A K Q 9 8 3
 A K Q 2
 A 8
Contract: 6  A
You win the J lead with the A and play two top trumps, West throwing
a diamond on the second round. You must aim to endplay East with a
trump. You play the A, followed by two more top hearts. If East ruffs
either heart, you can reach dummy with a heart ruff to discard a diamond
on the K. If instead East follows to three hearts, or declines to ruff, you
will ruff the 2 with the 10. You hope that East holds the K and will
have no safe return if he overruffs with the J.

 Q75
 Q J 10 8 3
 65

 A75
 AKJ96
 AK
Contract: 4  10 8 3
West leads the K, continuing with the Q and a low club. If you ruff
this in dummy you will not be able to unblock the diamonds and ‘draw
trumps, ending in the dummy’, even when trumps break 3-2. (You will
need the defender with the longer trumps to hold at least three diamonds.)

Instead you should discard a spade from your hand at Trick 3. A fourth
round of clubs can then be ruffed in your hand. On any other switch, you
will win and draw two trumps with the ace and king. After unblocking the
two top diamonds, you will cross to the Q and discard your remaining
spade loser.
16.  AKQ63 to question

 AQ
 AQ
 Q873

 10 9 7 4
 73
 852
Contract: 6  AKJ5
West opens 3 and you end in 6. You win the 10 lead with the Q
and play the A, West throwing a diamond. East is likely to hold the K
and you must aim to endplay him. Play two more top trumps, cross to the
A and finesse the Q. When you play a third club, East shows out but
declines to ruff. You cross to the A and play a fourth club. If East ruffs
at any time, he will have to lead into the AQ. Otherwise, you will ruff a
diamond and throw in East with his J for a heart return.
17.  A Q 3 to question
 K 7 5
 A 5 3
 10 7 5 2

 K J 10 9 2
 A 3
 K 7
Contract: 4  J 9 6 3

You win the J lead with the A and play the A and J, West discarding
a diamond on the second round. Since you have three club stoppers to
knock out, you cannot afford to draw any more trumps. You play one
round of clubs and win the heart return with the K. You knock out
another club stopper and ruff the heart return in the South hand. When
you clear the club suit, the defenders can do nothing. A fourth round of

hearts will be ruffed with dummy’s Q, after which you can cross to the K
to draw the last two trumps.
 10 4 2
 7653
 KQ75

 A K Q J 8 3
 A K 7 3
 Q 9
West, who bid 1 and then 2, leads out the A, K and J, East throwing
a club on the third round. You should ruff with the 8, retaining the 3.
You draw two rounds of trumps, West throwing a diamond on the second
round. Draw a third round of trumps and cash the A, followed by the A
and K. If East ruffs a heart, he will have to lead a club to dummy, giving
you two heart discards. Otherwise you will throw him in with the 3, with
the same result. If you ruff the third diamond with the 3, East can defeat
you by keeping a lower trump than the 8 as his last trump.

Chapter 6:
Using the Trump Suit for Entries
The longer you play this game, the more you realize how versatile trumps
can be. In this chapter we will see that many contracts live or die depending
on how you use the entries provided by the trump suit.
Trump entries to establish dummy’s side suit

One of the most important uses of trump entries is to assist you in
establishing dummy’s main side suit. Test yourself on this deal:
 J 10
 J 3
 A J 8 5 3 2
 A 5 2
 7 6 4  32
 Q 7 6 4 N  K 10 8 5 2
 K 4 W E  Q 10 9 7
S
 Q J 10 6  98
 A K Q 9 8 5
 A 9
 6
 K 7 4 3

1 pass 1
pass 2 pass 3
pass 3 pass 4NT
pass 5 pass 6
all pass
How will you play the spade slam when West leads the Q?
Chapter 6: Using the Trump Suit for Entries | 95 |

The only practical line of play is to establish dummy’s diamond suit.
You win the club lead in your hand and immediately play a diamond to
dummy’s ace. When you ruff a diamond with the 8 both defenders follow.
To survive against a 4-2 diamond break, you will need to take two
more diamond ruffs. You lead the 5 to dummy’s 10 and ruff a diamond
with the Q, West showing out. The 9 to dummy’s J allows you to take
yet another diamond ruff, setting up the suit, and you draw the last trump.
Finally, you cross to the A to discard two of your three side-suit losers
on the established J8. A trump lead, not normally an attractive option
against a small slam, would have removed one of the entries to dummy
and defeated you.
Let’s see one more example of this style of play:
 9 5
 Q J 10 4
 6
 A K Q 8 7 2
 K Q J 10 8 3  6
 9 8 7 2 N  5
 K 8 W E  A Q 9 7 4 3
S
 3  J 10 9 5 4
 A 7 4 2
 A K 6 3
 J 10 5 2
 6

1 pass 1
2 4 all pass
A rough-and-ready sequence lands you in the obvious contract of 4.

How will you give yourself the best chance when West leads the K?
Even if clubs break 5-1, you should be able to establish dummy’s suit.
To achieve this, you will have to make full use of dummy’s trump entries.
You win the spade lead and cross to the A. You then lead a low club and
ruff with the A. This is just as well, because West shows out. You return
to dummy with the 10 and ruff another low club with the K. With
the club suit established, you return to dummy with the J, East showing
out. You draw a third round of trumps with the Q, leaving West with the
master 9. Finally, you play off the established KQ8, allowing West to

score his master trump when he wishes. A ruff with dummy’s 4 will be
the entry to the remaining club winners.
Look back to the key moment of the deal, which arrived as early as
Trick 2. If you had played anything other than your singleton club, you
would have gone down!
Trump entries to eliminate a side suit

On the next deal your purpose is to eliminate dummy’s club suit, rather
than to establish it.
 10 8
 A Q 9 4
 A Q 7
 A 8 6 5
 6 3  2
 10 5 3 N  K J 8 2
 J 9 8 4 W E  K 10 6 2
S
 K Q J 3  10 9 7 4
 A K Q J 9 7 5 4
 7 6
 5 3
 2

4
pass 6 all pass
How will you play the spade slam when West leads the K?
Provided West holds at least four clubs, which is almost certain after
his opening lead, you will be able to eliminate clubs from the East hand
and then endplay him with a heart to the nine.
You win the club lead with the ace and immediately ruff a club. Since
you have so many top trumps, you might as well ruff with the 9. Next
you must make use of dummy’s two entries in the trump suit. You cross
to the 8 and ruff another club high. Returning to dummy with the 10,
you ruff dummy’s last club. Both defenders follow to this trick and the
contract is now guaranteed. You lead a heart towards dummy and play
the 9. East wins with the J but then has to lead into one of dummy’s
red-suit tenaces. A twelfth trick is yours.

Suppose West had benefited from some divine inspiration and led a
trump. Deprived of an entry to dummy, you would have been able to ruff
only two clubs in your hand. If you judged from the fall of the cards that
East then had no clubs left (perhaps because neither the Q nor the J
had yet appeared from West), you could make the same play — low to the
9. Otherwise you would finesse the two red queens in turn, hoping that
at least one of the finesses was successful.
Trump entry to take a repeated finesse

Another common use of trump entries to the dummy is to take one or
more finesses in a side suit. On the next deal two club finesses are needed
and you will need to play the trump suit accordingly.
 7 4
 Q 6 4
 A Q 6 3
 J 8 6 3
 K Q J 9 6 5  10 3 2
 7 N  9852
 10 8 7 2 W E  J94
S
 K 4  Q75
 A 8
 A K J 10 3
 K 5
 A 10 9 2

1
2 3 pass 4
pass 4 pass 6
all pass
You win the K lead with the A and play the ace and king of trumps, West
throwing a spade on the second round. What now?
You may need to take two finesses in the club suit and will have to
dispose of your spade loser before taking the first of these finesses. You
must therefore use the diamond entry before the trump entry. You play
the K, A and Q, discarding the 8. A low club to the ten loses to West’s
king. You ruff the spade return in your hand and cross to dummy with the

Q. You run the J successfully and continue with a third round of clubs
to East’s queen and your ace. Somewhat late in the day, at Trick 12, you
draw East’s remaining trump. Twelve tricks are yours.
Trump entries to accommodate a side-suit safety play

You may need to make a full plan for your contract before you can decide
how many rounds of trumps to draw at the start. On the next deal, you
have plenty of work to do and will need several trump entries to your own
hand. Would you have made the slam?
 Q 7 5 2
 10 2
 A J 10 6 3
 A K
 4  9 8 6 3
 Q J 8 7 N  4
 9 7 2 W E  K Q 8 5
S
 Q J 10 7 3  9 6 5 2
 A K J 10
 A K 9 6 5 3
 4
 8 4

1
pass 2 pass 2
pass 3 pass 4
pass 6 all pass
West leads the Q against your small slam in spades and you win with
the A. If hearts break 3-2, you can easily make all thirteen tricks even
if spades are 4-1. How will you attempt to make twelve tricks when both
the major suits break 4-1?
Your plan will be to play the A and then to duck a round of hearts,
protecting the K from a ruff. You will then ruff the third round of hearts
with dummy’s Q and draw trumps. To achieve this, you will need two
late entries to your hand in the trump suit: one to take the heart ruff and
another to draw trumps. It follows that you can afford to draw only one
round of trumps, with the A, before turning to the heart suit. When you

continue with ace and a low heart, West wins the trick and East shows
out. You win the club continuation with the K, cross to your 10 and
ruff a heart with the Q. You can then return to the K and draw East’s
last trump with the J.
Suppose instead that you draw two rounds of trumps at the start or
fail to duck the second round of hearts. Twelve tricks will then be out of
reach.
Establishing an early entry in the trump suit

Sometimes you have to abandon the best play in the trump suit, when
viewed on its own, in order to maximize your chances of gaining a trump
entry to the opposite hand. You might not have bid the following ambitious
slam, but see if you can make it.
 6 3
 8 6 5 4 3
 6 4
 9 5 3 2
 K 8 7 5 2  Q J 10 9 4
 10 9 7 2 N  K Q J
 5 3 W E  K 10 8 2
S
 K 8  4
 A
 A
 A Q J 9 7
 A Q J 10 7 6

1 2NT
4 pass pass 6
all pass
‘How on earth could South justify his 6 bid?’ you may be asking. It’s a
good question, but… this is a book on play and we don’t have the space to
explain every auction. How would you tackle 6 when West leads the 5
and you win the first trick with the A?
It is tempting to lay down the A. If both defenders follow but the
K does not fall, you will be able to cross to dummy on the third round of
trumps to take a diamond finesse. Only one diamond ruff will be possible

thereafter, so you will need to find East with Kxx or Kx. When the cards
lie as in the diagram, you will go down.
A better idea is to lead the 10 at Trick 2. If West plays low, you
will make the contract easily. Your bidding has proclaimed a splendid
club suit, however, and it is more likely that West will win with the K.
You ruff his spade continuation and can now cross to dummy’s 9 on the
second round of trumps. What a difference that makes! You finesse the
Q successfully, cash the A and ruff a diamond. The 4-2 diamond break
causes no problem because there is still a trump in dummy for a further
diamond ruff.
Restricted Choice in the trump suit

The fall of a high card on the first round of trumps may improve the
chance of an extra entry to the dummy. Sometimes you can maximize this
advantage by applying the Principle of Restricted Choice:
 A 8 2
 A 5 3
 J 8 7 5 2
 J 6
 10 5 4  9
 K Q J 7 N  9 8 2
 Q 6 W E  10 9 4 3
S
 Q 10 9 4  K 8 5 3 2
 K Q J 7 6 3
 10 6 4
 A K
 A 7

1
pass 1NT pass 3
pass 4 pass 6
all pass
North’s 1NT response was forcing. His subsequent 4 was a (somewhat

optimistic) cuebid, suggesting a spade slam. How will you play 6 when
West leads the K?

You start with three side-suit losers in the South hand and will need to
establish dummy’s diamond suit for two discards. You win the first trick
with the A and lead the 2 to your K, the 9 appearing from East.
Before playing another trump, you must cash the AK. When you do
this, the Q drops from West on the second round. You can now make the
slam, providing you can enter dummy twice in the trump suit — once to
establish the diamonds with a ruff, once to reach the established winners
in the suit. What is the best chance of this?
A finesse of the 8 will give you two entries when East’s 9 is a
singleton; crossing to the A will succeed when East started with 109
doubleton. The Principle of Restricted Choice states that when the 10 or
9 appears from East, it is roughly twice as likely to be a singleton as to be
a chosen card from 109 doubleton. With odds of 2-to-1 in your favor,
you therefore lead a low card to dummy’s 8. Justice is done when East
shows out. You ruff a diamond with the J and return to dummy with the
A. You can then discard two of your three losers on the established J8.
Although virtually all expert players (and all mathematicians)
understand and agree with the Principle of Restricted Choice, there has
always been a small band of dissidents. If you are one of them, look at it
this way. There are three possible relevant holdings for East where he will
play the 10 or the 9 on the first round: 109, 10 and 9. Each of these
is equally likely (in approximate terms). If you always finesse dummy’s
8 when the 10 or 9 appears, you will succeed two times out of three.
If you doubt the truth of Restricted Choice and always rise with the A
on the second round, you will succeed only one time out of three. The
decision is yours!
Testing trumps to decide your play in the side suit

Many a contract is made by establishing a side suit in the dummy and
then reaching the established winners by ‘drawing trumps, ending in the
dummy’. If this maneuver will be possible only when there is a favorable
trump break, it may be appropriate to test the trumps before committing
yourself to a particular line of play.

 K 7 6
 A 5
 A Q 7 5 3
 7 6 5
 10 8 4  92
 K Q J 8 7 N  10 4 3 2
 8 6 W E  J 10 9 2
S
 A J 10  K92
 A Q J 5 3
 9 6
 K 4
 Q 8 4 3

1
2 3 3 pass
pass 4 all pass
What is your plan for the contract when West leads the K against your
spade game?
Five trumps, four diamonds and the A will give you the game. After
winning the heart lead, you should test the trump suit by playing the ace
and queen. When trumps break 3-2, as in the diagram, you can deal
with a 4-2 diamond break. You continue with the K and A and ruff a
diamond with the J. You then cross to the K, drawing the last trump,
and discard two losers on the established Q7.
Suppose that a defender had shown out on the second round of
trumps. You would play a third trump to dummy’s king and return to
your hand with the K to draw the last trump. You would then have to
hope for a 3-3 diamond break.
Using substitute trumps to shorten a defender’s trumps

Suppose dummy’s trumps are KJ3 opposite your AQ1094 and you
would like to ‘draw trumps, ending in the dummy’, to enjoy some side-
suit winners there. This is not normally possible when the trumps break
4-1, because three rounds of trumps (ending in the dummy) will not draw
all the defender’s trumps. Let’s see how you can turn such a situation in
your favor:

 K J 3
 7 2
 6 5 2
 A K Q 10 2
 8 7 6 2  5
 Q J 3 N  A K 9 8 5
 K J 9 4 W E  Q 7
S
 7 4  9 8 6 5 3
 A Q 10 9 4
 10 6 4
 A 10 8 3
 J

1 1 1
2 2 pass 4
all pass
West leads the Q and continues with the J. East overtakes with the K
and defends strongly by switching to clubs. (On any other return, declarer
would be able to draw trumps in four rounds and then overtake the J to
score four club tricks.) Take the South cards now. How will you continue?
You win the club switch with the J and play the ace and king of
trumps. If trumps had broken 3-2, you would have drawn the last trump
with the J and run the remaining clubs for an overtrick. When East
shows out on the second trump, you change tack. Leaving West with two
trumps, you run dummy’s clubs, discarding a heart and a diamond from
your hand. West is welcome to ruff the third round of clubs, since this
reduces him to just one trump. You will win his return (ruffing in the
South hand if he exits with a heart) and cross to the J, drawing trumps
and ending in the dummy. You can then enjoy the remaining club winners.
By playing dummy’s club suit, you in effect draw one of West’s trumps.
The clubs act as ‘substitute trumps’, allowing you to draw trumps with just
three rounds of your own trumps.

Safe ruffing entry for a finesse
The trump suit can provide entries in more than one way. Apart from
direct trump leads, you have the chance to gain an entry by ruffing a side
suit. Would you have found the safe way to do this on the following deal?
 7 6 5 2
 J 2
 9 6
 Q 8 7 5 3
 —  K43
 10 9 4 3 N  Q65
 K J 7 5 2 W E  10 8 4 3
S
 J 10 9 4  K62
 A Q J 10 9 8
 A K 8 7
 A Q
 A

2
pass 2 pass 2
pass 4 pass 6
all pass
How will you play the spade slam when West leads the J?
You win the club lead with the ace, cash the AK and ruff a heart in
dummy, the Q falling from East. The best continuation is to finesse the
Q. The finesse wins but West shows out, discarding a diamond. What
now?
Even though the Q fell from East, it is still possible that he began
with Q1065 and that you can reach dummy with a second heart ruff.
When you lead a fourth round of hearts, West produces the 10. If you
ruff in dummy, you will go down. East will overruff and exit safely. You
will then lose a diamond trick, even if East holds the K. Instead of ruffing
the fourth round of hearts, you should discard a diamond from dummy.
Nothing can then prevent you from winning the defenders’ return, ruffing
a diamond in dummy and picking up East’s K with a second finesse in
the suit.

Sacrificing a trump trick to establish an entry
When an entry to dummy may be worth two tricks, it can be good business
to sacrifice a trump trick to create that entry. Here is a deal on that theme:
 10 9 7
 Q J 10 5
 A 8 5
 6 3 2
 J 5 2  3
 9 7 4 N  K 8 6 3 2
 Q J 10 6 W E  K 9 4
S
 9 8 4  K Q J 5
 A K Q 8 6 4
 A
 7 3 2
 A 10 7

1 dbl
pass 1NT pass 3
pass 4 all pass
As it happens, 3NT would have been an easy make. How would you
attempt to make the second best contract of 4 when West leads the Q?
You should win immediately with the A; otherwise an inspired club
switch would defeat you. Only one of dummy’s twelve remaining cards is
good enough at Trick 2. You must lead the 5 to the A. The idea now is
to establish two heart tricks in dummy, on which you will discard two club
losers. Since you will need two trump entries to dummy (and don’t want
to rely on the J being singleton), you must lead a low trump from your
hand. It makes no difference when West decides to take his J. The trump
suit will give you two entries to the dummy and you will be able to run the
Q through East’s K and eventually take two club discards on the hearts.
Even when you are prepared to sacrifice a trump trick to reach
dummy, you may need some luck too. Suppose your trumps are 102
in the dummy opposite AKQ7642 in your hand. You might lead low
towards the 10, hoping that the J was onside.
On the next deal, the trump suit gave declarer two possible ways of
being lucky:

 9 5
 K Q 8 5
 9 7 4 3
 6 4 3
 6  J 4 2
 7 6 N  J 10 9 4 3 2
 Q J 10 W E  8 6 2
S
 K J 10 9 8 5 2  Q
 A K Q 10 8 7 3
 A
 A K 5
 A 7

2
3 pass pass 6
all pass
North would have indicated a worthless hand by doubling 3. Fortified

by this knowledge, South leapt to 6 at his second turn. How would you
tackle the slam when West leads the Q?
Dummy has two heart winners, good for minor-suit discards, so you
are willing to sacrifice a trump trick to reach them. One obvious chance is
to play the A and then lead towards the 9, hoping that West holds the
J. Lead the 3 with this hope in mind and you will be disappointed. East
will win with the J and you will then go two down.
There is an extra chance that West will hold a singleton 6. To benefit
from this, you should lead the 7 (or 8) on the first round of trumps. The
6 appears (yes!) and you overtake with dummy’s 9. East is welcome to
take the J now. Dummy’s 5 will provide an entry on the second round
and you will then take two discards on the hearts.
Defender has to surrender a trump trick or an entry

Suppose you have a trump holding of AKJ873 in your hand opposite
1042 in an otherwise entryless dummy. You may or may not have a
trump loser, depending on whether the Q falls in two rounds. In the
case where a defender holds Qxx, you are destined to lose a trump trick.
By leading the J from your hand, you can give the defender two losing

options: if he wins with the Q, he gives you an entry to dummy; if instead
he allows the J to win, he surrenders his trump trick.
Let’s see a whole deal on this theme — one where the missing trump
honor is the king rather than the queen:
 10 3 2
 4 2
 9 7 5 4 2
 8 7 6
 5  K 84
 9 7 6 3 N  K Q J 10 8
 10 6 3 W E  K J8
S
 Q J 10 5 2  9 3
 A Q J 9 7 6
 A 5
 A Q
 A K 4

1 dbl
pass 2 pass 4
all pass
West leads the Q and you win with the A. Only 13 points are missing
outside the club suit, so East is almost certain to hold the K. How can
you reach dummy to take a diamond finesse, though?
At Trick 2 you should lead the Q from your hand. If East wins
with the K, the 10 will serve as an entry to dummy for a diamond
finesse. Let’s suppose that East holds up the K, hoping to prevent you
from reaching dummy. That’s no problem. You will continue with the J,
giving East an unpleasant choice. If he wins with the K, you will have
your entry to dummy; if instead he holds up again, he will never score a
trump trick. The game will be yours either way.

Chapter 7:
Playing with Fewer than Eight
Trumps
No one in their right mind would choose to play in a 4-3 fit, you may
think. Maybe, but it is an unavoidable part of life in the fast lane. The
potential pain can be lessened if you know how to make the best of the
situation.
Preserving the four-card trump length

Suppose you have four trumps in your hand and three in the dummy. If
the defenders can force you to ruff in the four-card holding, you may lose
control of the hand. We will start with the time-honored way of side-
stepping such a force:
 J 8 2
 A K 7
 A 7
 A Q J 10 7
 A K Q 7 6 5 3  4
 8 3 N  9 6 4 2
 10 3 W E
 K Q J 5 4
S
 9 8  6 5 2
 10 9
 Q J 10 5
 9 8 6 2
 K 4 3

1 pass 1
3 4 all pass
Hoping that your heart suit is respectable, North raises you to game in that
suit. How will you play when West leads out the three top spades, East
discarding two clubs?
Chapter 7: Playing with Fewer than Eight Trumps | 109 |

If you ruff the third spade, you will go down. East will score a trump
trick and you will eventually lose a diamond trick too. Instead you should
discard a diamond at Trick 3. On any continuation, you will be able to
draw trumps in four rounds and score ten top tricks. (If West chooses to
play a fourth round of spades, you will ruff high in the dummy.)
Avoiding a trump promotion when trumps are solid

A potential danger of discarding on the third round of the defenders’ force
suit is that you may then suffer a trump promotion. The original declarer
went wrong on this deal:
 A Q 2
 9 8 5
 K Q J
 A 9 8 7
 10 9 7 4  86
 A K Q J 4 N  763
 7 4 W E  10 8 3 2
S
 J 3  10 6 5 2
 K J 5 3
 10 2
 A 9 6 5
 K Q 4

1 dbl pass 2
pass 3 pass 3
pass 4 all pass
How will you play the spade game when West begins with three top hearts?
The declarer looked no further than retaining the four-card trump
length in his hand, discarding a diamond on the third trick. West
continued astutely with a fourth round of hearts and East ruffed with the
8. Declarer had to overruff with the J and could not then avoid the loss
of a trump trick. He was one down.
It was unlucky to find East short in trumps as well as hearts, yes,
but there was no need to take such a risk. On deals like this, where the
remaining two side suits are solid, you accept the force and ruff the third
heart. You continue with the ace and king of trumps, followed by your

winners in the diamond suit. West is welcome to ruff the third diamond,
because you can win his return and draw the last trump. (A fourth heart
would hold no terrors because you would ruff with the Q and enter the
South hand to draw West’s last trump with the J.)
The same play will work just as well when East holds three or four
trumps, except against some extreme distributions in the minor suits. You
wait until someone ruffs, win his return and draw the last trump. You can
then take the remaining tricks.
Ducking a round of trumps

Suppose your trumps are something like 873 opposite AKQ6 and you
have a side suit in dummy ready to run. It may be to your advantage to
duck an early round of trumps. When you regain the lead, you will draw
the remaining trumps and run dummy’s side suit. Look at this deal:
 8 7 3
 2
 A K Q J 4
 J 9 7 2
 J 10 4 2  95
 J 8 7 4 N  A K 10 9 5 3
 7 2 W E  10 3
S
 Q 10 6  K85
 A K Q 6
 Q 6
 9 8 6 5
 A 4 3

1 1 1
2 2 pass 4
all pass
West leads the 4 to East’s K and East continues with the A. How will
you tackle the contract?
Suppose you ruff the second heart and play three rounds of trumps,
discovering the 4-2 break. It will not help you to turn to diamonds,
hoping to discard a club on the fifth round. West will delay his ruff until

the fourth round of diamonds and you will have no way to reach dummy’s
last diamond.
You can afford to lose a trump and should aim to do so at a moment
when the defenders can inflict no damage. After ruffing the second heart,
you should duck a round of trumps. If the defenders play another heart,
you will ruff with dummy’s last trump; you can then return to the A to
draw trumps. On any other return at Trick 4, you will draw trumps and
claim ten top tricks.
Sometimes you must not only duck a round of trumps, you must
make sure that you duck it into the safe defender’s hand:
 A 8 4
 6
 K 9 6
 A Q J 8 6 2
 J 6  10 7 3 2
 Q J 10 7 3 2 N  K 9 4
 J 7 2 W E  A Q 10 4
S
 10 4  95
 K Q 9 5
 A 8 5
 8 5 3
 K 7 3

1 pass 1
pass 2 pass 2
pass 3 pass 4
all pass
The bidding developed awkwardly and the best game of 3NT was missed.
How will you play 4 when West leads the Q?
Suppose you win the heart lead and play three rounds of trumps. You
will be in trouble when they break 4-2. East will ruff the third round of
clubs and you will lose five tricks in the red suits.
A better idea is to lead a trump to the eight at Trick 2. East wins with
the 10 but he cannot play a diamond effectively from his side of the table.
On any return, you will be able to draw the remaining trumps and score
six club tricks.

(A clever-clogs expert in the West seat might make life awkward for
you by rising with the J on the first round! You could not afford to duck
this card, because a switch to the J would defeat you. You would have to
win with the A and then judge correctly whether to finesse the 9 or to
play trumps from the top.)
Bolstering a 4-3 fit with substitute trumps

When playing in a 4-3 fit, it may suit you to play immediately on a solid
side suit. If a defender ruffs from a four-card trump holding, you will be
back in control of the hand. This deal illustrates the situation:
 K 6 2
 9 8 6 2
 A K 2
 K 9 2
 J 7  Q 10 9 4
 K Q J 5 3 N  A 10 7
 9 5 4 W E  83
S
 Q 10 6  J843
 A 8 5 3
 4
 Q J 10 7 6
 A 7 5

1
1 dbl 2 2
pass 3 pass 4
pass 4 all pass
The defenders start with two rounds of hearts and you ruff, reducing
yourself to a 3-3 trump fit. What now?
It may seem surprising but you do best to play three rounds of
diamonds. When trumps are 4-2, it is quite likely that the player with
four trumps will be short in diamonds. All follow to the AK and you lead
a third diamond.
Let’s see first what will happen if East chooses to discard on this trick,
throwing a club. You will win with the Q and draw two rounds of trumps
with the ace and king. You can then ruff a heart with your last trump and

continue with your penultimate master diamond, throwing a club from
dummy. East is welcome to ruff and to draw dummy’s last trump. He has
no hearts left and you will score two clubs and your last diamond.
Nor will East fare any better if he chooses to ruff the third round of
diamonds. On any return you will lose only two trumps and one heart.
Establish the side suit before drawing trumps

When you are in a 4-3 fit, it is more likely than normal that drawing
trumps will leave you without any cards in that suit. It may therefore be
necessary to establish a side suit before you draw trumps. Test yourself
on this deal:
 A Q 4
 6
 K 9 6 2
 A K J 9 6
 9 7 6 3  82
 K Q J 5 3 N  10 9 7 2
 J 7 W E  A Q 10 4
S
 8 4  Q75
 K J 10 5
 A 8 4
 8 5 3
 10 3 2

1 pass 1
pass 2 pass 2
pass 3 pass 4
all pass
You win the heart lead and see that four spades, four clubs, the A and
a heart ruff will give you the game. Suppose you ruff a heart and draw
trumps in four rounds. That’s no good. When a subsequent club finesse
loses, you will be out of trumps and have no protection in hearts. Instead,
you should play a club to the jack at Trick 2.
The finesse loses but you will now score the ten tricks that we
envisioned above. If East returns a trump, for example, you will win with
dummy’s A, return to your hand with the 10 and ruff a heart with the

Q. You can then draw the remaining trumps and score three more club
tricks, discarding two diamonds.
Let’s see one more deal on this important theme:
 A 6 3
 J 10 6 2
 8
 K 5 4 3 2
 J 10 5 4  98
 8 5 N  A974
 K Q J 10 2 W E  954
S
 J 7  Q 10 9 6
 K Q 7 2
 K Q 3
 A 7 6 3
 A 8

1
pass 1 pass 1
pass 2 pass 4
all pass
Not a prize-winning auction, we will agree, but how would you play the
spade game when West leads the K?
You win with the A and must give your next move careful
consideration. Would it surprise you to hear that you will go down if you
play even one round of trumps immediately? To make the contract, you
must set up the hearts without delay. Let’s say that East ducks the K. No
matter that a heart ruff is possible; you must press on with the Q.
East is welcome to win and play a third round of hearts. You will
make the contract easily if West ruffs from his four-card trumps. (You
will score four trumps, two hearts, the AK, the A and a diamond ruff
in dummy.)
Suppose instead that East returns a trump when he takes the A. You
win with dummy’s ace and play a good heart yourself. Again, West cannot
ruff successfully. He does best to discard a club, but you will continue with
the A and a diamond ruff, followed by the 10 for a diamond discard.
The defenders will score just one trump, the A and a late diamond.

Extracting a defender’s force card
When you cannot avoid a force on the four-card trump holding, it may
help you to control the timing of that force. By forcing yourself in the
suit that the defenders have led, before you have drawn three rounds of
trumps, you can prevent a later force that would have killed the contract.
It’s not easy to describe in mere words, as you may have observed, so
let’s see an example.
 A Q 5
 9 6 2
 K Q 4
 K Q 7 6
 J 9 7 3  10 4
 Q J 4 N  A K 10 7 5 3
 8 6 5 W E  973
S
 A 9 3  85
 K 8 6 2
 8
 A J 10 2
 J 10 4 2

2 pass
3 dbl pass 4
all pass
West leads the Q, followed by the J. How will you play the contract?
You ruff the second heart in your hand and see that it will be hopeless
to play three rounds of trumps immediately. Even if the suit breaks 3-3,
you will have no protection left in hearts when you knock out the A.
A much better idea is to cross to the K and to make the strange-
looking move of ruffing a third heart yourself! Do you see why this is a
smart line of play? It extracts West’s last card in the suit. When you draw
three rounds of trumps next, you find that West began with four trumps.
That is no problem now. You play on clubs and it is West who wins with
the A. (East would be too strong for a weak two if he held that card
alongside the AK.) West has no heart to play, so you are going to make
the contract. You will lose one heart, one club and one trump trick.

Scrambling the tricks that you need
As we have seen, one of the biggest threats to a game in a 4-3 fit is a forcing
attack on the four-card trump holding. Sometimes you can simply live
with the force; you score a couple of tricks by ruffing in the long-trump
holding and accumulate sufficient tricks for the contract from elsewhere.
Let’s see some examples of this style of play.
 K 8 6
 A 7 3 2
 A Q 6
 10 7 4
 J 4  Q932
 K Q J 9 5 N  10 8 4
 9 5 2 W E  10 8 4 3
S
 Q 9 6  KJ
 A 10 7 5
 6
 K J 7
 A 8 5 3 2

1
1 dbl 2 2
pass 4 all pass
West leads the K and your only real chance is to ‘scramble’ ten tricks.
What does that mean? It means that you will score what tricks you can
in the side suits, in the trump suit and with ruffs. You will eventually lose
control, yes, but you can console yourself with the fact that ten tricks are
before you.
You win the heart lead and ruff a heart in your hand, deliberately
forcing yourself because your aim is to score three heart ruffs in your hand.
A diamond to the queen is followed by a second heart ruff. You cash the
K and the A and reenter dummy with the A. These cards remain:

 K 8 6
 7
 —
 10 7
 J 4  Q 9 3 2
 Q J N  —
 — W E  10
S
 Q 9  K
 A 10
 —
 —
 8 5 3 2
You lead dummy’s last heart, hoping to ruff with the 10 for your eighth
trick (to be followed by the A and K). If hearts are 4-4, this will be easy.
You will also make the contract when the cards lie as in the diagram. If
East were to ruff with the Q, you would overruff with the A and lead the
10, planning to run it and then score dummy’s K8 tenace. In practice,
the card would be covered by the J and K, and dummy’s 86 would
then produce the game-going trick against East’s 93.
Look back at the tricks that you made: Five winners in the side suits
and a total of five trump tricks, principally by ruffing in the long-trump
hand.
Here is another deal where you lose trump control but only after you
have scrambled enough tricks for the contract:
 A K J
 4
 A K J 8 4
 K 9 7 3
 10 8 7 5  42
 A Q 5 N  K J 10 9 8 2
 2 W E  Q 10 5
S
 J 10 6 4 2  Q5
 Q 9 6 3
 7 6 3
 9 7 6 3
 A 8

2 pass
3 dbl pass 3
pass 4 all pass
How will you play this one when West leads the 2?
The opening lead is surely a singleton and you win with the A. If
your next move is to draw trumps and you subsequently have to give up
a diamond, you will lose one diamond and three hearts, even if trumps
break 3-3.
A better idea is to aim for four minor-suit winners and six trump tricks
on a crossruff. At Trick 2 you give up a heart. Let’s say that East wins and
returns a trump to dummy’s jack. You cross to your hand with the A and
lead a second round of diamonds through the hand that you suspect is
now out of the suit. It will not assist West to ruff a loser from his four-card
trump holding (you would then score four trumps, four diamonds and the
AK). Let’s say that West throws a club instead and you win with dummy’s
K. You play the K and ruff a club with the 6. A heart ruff with the K
is followed by a club ruff with the 9. Another heart ruff with the A is
your ninth trick and the Q will give you a tenth. West’s remaining 108
will rule the field but the game is yours.
You get the idea, then. When there is no hope of remaining in control
and making the most of your long side suit, you switch into scramble
mode. You put a mixture of trump tricks and side-suit tricks into your bag
and hope that the total is enough for the contract!
Playing in a 5-2 fit

When you are in a 5-2 fit the risk of losing control is greater than in a 5-3
fit. That’s mainly because it is more likely that one of the defenders will
hold four trumps. When you can afford to lose a trump trick, you should
often do so on the first round, so that you will still have a trump left in
dummy. Look at this deal:

 9 3
 8 7 3
 Q J 7 3
 9 7 4 3
 Q 7 6 5  42
 Q J 10 9 2 N  AK64
 5 2 W E
 10 8 6
S
 Q 2  J 10 8 5
 A K J 10 8
 5
 A K 9 4
 A K 6

2
pass 2 pass 2
pass 2NT pass 3
pass 4 pass 4
all pass
It’s too late to wonder whether 5 (or even 6) would have been a better
spot. How will you play 4 when the defenders play two rounds of hearts?
You ruff with the 8 and must take a moment to consider your next
move. If you continue with the AK, you will lose control. A third round
of trumps after such a start will allow West to win and force your last
trump with another heart. If instead you turn to the side suits, West will
score two trump tricks.
A better idea is to lead the J at Trick 2, aiming to lose a trump trick
at a moment when the defenders can do you no damage. Let’s say that
West wins and plays a third round of hearts. You discard the 6, instead
of ruffing, and dummy’s 9 will protect you against any further attack in
hearts. When you regain the lead, you will draw trumps and claim ten
tricks.
Next we will see a deal where it is beneficial to overtake one trump
honor with another. This may sacrifice a trump trick but the entry that
you gain will allow you to maintain trump control.

 K Q
 A 8 7 6 5
 A 10 4 3 2
 K
 10 8 6 2  43
 K Q J 9 N  10 4 2
 K 5 W E  QJ98
S
 7 5 2  A864
 A J 9 7 5
 3
 7 6
 Q J 10 9 3

1 pass 1
pass 2 pass 2
pass 4 all pass
How will you play the spade game when West leads the K, won with
dummy’s A?
If your first move is to play the K and Q, best defense will beat you.
When you continue with the K, East will allow this card to win. (It will
be obvious to East that you are intending to establish some club tricks.)
You will then need to reach your hand twice: once to set up the clubs and
again to score the established club winners. This can only be done by
taking two heart ruffs in your hand and you will lose control against the
4-2 trump break.
A better idea is to play the K at Trick 2. Let’s suppose first that
East holds up the A. You will then play the K and overtake the Q
with the A, even though this may set up an extra trump trick for the
defenders. You draw a third round of trumps with the J, discovering the
4-2 break, and then play the Q. East wins with the A and forces you
with another heart. This causes you no heartache whatsoever. You ruff
with your penultimate trump and play winning clubs. West can score his
10 when he wishes. You will still have a trump left, which will act as an
entry to your remaining club winners.
The play will be similar if East wins the K with the A. When he
plays a second round of hearts, you will ruff, cross to the K and return
to hand by overtaking the Q with the A. The J reveals a 4-2 break, as
before, but you will again make the contract by playing good clubs.

You and your partner are very sound bidders and would never end in a
4-2 fit. I believe you, yes, and the bidding on the deal below has nothing
whatsoever to commend it (there are three better games available). Still,
bearing in mind the techniques that we have seen so far, how would you
play this heart game?
 8 7
 10 4
 A K 7 5
 A K J 8 3
 K Q J 9 4  10 5 3 2
 J 8 5 N  Q972
 10 9 W E  QJ8
S
 10 7 4  92
 A 6
 A K 6 3
 6 4 3 2
 Q 6 5

2 dbl 3 4
all pass
How will you rescue the situation when West leads the K?
You must win the first trick, otherwise a diamond switch will defeat
you. Next you must duck a round of trumps. One or other defender will
win the trick and cash a spade trick. Since there is still a trump in dummy,
a third round of spades would be unproductive. Let’s say that they switch
to a diamond. You win in the dummy and play the AK. Both defenders
follow suit, you are pleased to see; meanwhile, you throw a diamond
from dummy. You can then run the clubs, followed by the remaining top
diamond. East can take his trump trick when he wishes and you still have
a trump in your hand to protect you in spades.

Have you ever played a game contract in a 3-3 fit? It happened on the next
deal and — believe it or not — there was a happy conclusion to the story.
 J 4
 K 8 3
 A Q 5 4
 A K 6 2
 A K Q 10 9 8 2  65
 7 4 2 N  J 10 9 6
 8 3 W E  10 6
S
 4  Q 10 9 7 5
 7 3
 A Q 5
 K J 9 7 2
 J 8 3

3 dbl pass 4
all pass
Expecting his partner to hold four hearts for the takeout double of 3,
South decided to display his skills in a 4-3 heart fit. When dummy went
down, he saw that this view had been optimistic. How would you tackle
the unusual contract when West cashes two spades and switches to the
4?
Declarer won with the A and played three rounds of trumps,
nodding happily as both defenders followed all the way. Next he played
his winners in the diamond suit. If East ruffed at any stage, he would have
to lead from the Q and declarer would score two more club tricks. If
instead East declined to ruff, declarer would have nine tricks in the bag
and could add the K to his total.
Did you notice that 4 is the only making game? Playing in 5,
declarer has no way to avoid a club loser.

Quiz III: Trump entries, fewer than eight trumps
19.  J 10 9 4
 864
 10 8 4
 975
Q led Contract: 6
 —
 A 5 3
 A K Q J 9 6 2
 A K Q
East opens 1 and you surprise all present by overcalling 6. How will
you play this slam when West leads the Q? (Answer on page 128.)
20.  K9653
 J84
 742
 10 4
Q led Contract: 6
 A
 A K Q 10 9 7 3
 A K 6
 K 3
West leads the Q against 6. What is your plan? (Answer on page 128.)
21.  KQJ
 Q5
 K842
 QJ62
 A 10 9 4
 6
 A 10 5
 K 10 7 5 3
West opens 2, North doubles and East bids 4. Your bid of 4 ends the
auction. How will you play this when West leads the K, followed by the
A? (Answer on page 129.)
Quiz III: Trump entries, fewer than eight trumps | 125 |

22.  A K Q J 6 5
 10 6 2
 A
 K 9 3
 10 9 4 2
 A 8 3
 9 7 4
 Q 10 5
West opens 1, North doubles and you end in 4. How will you play this
when West leads the K? (Answer on page 129.)
23.  AKQ9
 843
 974
 10 6 2
K led Contract: 4
 —
 A K Q J 5 2
 A 10 7
 A 8 5 3
West leads the K against 4 and there is no certain entry to dummy, to

reach the spade honors. What chances can you see of reaching dummy?
How will you play the contract? (Answer on page 130.)
24.  J4
 A83
 J97
 AKJ64
 A K 10 7 6
 10 6 5 2
 —
 Q 9 7 5
How will you play the spade game when West leads the K? (Answer on
page 130.)

25.  9732
 AKJ
 AKQJ
 53
J led Contract: 4
 5
 9 6 5 3
 8 7 5 3
 A K 8 7
East opens 2 and, after a bidding sequence that would cause some
discussion, you arrive in 4. East overtakes the J lead with the Q and
continues with the A. What is your plan? (Answer on page 131.)
26.  J 10 6 5
 10 8 2
 742
 10 5 3
K led Contract: 6
 A K Q
 A K Q J 9 6
 A
 A J 7
West leads the K. If trumps are 2-2, you can draw trumps, unblock the
spades and cross to dummy with a trump to score a fourth spade trick.
How can you overcome a 3-1 trump break? (Answer on page 131.)
27.  8
43
 K
7
 K
7532
 8
32
 J 5
 A Q J 10 9 6 2
 9
 A Q J
You open 1 and reach 4, after West has overcalled 1 and East has
raised to 2. How will you play this when West leads out the three top
spades? (Answer on page 132.)

Answers to Quiz III
19.  J 10 9 4 to question
 864
 10 8 4
 975

 -—
 A 5 3
 A K Q J 9 6 2
Contract: 6  A K Q
The Q opening lead gives you a chance to set up a spade trick, on which
to throw a heart. You will need three trump entries to dummy. Ruff the
spade lead with the J and lead the 6 to dummy’s 8, all following. When
you lead the J, East covers with the A and you ruff with the Q. You
lead the 9 to dummy’s 10 and play the 10, East covering with the K.
You return to dummy by playing the 2 to the 4 and discard a heart on
the 9. (Any lead but a spade would have beaten you!)

 J84
 742
 10 4

 A
 A K Q 10 9 7 3
 A K 6
Contract: 6  K 3
You must aim to set up a long spade in dummy, to give you a second
discard. Spades will have to break 4-3 and you must use all three trump
entries to the dummy. After winning the diamond lead, you cash the A.
You then lead the 10 to the J and ruff a spade with the 9. Reentering
dummy with the 7 overtaken with the 8, you ruff a spade with the Q.
When spades break 4-3, you will have established a long spade in dummy
as your twelfth trick. You will reach it by leading the 3 to the 4. If
spades do not break favorably, you will discard a diamond on the K and
lead towards the K for the contract.

21.  KQJ to question
 Q5
 K842
 QJ62

 A 10 9 4
 6
 A 10 5
Contract: 4  K 10 7 5 3
You should discard the 5 on the second top heart. When West persists
with another heart, you ruff with dummy’s J. If you draw trumps now,
you will succeed only when trumps break 3-3. A better chance is to
develop the clubs first; you will avoid a ruff when clubs break 2-2 or the
A is a singleton (also when the defenders are too dozy to take their ruff!)
Suppose that East wins with a singleton A and plays yet another
heart. You will ruff with the Q, cash the K and enter your hand with the
A to draw the outstanding trumps.
22.  A K Q J 6 5 to question
 10 6 2
 A
 K 9 3

 10 9 4 2
 A83
 974
Contract: 4  Q 10 5
You must aim to eliminate the diamond suit and exit in hearts, forcing the
defenders to play clubs for you. You win the diamond lead and play the
A. Let’s say that West shows out on the first round of trumps. You lead
the 5 to the 9 and ruff a diamond with the J (preserving dummy’s 6).
You then lead the 6 to the 10 and ruff your last diamond in the dummy.
With spades and diamonds eliminated, you exit with ace and another
heart. The defenders are welcome to two heart tricks. They will then have
to play a club, saving you a guess in the suit, or concede a ruff-and-sluff.

23.  AKQ9 to question
 843
 974
 10 6 2

 —
 A K Q J 5 2
 A 10 7
Contract: 4  A 8 5 3
West leads the K against 4 and you win with the A. How can you reach
dummy’s spade winners? If trumps break 2-2, you can cross to the 8 on
the third round. Suppose East drops the 10 or 9 on the first round of
trumps. You should then lead the 5 towards dummy’s 8. This card will
be an entry when East’s card was a singleton. When East began with 109
and wins dummy’s 8 on the second round, you can enter dummy on the
next round — leading the 2 to dummy’s 4.
 A83
 J97
 AKJ64

 A K 10 7 6
 10 6 5 2
 —
Contract: 4  Q 9 7 5
West leads the K. You cannot discard hearts on the first three rounds of
diamonds, because a subsequent spade loser would put you one down.
The best idea is to ruff and then lead low to the J. Suppose a defender
wins from Qxxx (or Qx) and continues diamonds. You will throw two
hearts on the second and third rounds of diamonds. If the defenders
persist with a fourth diamond, you will ruff in the dummy, return to the
Q and draw the remaining trumps. On any other return, you will draw
trumps, scoring four trumps, five clubs and the A.
Suppose instead that the defender with Qxxx holds off the first round
of trumps. You continue with the A and K, leaving him with the bare
Q, and play club winners followed by the A. The defender can score his
top trump when he wishes.

 AKJ
 AKQJ
 53

 5
 9 6 5 3
 8 7 5 3
Contract: 4  A K 8 7
East opened 2 and West leads the J against your game in hearts. You
ruff the second spade, cash the A, cross to the A and finesse the J,
East following low twice. If you play a third round of trumps now, you
will go down when West began with four trumps; he will eventually ruff
one of your minor-suit winners. Instead, you should ruff a spade with
the 9. Whether West’s remaining trumps are Q10 or a singleton Q,
he is welcome to overruff. You will win his return, draw the last trump
and score six side-suit winners. If instead West declines to overruff, you
will play your winners in diamonds and clubs — happy to lose two trump
tricks.
26.  J 10 6 5 to question
 10 8 2
 742
 10 5 3

 A K Q
 A K Q J 9 6
 A
Contract: 6  A J 7
You can survive against a 3-1 trump break, provided the defender with
three trumps holds at least two spades. You win the diamond lead, cross
to the 8 and lead a diamond on which you discard the A. (You might as
well make your brilliancies as spectacular as possible!) Let’s say that East
wins the ducked diamond and switches to a club. You win with the A
and play the A. When trumps break 3-1, you play the K and Q. The
way is then clear for you to cross to dummy’s 10 and discard your two
club losers on the J10.

27.  8 43 to question
 K 7
 K 7532
 8 32

 J 5
 A Q J 10 9 6 2
 9
Contract: 4  A Q J
West leads out the three top spades and you should ruff with the 9, to
maintain your entry options to the dummy. Next you play a diamond to
the king. If the K wins, the contract is yours, regardless. (You score seven
hearts, the K and at least two clubs.) If West goes in with the A, the K
will give you one club discard and you can use the K as an entry for one
club finesse. If instead the K loses to East’s A, you will need two trump
entries to dummy so that you can take two club finesses. Because you
ruffed with the 9 at Trick 1, the way will be clear for you to finesse the 7
in the search for a second trump entry.

Chapter 8:
Unblocking Plays in the Trump Suit
There are two different ways of unblocking in the trump suit. When
drawing trumps, you can unblock a high card under a higher card from
the opposite hand. Also, you can unblock by ruffing with a higher card
than would otherwise be necessary. In this chapter we will see various
situations where an unblock in the trump suit may prove beneficial.
Unblocking to end in the right hand after drawing

trumps
It is not always easy to foresee blockages in a suit, particularly when these
may arise only when a bad break occurs. Think carefully about your play
in the trump suit on this deal:
Chapter 8: Unblocking Plays in the Trump Suit | 133 |

 K 10 9 4
 A 3 2
 A K
 J 10 7 6
 2  J753
 K Q J 9 5 4 N  10 6
 8 7 3 2 W E  96
S
 Q 3  AK954
 A Q 8 6
 8 7
 Q J 10 5 4
 8 2

2 dbl pass 3
pass 4 all pass
How will you play the spade game when West leads the K?
Four spades, five diamonds and the A will bring your total to ten
tricks. You win with the A and, to avoid the risk of a blocking the trump
suit, should lead the 10 to your Q. Both defenders follow and you
continue with the 6 to dummy’s K, West throwing a heart. (East is more
likely to hold four trumps than West, because West has four more hearts
than East.)
You play dummy’s AK and now need to draw trumps, ending in the
South hand. Because of your foresight in unblocking the 10 on the first
round of trumps, this is the trump position:
 9 4
 —  J 7
 A 8
You lead the 9 and can then draw trumps, ending in your hand, whether
or not East covers the 9 with the J. If you had mistakenly left dummy
with 109 at this stage, East would have been able to beat you by covering
dummy’s card on the third round of the suit.

Unblocking to create an extra trump entry
The next deal is a little more complicated than it might appear at first. You
need to unblock in the trump suit in case a later trump entry becomes
necessary.
 Q 6 5 2
 A J 10 5
 A 7
 K 7 4
 J 10 4  7
 K 8 N  9 7 6 3
 K 9 8 3 2 W E  Q J 10 5
S
 Q J 5  A 10 9 3
 A K 9 8 3
 Q 4 2
 6 4
 8 6 2

1 pass 1
pass 2 pass 3
pass 4 all pass
West leads the Q against your spade game. You duck the first two rounds
of clubs, hoping that the A will appear from East. No such luck on this
occasion and East wins a third round of clubs. How will you continue
when East switches to the Q?
You need West to hold the K, obviously, but you must handle the
entry situation carefully so that you can pick up both Kx and Kxx.
When West has a doubleton king, you cannot afford to lead the Q on
either of the first two rounds. If you made that mistake, West would cover
with the king and this would promote East’s 9.
You cross to the A and, abandoning trumps for the moment, play the
2 to the J. This card wins, you are pleased to see, and your next move
is to play dummy’s Q, unblocking the 8 (or 9) from your hand. You
reenter your hand with the K and lead the 4, West’s K forcing dummy’s
A. The heart suit is now blocked but your earlier clever move in the
trump suit has kept the entry position fluid there. You lead low to the bare
Q and return to dummy by leading the 3 to dummy’s 6. You can then
cash dummy’s J and claim the contract.

Unblocking in case a finesse becomes necessary
Sometimes a finesse becomes necessary in the trump suit, because a bad
break has occurred. You may need to ensure that you have sufficient low
trumps in your hand to take this finesse.
 Q 3
 K Q 6
 7 4 2
 A 10 8 4 2
 J 10 9 7  K 8 6 5 4
 9 4 2 N  —
 Q 9 5 W E  J 10 8 3
S
 K 7 3  Q J 9 5
 A 2
 A J 10 8 7 5 3
 A K 6
 6

1 pass 1
pass 2 pass 6
all pass
West leads the J and it is no surprise when East covers dummy’s Q with
the K. How will you play the slam?
You win with the A and see that you will need to establish a long
club, on which to discard one of your two losers. You can use the A
as the entry for the first ruff. You will then need three further entries to
dummy in the trump suit: two to take further club ruffs and one more
to reach the established long card in the suit. When trumps break 2-1,
everything will be easy. You will use the K and Q as the first two entries
and the 6 as the third entry, when neither defender has a trump left.
What can you do when the trumps break 3-0?
You can survive when it is West who holds the three trumps. You
cross to the A and ruff a club with the 7. (As we will see, it is important
that you leave yourself with two trumps lower than dummy’s 6.) You
then lead the 8 to dummy’s K, East discarding a spade. You continue
with a third round of clubs, ruffing with the 10, and both defenders

follow. Thanks to your unblocking in the trump suit, this is now the
trump position:
 Q 6
 9 4  —
 A J 5 3
You lead the 3 and finesse dummy’s 6. A club ruff with the J is followed
by a trump to the queen; you discard a loser on the thirteenth club and the
slam is yours. As you see, it would do West no good to rise with the 9 on
the second round of trumps. You would win with the Q and still have
the 6 available as a third-round trump entry.
Suppose instead that you had not unblocked so effectively and left
yourself with this position in trumps:
 Q 6
 9 4  —
 A J 8 3
You lead the 3, as before, but West can now beat the slam by rising with
the 9. You would have to win with the Q and dummy’s 6 would no
longer be an entry. Imagine how annoying it would be to have East saying
“Well defended, partner,” in such a situation!
On the next deal a triple unblock in the trump suit (you are not
too embarrassed to make such spectacular plays) enables you to take an
eventual finesse there.

 8 6
 10 9 7 3
 9 7 5 4 3
 8 3
 Q 5 4  93
 8 N  J542
 J 8 6 2 W E  K Q 10
S
 K Q J 9 5  7642
 A K J 10 7 2
 A K Q 6
 A
 A 10

2
pass 2 pass 2
pass 2NT pass 3
pass 4 pass 6
all pass
You win the K lead with the A. When you lead the A, an ominous 8
appears from West. What is your plan for the contract?
You should unblock the 7 from dummy, a play that will pave the
way for an eventual finesse of your 6, should that become necessary. You
continue with the K and West does indeed show out, throwing a club.
Once again you unblock from dummy, following with the 9. Your next
task is to establish the spades. All follow to the A and K. When you
continue with another spade, West produces the Q. What now?
Ruffing in the dummy will lead to certain defeat. East will overruff
and a club trick will then defeat you. Instead you should throw dummy’s
last club. Let’s suppose that West finds the best defense of a diamond
switch. You win with the A and ruff your last club with dummy’s 10,
your third unblock in the trump suit! The way is then clear for you to
lead the 3 to your 6. You draw East’s last trump with the Q and the
contract is yours. (Try to look modest about it. I know it’s not easy.)

Ruffing high to avoid a blockage in the trump suit
It is a familiar tactic to ruff high to avoid the risk of an overruff. Another
reason for ruffing high is to preserve your transportation in the trump suit.
This is a fairly straightforward example:
 K Q J 5
 K Q
 9 2
 A K Q 10 6
 3  10 8 6 2
 10 9 4 3 2 N  AJ5
 A K Q 8 W E  10 6 5 4
S
 J 7 2  95
 A 9 7 4
 8 7 6
 J 7 3
 8 4 3

1 pass 1
pass 4 all pass
West leads the K, asking for a count signal, and East duly follows with the
6. Spotting a possible weakness in declarer’s armor, West continues with
the A and Q. How will you play?
Suppose you ruff the third round of diamonds with dummy’s 5.
When you continue with the KQJ, East will still have the 10 left and
you will have no entry to the South hand to draw this trump. You will
have to play on clubs eventually and East will score the setting trick by
ruffing with the 10.
A better idea is to ruff the third diamond with dummy’s J. When
you continue with the king and queen of trumps, West shows out on the
second round. This causes no problem because you can cross to your
hand with a finesse of the 9. You will then draw East’s last trump with
the A and score up your game when the club suit proves to be good. (You
would make the same play when your trumps were A874, saving the day
when West held a singleton 10 or 9.)
On the next deal you need to unblock with a high ruff, even though a
defender holds a master trump against you.

 10 5 2
 Q 8 4
 7 4 2
 A 8 4 3
 A 8 3  64
 10 7 6 2 N  AKJ95
 9 W E  K865
S
 J 10 9 7 2  Q5
 K Q J 9 7
 3
 A Q J 10 3
 K 6

1 dbl
4 pass pass 4
all pass
West leads the 2 to partner’s J and East continues with the K. How
will you play the contract?
You would like to use dummy’s 10 as an entry for a diamond finesse.
To this end, it is essential to ruff the second round of hearts with an honor,
say the J. Next you lead the 7. Because you have left yourself with two
trump spotcards lower than the 10, West cannot kill the dummy entry
by rising with the A. He plays low and dummy’s 10 wins. A finesse of
the Q is successful and you continue with the K. West takes this and
forces you again with another heart. You ruff in the South hand, leaving
this position:
 5
 —
 7 4
 A 8 4 3
 8  —
 10 N  9 5
 — W E  K 8 6
S
 J 10 9 7 2  Q 5
 Q
 —
 A J 10 3
 K 6

You lead the 6 to the A and finesse the J. If West ruffs, he has no
effective continuation. You can ruff a heart return in dummy and take
another diamond finesse; if instead he returns a club, you will establish the
diamonds with a ruff and return to the Q to enjoy the long cards. Nor
can West do better by refusing to ruff the J. You will play the A next,
presenting West with the same dilemma.
Unblocking high trumps to aid a dummy reversal

When the opening lead is a trump, you may need to plan the whole play
before deciding what to do on the first trick. It will sometimes be beneficial
to win with a higher card than is necessary, retaining a lower trump as a
means of entering the opposite hand subsequently. That’s what is needed
on this deal:
 10 8 2
 9 4 3
 A 7 3 2
 A 6 5
 7 6  543
 J 8 7 5 2 N  Q 10 6
 K J 6 4 W E  Q98
S
 Q 10  KJ97
 A K Q J 9
 A K
 10 5
 8 4 3 2

1
pass 2 pass 3
pass 4 all pass
How will you play 4 when West leads the 6?

There are nine top tricks on display and the trump lead pretty much
kills any hope of ruffing the fourth round of clubs for your tenth trick.
Clubs may break 3-3, but this is not a very good chance (particularly when
the deal appears in a book…). What other possibility is there?
You should aim for a dummy reversal, taking three red-suit ruffs in
the South hand. Since this line of play will require entries to dummy, you

must win the trump lead with the J rather than the 9. You play the AK
and cross to dummy with the A. You then ruff a heart with the Q (again
retaining the 9). Preparing for your diamond ruffs, the next move is to
concede a diamond. When the defenders win and return another trump,
you win with dummy’s 10, underplaying with your 9. A diamond ruff
with the K is followed by a club to the ace and another diamond ruff
with the A. Nine tricks are before you and dummy’s 8 will be good for
a tenth.
Ruffing unblock to create an extra entry

When you hope to use a lowly trump spot card as a late entry, you will
have to retain a lower spot card in the opposite hand. To do this, you
may have to take ruffs with one or more of your higher trumps. Here is a
straightforward example:
 K Q 4
 6 2
 9 4
 A 10 7 6 5 4
 7  82
 K Q J 9 4 N  10 5 3
 8 7 6 3 2 W E  A J 10 5
S
 9 3  KQJ2
 A J 10 9 6 5 3
 A 8 7
 K Q
 8

4
pass 5 pass 6
all pass
North’s 5 was a cuebid, agreeing spades as trumps. If you’re not impressed

with the bidding, rest assured that you will not be the only reader thinking
this way! How will you play the slam when West leads the K?
You need to set up dummy’s clubs, to establish two discards for your
heart losers. When clubs break 4-2, you will need three trump entries to
dummy — two to take the second and third club ruffs, and one to reach

the established cards in the suit. Despite initial appearances, the 3 is one
of the most important cards in your hand; it will allow you to cross to the
4 on the third round of trumps.
You win the heart lead, cross to the A and ruff a club with the 9.
Moving the 3 to a safe place at the far end of your hand, you then lead the
5 to dummy’s K, pleased to see both defenders follow. When you ruff a
club with the 10, West shows out. You play the 6 to dummy’s Q and
ruff another club with the J.
You have worked hard in the trump suit and can now reap the reward.
You lead the 3 to dummy’s 4 and play the established 107, discarding
your two heart losers. You then concede a diamond trick and claim the
slam.
Next we will see a much more difficult example of this play. It’s a
contract that would be made only by a top-class declarer (or perhaps by
someone who had just read this book…).
 A K 10 9 5
 5
 A J 10 2
 A K Q
 3  Q72
 A K Q J 6 N  10 9 7 4
 K 9 8 W E  Q74
S
 10 9 7 2  864
 J 8 6 4
 8 3 2
 6 5 3
 J 5 3

1 dbl 3 pass
pass dbl pass 3
pass 4 all pass
How will you play the spade game when West leads the K followed by
the A?
You can afford to lose a trump trick to the queen, provided you
can pick up the diamond suit for just one loser. Bearing this in mind,
you should ruff the second trick with dummy’s A. Your own J8 will
then be promoted into two entries for subsequent diamond finesses. At

Trick 3 you continue with the 10 from dummy. East wins with the Q
(otherwise you would not lose a trump trick) and returns a third round of
hearts, forcing the dummy again. You ruff with dummy’s K, retaining the
9 and 5 as cards that can be overtaken in your hand.
You reach your hand by playing the 5 to the 8 and finesse the J of
diamonds, losing to East’s Q. You win East’s club return in the dummy
and lead the 9 to your J, drawing East’s last trump. A second diamond
finesse succeeds and, after this display of pyrotechnics, the game is yours.
As you see, if you fail to ruff the second round of hearts with the ace
or king, you will go down. With only one trump entry to the South hand,
you could take only one diamond finesse. You would lose tricks to both
the K and Q, conceding a heart and a trump in addition.
Ruffing unblock to permit a repeated trump finesse

The bidding of the next hand was somewhat ambitious and a borderline
slam was reached. As it happens, the cards lay well and the slam could be
made — only if declarer made a clever move in the trump suit, however.
 K 8 5
 10 8 4
 A 5 3
 Q J 10 4
 Q J 10 4  A9732
 2 N  K765
 J 9 7 2 W E  10 8
S
 9 6 5 2  87
 6
 A Q J 9 3
 K Q 6 4
 A K 3

1
pass 1NT pass 2
pass 3 pass 3
pass 4 pass 6
all pass

It was lazy of South to jump to 6. Had he taken the trouble to bid Roman
Keycard Blackwood, he would have found that two keycards (the A and
K) were missing. Still, how would you play the slam when West leads the
Q and the defenders persist with a second round of spades?
The original declarer ruffed the second spade with the 3. ‘Everything
depends on the trump finesse,’ he muttered to himself. He crossed to
dummy with the A and ran the 10, West following with the 2. So
far so good, but West showed out when declarer continued with a trump
to the queen. To pick up East’s remaining K7, declarer had to block
the club suit by leading the 3 to dummy’s Q. A third trump finesse
followed and declarer drew East’s last trump. Diamonds failed to break
3-3, however, so he ended one down.
Did you spot the clever trump play that declarer missed? At Trick 2
you must ruff with the J or Q. You then cross to the A and run the
8 successfully. When you play the 10, East playing low again, you can
underplay with your 9 (thanks to the unblock at Trick 2) and the lead
remains in dummy. You pick up the trumps with a further finesse and
can eventually discard the potential diamond loser on the fourth round
of clubs.

Unblocking so that the trump suit can be run
On the next deal you need to run the long trump suit, to apply pressure
on one of the defenders. This can be achieved only after a double unblock
in the trump suit.
 A 7 5
 10 9 7
 A 8 5
 A K Q 7
 J 10 9 3  KQ64
 Q N  J6
 J 9 6 4 3 W E  K 10 2
S
 10 8 4  J953
 8 2
 A K 8 5 4 3 2
 Q 7
 6 2

4
pass 4NT pass 5
pass 7 all pass
South’s 5 response to Roman Keycard Blackwood shows the ace and

king of trumps. Since an eight-card trump suit will be enough for an
easy thirteen tricks, North ventures a grand slam. How will you play this
contract when West leads the J?
You must assume that the defenders’ trumps are breaking 2-1. Since
you have seven hearts, rather than the eight that partner had in mind, you
can count only twelve top tricks. The only realistic chance of making the
grand slam is to find the same defender holding the club guard and the K.
He can then be subjected to a simple squeeze when you run the trumps.
You win the first trick with dummy’s A and lead the 10 to your A,
pleased to see both defenders following. You then play the K, unblocking
the 9 from the dummy. The next move is one that will be familiar if you
are a squeeze technician. You have to play the A (a Vienna Coup), to free
your Q to act as a one-card threat against both opponents. This essential
task performed, you benefit from your two unblocking plays in the trump

suit by leading dummy’s 7 and overtaking with the 8. You then reel off
your remaining trumps, to arrive at this position:
 7
 —
 —
 A K Q 7
 10  —
 — N  —
 J 9 W E  K
S
 10 8  J 9 5 3
 8
 2
 Q
 6 2
You play your last trump and discard the 7 from dummy. East is squeezed
in the minor suits and has to give you an extra trick. He will doubtless
throw the K, hoping that West holds the Q. Not today, and you face the
Q as you claim the contract.
(You can see what a tangle you would have been in, had you left the
A in dummy. With East discarding after the dummy, there would have
been no way to make the contract.)
Unblocking in trumps, to leave the lead in the opposite

hand
Some of the deals in this chapter have been quite difficult, as I expect you
noticed! I will apologize in advance but the following spade game is no
exception.

 K 6
 A 4 3 2
 A 8 2
 10 7 6 3
 —  Q532
 K Q J 10 9 6 N  75
 10 7 3 W E  QJ94
S
 Q J 5 4  AK9
 A J 10 9 8 7 4
 8
 K 6 5
 8 2

2 pass pass 2
pass 3 pass 4
all pass
How will you play 4 when West leads the K?

You have three winners in the side suits and therefore need to score
seven trump tricks. With nine cards missing the queen, it is usually a close
decision whether to play for the drop or to finesse one player or other for
the queen. Here you expect West to hold six hearts to his partner’s two, so
the odds favor playing East for the Q.
If East holds Qxx, a single finesse will suffice. You would like to
make the contract also when East holds Qxxx. In that case you will need
to perform a ‘trump coup’. In other words, you will need to head for an
end position where your AJ lies over the Q5 and you can prevent East
from scoring a trick with the Q.
A prerequisite of achieving such an end position is that you have to
shorten your trumps to the same length as those of East. Because entries
to dummy are far from plentiful, you must ruff a heart at Trick 2. What is
more, you must not take this ruff with the 4! Let’s say that you are feeling
inspired and ruff with the 7. Next you lead the 8 to dummy’s K, noting
that West does indeed show out on this trick. You then lead dummy’s 6,
East following with the 3. On this trick you play the carefully preserved
4, which means that the lead remains in the dummy.
You ruff a heart with the 9, cash the K and A and ruff dummy’s last
heart with the 10. These cards remain:

 —
 —
 8
 10 7 6 3
 —  Q 5
 — N  —
 10 W E  Q
S
 Q J 5 4  A K
 A J
 —
 6
 8 2
The hard work is over. You exit in one of the minor suits and, not caring
which defender ends up on lead, eventually claim two more trump tricks
for the contract. After such a piece of cardplay, you could die happy. Well,
fairly happy.

Chapter 9:
Surviving a Bad Trump Break
We have already seen several deals where the trump suit broke badly and
you needed to play well to retrieve the situation. In this chapter we will
witness some of the worst trump breaks that the Card Gods can throw at
you.
Scoring the remaining trumps on a crossruff

You are in a 4-4 fit and discover that the trumps are 5-0. Unpleasant, yes,
but it may still be possible to escape without a trump loser. Provided you
can count sufficient side-suit winners, a crossruff may yield the required
number of tricks.
 K Q 8 5
 9 4 3
 A Q 8 2
 A 5
 10 9 7 6 4  —
 8 2 N  A K J 10 7 6 5
 10 5 4 W E  7 6
S
 9 8 3  10 7 4 2
 A J 3 2
 Q
 K J 9 3
 K Q J 6

3 dbl
pass 4 pass 4
pass 5 pass 6
all pass
West leads the 8 to the K and East returns the A. You ruff low and
West follows with the 2. When you continue with the A, East discards
a heart. Assuming you have not already thrown your cards out of a nearby
window, how will you continue?
Chapter 9: Surviving a Bad Trump Break | 151 |

West holds five spades and two hearts, leaving him with six cards in
the minor suits. If you can cash six minor-suit winners, a total of six trump
tricks will give you the slam. This will be possible, unless West happens to
hold a singleton in one of the minors.
At Trick 4 you lead a second round of trumps towards dummy. West
inserts the 9 (to prevent you from finessing the 8) and you win with
the Q. You now have two trump tricks and must aim to score all four
remaining trumps on a crossruff. You cash the AQ and continue with the
AK. When you play the Q, West follows and you discard a diamond
from dummy. Next comes the J. If West began with three clubs and
ruffs, you will overruff cheaply in dummy and cash another top diamond.
You can then crossruff the remainder, ruffing dummy’s last heart with the
J.
If West were to follow to four rounds of clubs, you would discard two
diamonds from dummy and again end with a crossruff. If instead West
held only two clubs and ruffed the third club, you would overruff and play
two further diamond winners before turning to the crossruff. It is rather
surprising that the 5-0 trump break causes so little inconvenience!
Trump coup to survive a 5-0 break

At the end of the previous chapter we saw an example of the trump coup
— where you score both cards of a trump tenace even though there is no
trump to lead in the opposite hand. Let’s see an example of this play that
allows you to overcome a 5-0 trump break in a slam.
 A 10
 K Q 10 8
 A K 4
 A Q J 7
 7 6 3  K Q 9 8 5 2
 J 9 7 5 4 N  —
 Q 9 W E  J 10 3
S
 9 8 6  10 4 3 2
 J 4
 A 6 3 2
 8 7 6 5 2
 K 5

2 pass
pass dbl pass 3
pass 6 all pass
On most hands in the 0-7 point range, South would have responded 2NT
(the Lebensohl convention). His actual 3 suggested around 8-11 points
and encouraged North to leap to a small slam. Take the South cards now.
You win the 3 lead with dummy’s A and play the K, East seeming to
enjoy the moment as he discards a spade. What now?
You continue with three rounds of clubs, discarding your spade loser.
After a spade ruff with the 3, you lead the 6 for a finesse of dummy’s
8. All follow to the AK and you ruff your fourth club winner with
the A. These cards remain:
 —
 Q 10
 4
 —
 —  K 9
 J 9 7 N  —
 — W E  J
S
 —  —
 —
 —
 8 7 6
 —
You have no trump to lead for a finesse of the 10 but a diamond does
just as well. West has to ruff and lead a trump into dummy’s tenace. The
slam is yours.
Forcing a defender to split trump honors

Suppose you are in a small slam, with a 4-4 trump fit, and a defender holds
QJxxx in the trump suit. If you can force him to split his honors on the
second round of trumps, you may be able to endplay him later. He will
then have to lead away from his remaining trump honor. Play your cards
right (ahem) and that is what will happen on this deal:

 A 10 5 2
 A
 Q J 2
 A K Q 9 2
 —  QJ743
 K Q J 10 8 3 2 N  94
 8 5 4 3 W E  10 6
S
 J 6  10 7 4 3
 K 9 8 6
 7 6 5
 A K 9 7
 8 5

3 dbl pass 4
pass 4NT pass 5
pass 6 all pass
You win the K lead with the A and see that the only serious threat to the
slam is a trump stack with East. At Trick 2 you lead the 2 towards your
hand, East following with a spot card. You finesse the 9 (planning to
repeat the finesse through East, should West win this trick). As it happens,
West shows out. What now?
You continue with three top clubs, discarding a heart, and West shows
out on the third round. You ruff dummy’s 2 with the 6 and continue
with the Q and J. These cards remain:
 A 10 5
 —
 2
 9
 —  Q J 7 4
 Q J 10  9
 8 5  —
 —  —
 K 8
 7
 A K
 —

You lead the 9. If East discards, you will subsequently lead the 5,
winning East’s J with the K. You will then play a diamond, forcing
him to ruff and lead into dummy’s A10. Suppose instead that East ruffs
the club low. You will overruff, cash the K and play a master diamond,
forcing East to ruff with the J. Dummy’s A10 will then collect the last
two tricks. East’s final option is to ruff high. You will overruff with the
K, ruff a heart with the 5 and lead a diamond. East will have to ruff and
lead into dummy’s A10.
Endplaying the defender with the long trumps

Suppose a defender holds QJ97 of trumps, sitting over dummy’s AK4. Is
there any way that you could restrict him to just one trump trick? It may
seem impossible but miracles do sometimes happen at the bridge table.
Would you have found the necessary magic on this deal?
 A K 4
 —
 A K Q J 9 3
 A K 5 3
 —  Q J 9 7
 K Q J 10 7 6 4 3 2 N  9
 6 W E  8 7 5 4
S
 Q 7 4  J 10 8 2
 10 8 6 5 3 2
 A 8 5
 10 2
 9 6

2 pass 2
4 pass pass 4
pass 4NT pass 5
pass 5 pass 5
pass 6 all pass
North’s 5 was part of the Roman Keycard Blackwood method, asking

for the Q. When South denied this card, North gave up his search for a
grand slam. How would you play 6 when West leads the K?

Although no warning bell would sound at the table, it is critical which
card you play from dummy on the first trick. It has to be a diamond!
You win the trick with the A and play a trump towards dummy, West
discarding a heart. What now?
You win with dummy’s A and see that you will have to shorten your
trumps to the same length as East’s in order to stand any chance of a trump
endplay. Although it may not have been obvious at the time, this is why
you needed to retain dummy’s two low clubs (so you can ruff two clubs
in your hand). You cash the AK and take the first club ruff. You then
return to dummy with the A and ruff another club. East follows to the
next three rounds of diamonds and you have reached this end position:
 K 4
 —
 9
 —
 —  Q J 9
 Q J 10 N  —
 — W E  —
S
 —  —
 10 8 6
 —
 —
 —
When you lead dummy’s last diamond, East ruffs with the J to prevent
you from scoring the 10 in your hand. It does him little good because he
then has to lead away from his remaining trump honor, giving you the last
two tricks and the contract.
On the next deal, too, you must shorten your own trumps in order to
prepare for a trump endplay.

 K
 K Q J
 9 7 4 3
 A 8 5 4 3
 Q 9 6 3 2  —
 7 5 2 N  A 10 9 8 6 4
 J 5 W E  K Q 10
S
 K Q J  9 7 6 2
 A J 10 8 7 5 4
 3
 A 8 6 2
 10

1 1 4
dbl all pass
Whether or not West should have doubled is something that we can

discuss another time. How will you play the contract when the K is led,
won with dummy’s ace?
It may seem right to play on hearts immediately, setting up two
discards for your diamond losers. Such a move will cost you the contract,
however. A trump endplay on West will also be necessary and to achieve
this you will have to reduce your trump length to match that of West. At
Trick 2 you must therefore ruff a club in your hand. Only then do you play
a heart, East winning with the ace and switching to the K.
You win with the A and play a spade to the king, East showing out as
you rather feared he would. After discarding two diamonds on the QJ,
you ruff another club in your hand, reducing your trumps to AJ108.
When you exit with a diamond, East wins the trick and these cards are
still to be played:

 —
 —
 9 7
 8 5
 Q 9 6 3  —
 — N  10 9
 — W E  10
S
 —  9
 A J 10 8
 —
 —
 —
East plays any of his four cards and you ruff with the J. If West overruffs,
he will have to lead back into your A108. If instead he underruffs, you
will throw him in with the 8 to the 9, again forcing a lead back into your
trump tenace.
West’s double may have directed your attention to a possible 5-0
trump break, it is true. A good declarer would have ruffed a club at Trick
2 anyway, just in case the trumps happened to break badly.
On the next deal West’s penalty double appeared as cast-iron as the
Golden Gate bridge. He was soon disillusioned.
 K 6 3
 9
 10 8 6 3 2
 K 8 4 3
 A 10 5  Q J 9 8 7 4 2
 Q J 8 7 5 N  —
 7 5 W E  9 4
S
 A Q 6  J 9 7 2
 —
 A K 10 6 4 3 2
 A K Q J
 10 5

3 4
dbl all pass

Hoping that he was not missing a slam, South bid 4 over East’s preempt
in spades. One set of worries was replaced by another when West doubled
for penalties. How would you play the doubled heart game when West
makes the helpful lead of the A, which you ruff with the 2?
If you lead any trump at Trick 2, you will go down against best
defense. Instead you should lead a club towards dummy’s king. West
cannot afford to play low, because you would win with the K and discard
your remaining club on the K. He rises with the A and exits with a
club, won in the dummy. You cash the K, discarding a diamond, and ruff
a club in your hand. Still leaving the trumps alone (what self-control you
have), you play the A and K.
Down to AK1064 Q, you at last play a trump towards dummy’s 9.
West steps in with the J and East shows out, surprising no one. You ruff
West’s 10 exit with the 6 and play the Q, West has to ruff and lead a
trump away from the queen into your tenace. The doubled game is yours.
Go back to the position after you had ruffed the A lead. Why would
you go down if you played a low trump towards dummy immediately?
The answer is that West could step in with the J and exit without assisting
you (in one of the minors). When you follow the line of play described
above, West has to assist you, by leading a spade, when he wins with the
first of his trump honors. Not an easy hand to play!
Overruffs with a natural trump trick

Is there ever any point in taking a ruff when a defender can overruff? Yes,
indeed! When the defender overruffs from a natural trump trick, you will
be condensing two potential losers into one.
Many players would go down on the deal below. Would you have
managed the play correctly?

 K 8 3
 9 7 5 4 2
 9 4
 A 5 4
 9  Q J 10 7
 Q J 10 N  K863
 Q 10 8 5 2 W E  J3
S
 Q 9 8 2  J 10 7
 A 6 5 4 2
 A
 A K 7 6
 K 6 3

1
pass 2 pass 4
all pass
How will you play the spade game when West leads the Q to your A?
If you draw a single round of trumps at the start, you will go down!
Your plan must be to ruff both the diamond losers with low trumps in the
dummy. If East is short in diamonds and overruffs, this will not matter as
long as he is overruffing from a natural trump trick.
After winning the heart lead you cash the A and K. You then ruff
a diamond with the 3. As it happens, East overruffs with the 7. This
does not cost you anything because he started with two trump winners
anyway. (Nor would it cost if he had started with three trumps, something
like Q107.) You win East’s Q return with dummy’s K, reach your hand
with the K and ruff your last diamond with the 8. East overruffs again,
with the second of his two natural trump tricks. You win his return, draw
the last trump and claim the contract.
Would this line of play have failed in the unlikely case that East held
two trumps and two diamonds? No, because after the first overruff you
would have drawn a round of trumps with the K before ruffing your last
diamond with the 8. East would not have been able to overruff a second
time.

Using clues from the bidding
When a defender makes a two-suited overcall, this can act as a warning
sign that your eventual trump suit is more likely than normal to break
badly. See if you can take advantage of such an overcall on the next deal:
 A
 7 5 3
 Q 10 5 2
 A K Q J 5
 K Q 10 7 6  9542
 A J 10 9 4 N  Q62
 — W E  J976
S
 8 6 3  10 7
 J 8 3
 K 8
 A K 8 4 3
 9 4 2

1
2 3 pass 4
pass 5 pass 6
all pass
West intervenes with a Michaels overcall, showing length in both major

suits. North’s 3 is a splinter bid, agreeing diamonds as trumps. How will
you play 6 when West leads the K to dummy’s A?
You can pick up a 4-0 trump break on either side. Here, West’s
overcall has made it impossible for him to hold four diamonds, so at
Trick 2 you should play the Q. West does indeed show out. What is
your next move?
Suppose you continue with the 10. If East covers with the J, all will
be well. You will win with the A, ruff a spade and pick up the trumps
with a finesse of the 8. You can then draw the last trump and run five
club tricks for the contract. If East is smart enough to refuse to cover the
10, you will go down! You could cross to a top trump to take a spade
ruff but you would then be stranded in the dummy, unable to draw East’s
last trump.

Instead you should lead a low trump from dummy on the second
round. Let’s say that East inserts the 9 and you win with the A. You can
then ruff a spade with the 10, freeing the way for a subsequent lead of the
5 to your 8. You score five trumps, five clubs, the A and a spade ruff.
Uppercut by declarer
The uppercut is a familiar maneuver in defense. You ruff with your highest
trump, knocking a hole in declarer’s trump holding when he is forced to
overruff. The intended effect is to promote an extra trump trick in partner’s
hand. Occasionally you can benefit from the same idea, as declarer.
 10 5 2
 K Q 8 4
 5 4
 A 9 7 2
 —  K 9 8 7 4
 10 7 N  J 9 6 2
 Q 10 6 2 W E  J 9 7
S
 K Q J 10 8 5 4  3
 A Q J 6 3
 A 5 3
 A K 8 3
 6

1
3 3 pass 4
pass 4 pass 4
pass 5 pass 6
all pass
West leads the K and you win with the A. The 10 is covered by East’s
K and your A. How will you continue when West discards a club on
this trick?
You must restrict the value of East’s remaining 9874 to just one trick.
East will have to hold at least three hearts, so your next move is to cash
three winners in that suit, ending in the dummy. When West discards on
the third round of hearts, you ruff dummy’s last heart in your hand. The
AK are following by a diamond ruff with dummy’s 2. When you play a

second round of clubs from dummy, East ruffs with the 7 (to prevent you
from scoring your 6) and you overruff with the J. These cards remain:
 5
 —
 —
 9 7
 —  9 8 4
 — N  —
 Q W E  —
S
 Q J  —
 Q 6
 —
 8
 —
Now comes the finale. You lead your last diamond and ruff with dummy’s
5. This acts as an uppercut by declarer. It knocks out East’s 8 and he is
then forced to lead from his 94 into your Q6 tenace. Enjoy the moment!
Allowing the defender to ruff

When you are alerted to a bad trump break by a penalty double, you may
find that you can make the contract with the simple technique of allowing
the doubler to score his trump tricks when he wishes. West regretted his
penalty double of 4 when this deal arose:

 7 6 5 2
 K 5
 A 9
 A K 7 5 2
 K Q 8 4  —
 2 N  Q 10 9 8 7 4
 10 8 7 5 4 2 W E  K Q J
S
 10 8  Q 9 4 3
 A J 10 9 3
 A J 6 3
 6 3
 J 6

1 1 1
pass 2 pass 4
dbl all pass
West led the 2, an obvious singleton, and declarer won East’s Q with the
A. It may seem the obvious move now to play the A. Succumb to this
temptation and you will go down! West will switch to diamonds when he
gains the lead. You will then lose a diamond, unless clubs happen to be
3-3 and you can set up a diamond discard.
Alerted to the fact that trumps are likely to be 4-0, you do better to
play a second round of hearts. West ruffs dummy’s K with the 4 and
switches to diamonds. You win with the ace and return to your hand with
the A (that is why you could not afford to play the card at Trick 2). Now
you can play the J, discarding dummy’s diamond loser. West is welcome
to score three trump tricks because that will be the defenders’ ration. The
remaining ten tricks will be yours.

Quiz IV: Trump unblocks, bad trump breaks
28.  K 10 4
 K32
 AKQ
 10 7 6 4
Q led Contract: 4
 A Q 9 6 3
 8
 J 10 9 4 2
 Q 2
West opens 2, North doubles and you respond 4. West leads the Q
and you duck in dummy. He continues with the J and you duck again,
East following low. How will you continue? (Answer on page 168.)
29.  542
 63
 AJ96
 10 7 6 4
 A K 10 9 8 6
 A K 8 5 2
 3
 A
West leads the 2. You win East’s Q with the A and play the A, East
discarding a club. How will you continue? (Answer on page 168.)
30.  J853
 Q32
 AK5
 A82
Q led Contract: 6
 A K Q
 A
 J 9 8 7 6 3
 9 5 4
How will you play 6 when West leads the Q? (Answer on page 169.)
Quiz IV: Trump unblocks, bad trump breaks | 165 |

31.  10 8 5 3
 J75
 A2
 AKQ2
2 led Contract: 6
 AKQJ
 A9
 Q763
 J64
East opens 3, you double and partner shows his strength with 4. West
leads the 2 against your eventual contract of 6. You win with the A
and play the A, East throwing a heart. What now? (Answer on page 169.)
32.  10 8
 9632
 864
 Q954
K led Contract: 6
 A K
 A Q J 10
 3
 A K J 8 7 3
You open 2 and end in 6. How will you play the slam when West leads
the K and continues with the Q? (Answer on page 170.)
33.  A965
 A984
 AQ8
 K 10
 87
 KQ32
 K75
 AQJ3
You open 1NT on the South cards and West overcalls 2. You play
eventually in 6 and West leads the K, won with the A. When you
play a trump to the king, West discards a spade! Can you see any way to
recover? (Answer on page 170.)

34.  7532
 QJ4
 973
 865
 A K Q 10 8 6 4
 —
 A 5 4
 A 4 2
West opens 1 and East raises (preemptively) to 3. You overcall 4,
ending the auction, and West leads the K. How will you play the
contract? (Answer on page 171.)
35.  AK732
 KQ4
 754
 K6
J led Contract: 6
 5
 A 6 2
 A K 10 9 6 3
 A 3 2
You win the J lead with the A and play the A, not over-amused when
East throws a club on this trick. How can you retrieve the situation?
36.  K J 10 6
 9
 A K Q J 9
 A K 6
Q led Contract: 6
 A Q 8 7
 K 7 2
 8 5 3
 7 3 2
West opens 1 in the third seat. North doubles and you respond 2,
North carrying you to 6. How will you play this contract when the Q
is led? (Answer on page 172.)

Answers to Quiz IV
28.  K 10 4 to question
 K32
 AKQ
 10 7 6 4

 A Q 9 6 3
 8
 J 10 9 4 2
Contract: 4  Q 2
Ruff the second heart with the 3 and play the A, unblocking dummy’s
10. Play the 6 to dummy’s K and cash the A. If trumps are 3-2, you
will return to the Q; if instead East began with Jxxx, you will finesse
the 9 next. In either case you will play five rounds of trumps, discarding
the K and Q. You then run the remaining diamonds for the contract.
If you omit to unblock the 10, you risk blocking the trump suit. (You
cannot resolve such a blockage by ruffing another heart because this would
promote East’s J when he started with four trumps.)

 63
 AJ96
 10 7 6 4

 A K 10 9 8 6
 A K 8 5 2
 3
You win the club lead and play the A, East throwing a club. You must
hope to escape for just one heart loser. You can do this by ruffing two
hearts in the dummy. You will not mind if West chooses to ruff in front of
the dummy because he will do so with a natural trump winner. The one
thing you cannot afford is to have a heart honor ruffed. (West would then
return a trump and you would lose two trumps and two hearts.) Play the
A followed by a low heart. When West started with a singleton heart, he
cannot afford to ruff a loser with a natural trump trick. East will win the
ducked round of hearts and will have no trump to return. You ruff East’s

club return and lead another low heart. If West ruffs in with the 7 and
returns the Q, there will still be a trump in dummy to deal with your last
low heart. You will lose just two trumps and one (ducked) heart.

 Q32
 AK5
 A82

 A K Q
 A
 J 9 8 7 6 3
Contract: 6  9 5 4
Win the first trick with the A and play the A, unblocking the 6. If
both defenders play trump spot cards, continue with the K, unblocking
the 7. When trumps break 2-2, you will be able to play the AKQ and
cross to dummy by leading the 3 to the 5. You can then discard a club
loser on the J.
If the Q falls on the first round, draw a second round of trumps with
the J (to check that the trumps are indeed 3-1). You must then hope to
cash the AKQ while there is still a trump out. Should you prove lucky
in this respect, you can return to dummy with the K, drawing the last
trump, and again take a club discard on the J.

31.  10 8 5 3 to question
 J75
 A2
 AKQ2

 AKQJ
 A9
 Q763
Contract: 6  J64
East has opened 3 and West leads the 2 against 6. You win the heart
lead and play the A, East discarding a heart. You need West to hold four
clubs. Play four rounds of clubs, throwing the 9. Ruff a heart with the
J, cross to the A and ruff dummy’s last heart with the Q. Play the K

and exit with a diamond. Whoever wins this trick, you are sure to score
two tricks with dummy’s remaining 108.
32.  10 8 to question
 9632
 864
 Q954

 A K
 A Q J 10
 3
Contract: 6  A K J 8 7 3
If East holds Kxxx, you will need three trump entries to dummy in
order to finesse three times in hearts. You cannot therefore afford to ruff
the second round of diamonds with the 3. What if you ruff with the
7 and play the A, finding that West began with 1062? You cannot
subsequently lead the 8 to dummy’s 9 because West might thwart you
by inserting the 10! After winning with the Q, dummy’s remaining
95 would be worth a second entry but not a third.
You should therefore ruff the second diamond with the J. You play
the A, East showing out, and continue with the 8 (or 7), intending
to cover with dummy’s 9. Now a know-it-all West cannot beat you by
playing the 10; you have an extra low trump in your hand.
33.  A965 to question

 A984
 AQ8
 K 10

 87
 KQ32
 K75
Contract: 6  AQJ3
West overcalls your 1NT opening with 2 and you end in 6. You win the
K lead with dummy’s A and play a trump to the king, West throwing a
spade. You can survive the 5-0 trump break when East holds four clubs
and three diamonds. You cash seven winners in the minor suits and exit

with your spade loser. East has to ruff and must then lead away from his
remaining J107, allowing you to pick up the last three trump tricks.

 QJ4
 973
 865

 A K Q 10 8 6 4
 —
 A 5 4
Contract: 4  A 4 2
West, who opened 1, leads the K against your spade game. You must
ruff with the 8, retaining the two lower trumps. You draw trumps, in one
or two rounds, and lead the 6 to dummy’s 7. Then you run the Q,
discarding a minor-suit loser from your hand. When you regain the lead,
you will lead the 4 to the 5 and discard another loser on the established J.
35.  AK732 to question

 KQ4
 754
 K6

 5
 A 6 2
 A K 10 9 6 3
Contract: 6  A 3 2
You win the J lead with the A and play the A, East throwing a club.
To make the slam, you will have to reduce West to the QJ8 as his last
three cards. You can then endplay him by leading the 10. This will be
possible when West holds either 3-3-4-3 shape (you would need to ruff
a club in dummy) or 4-3-4-2 shape (you would then take an extra spade
ruff in your hand.).
You hold six spades between the two hands and only five clubs, and
West is in fact twice as likely to be 3-3-4-3 as 4-3-4-2.
You play dummy’s four major-suit winners and ruff a spade. You
continue with the K and A and ruff a club in dummy. If all this passes
by without mishap, West will be down to QJ8, ripe for your endplay!

36.  K J 10 6 to question
 9
 A K Q J 9
 A K 6

 AQ87
 K72
 853
Contract: 6  732
You need a heart ruff in dummy to bring your total to twelve. Win the club
lead with the A and draw a round of trumps with the K, all following.
When you play a heart to the king, West wins with the ace and continues
with the J. You win with the K and must now be careful with the
entries to your hand, in case East holds four trumps. You must lead the
J, overtaking with your Q. All will be well if trumps are 3-2. When
instead West shows out on the second trump, you will ruff a heart with
the 10 (a second trump unblock) and then lead the 6 to your 8 for the
marked finesse.

Chapter 10:
Accumulating Trump Tricks
When a bad trump break prevents you from drawing the defenders’
trumps, you may be able to make the contract by ruffing with your low
trumps. The technique is often appropriate when you are in a 5-1 or 6-1
trump fit. The poor quality of your trumps may prevent you from drawing
trumps, but you can accumulate enough tricks by taking low ruffs in your
hand.
Scoring the low trumps when you cannot draw trumps

You will often find yourself in a 6-1 fit when you have opened with a weak
two-bid:
Chapter 10: Accumulating Trump Tricks | 173 |

 6
 A K 9 5
 A 9 8 3
 Q 7 5 2
 A Q 9 5  J8
 Q 6 N  J 10 8 4
 K 10 5 2 W E  QJ76
S
 J 10 9  A86
 K 10 7 4 3 2
 7 3 2
 4
 K 4 3

2
all pass
West leads the J and you win with the K. The trump suit is far too weak
to consider drawing trumps. You must aim to score four trump tricks to
go with the four winners in the side suits.
You cross to the A and ruff a diamond. Using the A and K as
entries, you ruff two more diamonds. You have scored seven tricks already,
including three low ruffs. These cards remain:
 6
 9 5
 —
 Q 7 5
 A Q 9 5  J 8
 — N  J 10
 — W E  —
S
 10 9  A 8
 K 10 7
 7
 —
 4 3
You must be careful now. If you mistakenly exit with a heart, East will
have two entries to lead through your trump holding and you will not
score another trick. Instead you must play a club. East will gain the lead

with the A and lead the J, covered by the K and A. West cannot then
prevent you from scoring the 10 as your eighth trick.
Scoring the low trumps to survive a bad trump break

We will look next at the situation where a bad trump break prevents you
from drawing trumps.
 9 6 4 3
 7 6
 A K 8 6
 A K 6
 J 10 8 2  —
 J 10 2 N  Q 9 8 4 3
 J 9 3 2 W E  Q 10 4
S
 9 5  Q J 10 4 2
 A K Q 7 5
 A K 5
 7 5
 8 7 3

1 pass 1
pass 2 pass 3
pass 4 pass 4
pass 6 all pass
South’s 3 is assumed to be a game try initially but North cuebids in

clubs to show that he is slam-suitable if that is what South has in mind.
When South shows interest in a slam despite missing the top cards in both
minors, North quite rightly places him with excellent trumps. West leads
the J against the small slam and you win with the A. When you play a
top trump East discards a heart. How will you continue?
It may seem that you have a certain loser in both spades and clubs.
Think again! If you can score six side-suit winners, three top trumps and
three low trumps by ruffing, this will bring the total to twelve.
You will need West to hold four diamonds, to allow you to score the
7 and 5 with diamond ruffs in your hand. You play the AK and ruff
a diamond with a low trump, heartened by the appearance of East’s Q.
You cross to the A and ruff dummy’s 8 with your last low trump, West
following suit. A club to the king is followed by a heart to the king and

a heart ruff in dummy. You have scored ten tricks and still have the KQ
in your hand. The slam is yours! If you are wondering where one of
your losers has gone, you can enjoy the final trick as West has to ruff his
partner’s winning Q.
On the next deal, the opportunity to make the contract by scoring all
the low trumps becomes apparent only when the distribution is known.
 Q 5
 A K Q 5
 K 9 8 5 2
 A 8
 J 10 7 2  8
 J 9 3 N  10 8 7 2
 Q 10 7 6 4 W E  J
S
 10  K Q J 7 5 3 2
 A K 9 6 4 3
 6 4
 A 3
 9 6 4

3 3
pass 4NT pass 5
pass 6 all pass
West leads his singleton club and you win with dummy’s ace. You play
three rounds of trumps, East throwing a club on the second round. What
now?
The heart suit will give you one club discard. If diamonds break no
worse than 4-2, you will be able to establish a winner there for a second
club discard. Embarking on this line, you continue with the A and K.
What is your reaction when the 5-1 diamond break comes to light, East
throwing a club on the second round of the suit?
The answer is that you will now be able to take three diamond ruffs
in your hand, thereby scoring tricks with your 964. You ruff a diamond,
cross to the A and ruff another diamond. You play the KQ, discarding
a club, and persist with yet another diamond ruff. Twelve tricks are before
you and the situation is reminiscent of the previous deal. When you play
your losing club at Trick 13, West has to use his master trump to ruff
partner’s winner.

Taking the first ruff immediately
When entries are short, you may need to take the first of your intended
ruffs immediately, before there is any suggestion that trumps may break
poorly. Such a move is necessary on this deal:
 A 6 4 2
 K Q 7 2
 A 3
 K 7 3
 K Q J 8 3  10 9 7
 6 N  J 10 9 5
 K J 9 8 4 W E  762
S
 6 4  985
 5
 A 8 4 3
 Q 10 5
 A Q J 10 2

1
1 dbl pass 3
pass 4NT pass 5
pass 6 all pass
How will you plan the play when West leads the K?
You have seven winners in the side suits. If trumps break 3-2, you can
simply draw trumps in three rounds and then score the last two trumps
separately to bring the total to twelve. When trumps break 4-1, life is
more difficult. You will need to score two low trumps in your hand, by
ruffing spades, and then concede a trump trick to East before running the
clubs.
Once you begin to plan the play, you will see that you must ruff a
spade at Trick 2. You continue with the ace and king of trumps, finding
that East holds four trumps. You take a second spade ruff in your hand,
return to dummy with the K and continue with queen and another
trump to East’s jack. The sun is shining brightly now. You will win East’s
minor-suit return and run your remaining clubs for the contract.

Scoring a low trump en passant
It is sometimes possible to promote a lone spot card in the trump suit,
when the defender who is second to play to the trick holds the defenders’
only higher trump. Look at this heart slam:
 A J 7
 Q 6 4
 K 8 4
 K 8 6 3
 10 6 4 2  985
 5 N  J 10 9 2
 Q J 10 7 W E  653
S
 Q 10 7 2  J94
 K Q 3
 A K 8 7 3
 A 9 2
 A 5

1 pass 1
pass 1NT pass 2
pass 2 pass 6
all pass
South uses ‘new minor forcing’ to uncover the 5-3 heart fit and a contract
of 6 is reached. You win the Q lead with the A and play three rounds
of trumps, discovering the 4-1 break. It seems that you have inescapable
losers in both trumps and diamonds. Can you see any chance of escape?
You have seven side-suit winners. If you can add five trump tricks to
the total, by ruffing two of dummy’s clubs with low trumps in your hand,
you will bring the total to twelve.
You play the three top spades, both defenders following, and continue
with the A and K. When you ruff a club in your hand, East follows suit.
You return to dummy with the K, leaving this position:

 —
 —
 8
 8
 —  —
 — N  J
 J W E  6
S
 Q  —
 —
 8
 9
 —
You lead dummy’s 8 and it makes no difference whether East’s last side-
suit card is a club or not. If he ruffs with the J, you will throw the 9 and
win Trick 13 with the 8. If East discards instead, you will score the 8 en
passant (as it is called). Once again, the defenders’ two apparent tricks — a
diamond and a trump — are condensed into one.
On the next deal it is West who is left with a master trump but there
is no effective moment for him to score the card.
 A Q 7 4
 7 3
 A K 10 7 4
 K Q
 K J 8  10 6
 A K Q 9 5 N  J 10 8
 J 2 W E  Q985
S
 9 6 3  J 10 7 4
 9 5 3 2
 6 4 2
 6 3
 A 8 5 2

1 dbl pass 1
pass 3 pass 4
all pass

West begins with his three top hearts and you ruff the third round in the
dummy. Since you can afford only one trump loser, you overtake the Q
with the A and finesse the Q. When you continue with the A, both
defenders follow suit. What next?
The next task is to establish dummy’s diamonds. You play the ace and
king of the suit, all following, and lead a third round, ruffing with the 5.
What can West do? If he overruffs with his master trump, you will easily
make the contract. Two dummy entries will remain (the K and a club
ruff), so you can establish the diamond suit and reach the long card there.
Let’s say that West declines to overruff, discarding a club.
You cross to dummy with the K and lead a fourth round of
diamonds, ruffing with the 9. West is caught in the same predicament.
If he overruffs, dummy will be high (the 7 and the thirteenth diamond).
Let’s say that West discards again. You then lead a third round of clubs,
scoring dummy’s 7 en passant. As on the previous deal, we see the power
of having a low trump sitting over a defender’s master trump.
Scoring several low trumps on a crossruff

Suppose you have two low trumps in your hand and two in the dummy,
while a defender has a master trump. When the cards lie well, you may be
able to score all four of the low trumps by crossruffing.
 K 8 5 4
 K Q 7 4
 8 6 4
 Q 7
 Q 10 2  J7
 J 10 9 8 6 N  A3
 J 9 3 W E  Q 10 7 2
S
 J 8  K 10 9 4 2
 A 9 6 3
 5 2
 A K 5
 A 6 5 3

1NT
pass 2 pass 2
pass 4 all pass

West leads the J, covered by the Q and East’s A. Back comes the
3 and you win with the K. Your best chance at this stage is that West
will hold the K. You draw two rounds of trumps with the king and ace
and then lead a club towards the queen, losing to the K. How can you
retrieve the situation when East switches to a low diamond?
You win with the A and cash the K. You can count four winners
in the side suits and two top trump tricks. To bring the total to ten, you
need to score all four of your remaining low trumps. When you lead a
third round of clubs, West cannot ruff with the Q or you will discard a
diamond from dummy and easily score the low ruffs that you need. Let’s
say that West throws a heart instead and you ruff with dummy’s 5. You
ruff a heart with the 6, West having to follow suit, and these cards are
still out:
 8
 7
 8
 —
 Q  —
 10 N  —
 J W E  Q 10
S
 —  10
 9
 —
 5
 6
West has no answer to your 6. If he ruffs with the Q, you will throw
dummy’s 8 and score both of your two trumps. If instead he discards a
diamond, you will ruff with the 8 and ruff dummy’s heart with the 9.
West’s final option is to throw the 10. You will ruff with the 8 and lead
the established 7, to force West’s Q. Again you will score the 8 and
9 separately.
Loser-on-loser to prepare for a safe ruff

Sometimes you suspect that a low ruff in one suit will allow an overruff.
It may then work well to discard from a different suit, preparing for a ruff
there instead.

 8 6 5
 A K 8 4 2
 7 5 4
 K 6
 2  K Q J 9 7 3
 Q N  10 9 7 6
 Q J 10 9 8 3 W E  2
S
 Q J 9 3 2  10 5
 A 10 4
 J 5 3
 A K 6
 A 8 7 4

2 2NT
pass 3 pass 3
pass 3NT pass 4
all pass
North uses a transfer sequence to offer you a choice of games. West leads
the 2 against 4 and you win East’s jack with the ace. When you lead
a low trump towards dummy, the Q appears from West. This is almost
certainly a singleton. How will continue the play?
You would like to score five side-suit winners and five trump tricks.
Drawing trumps will not be possible when East holds 10976. Instead
you must aim to score two of dummy’s low trumps by taking ruffs. Ruffing
clubs in dummy will not work because East is 6-4 in the majors and
will therefore be short in clubs. Instead you must aim to discard two
of dummy’s spades on your losing clubs, preparing to ruff two spades in
dummy!
You cash the K and lead to the A, East following suit. When West
covers the 8 with the 9, you discard a spade from dummy. It would not
assist East to ruff partner’s winner with a natural trump trick. Let’s say that
he discards a spade (a diamond is no better). You win West’s Q switch
with the A and lead the last club, throwing another spade from dummy.
East discards another spade and West returns the J. Once again, East
declines to ruff a loser with a trump winner.
You win with the K and can now get down to the real business of the
hand. You ruff a spade with dummy’s 2, return to the J and ruff another

spade with the 8. The contract is yours. You made five side winners, the
AKJ of trumps and two low spade ruffs in the dummy.
Ending a crossruff with a trump coup

We have already seen how you can trap a trump honor in a defender’s
hand, even though you cannot take a finesse in the suit — the technique
known as a trump coup. On the next deal you gather extra trump tricks
with a crossruff and end with a trump coup.
 6 4 2
 9 6
 10 7 4
 Q 8 7 5 2
 —  J 9 8 5
 7 N  Q J 10 8 3 2
W E
 K Q J 9 8 6 5 3  2
S
 A 10 9 6  J 3
 A K Q 10 7 3
 A K 5 4
 A
 K 4

2
5 dbl pass 6
all pass
North’s double shows a near worthless hand and is designed to deter any
flights of fancy from partner. Had he passed instead, this would have
suggested a high card or two. You win the K lead and play the A, West
discarding a diamond. How will you continue?
You have four winners in the side suits. If you can score two heart
ruffs in dummy and add six trump tricks from your own hand, this will
bring the total to twelve. The first task is to establish a club trick (before
East has a chance to discard a club as you ruff a diamond in your hand).
When you lead the K, West wins with the A and returns a club to
dummy’s Q.
Now the ruffing can begin! You ruff a diamond (or a club) with the
3, play the two top hearts and ruff a heart in the dummy. A minor-suit

ruff with the 7 is followed by another heart ruff in dummy. Your last
three cards are the KQ10. No trump remains in dummy for a finesse of
the 10 but that is no problem whatsoever. Another minor-suit card from
dummy ensures that you will score all three trumps, whichever card East
chooses for his ruff. The slam is yours.
Such a play may be possible also when the trumps lie over the long
holding. West was a disappointed man at the end of this deal:
 8 5 4
 8 7 4 2
 K J 6
 10 8 4
 Q 10 9 6  —
 J 10 6 N  A K Q 9 5 3
 9 8 7 3 W E  4 2
S
 9 3  J 7 6 5 2
 A K J 7 3 2
 —
 A Q 10 5
 A K Q

2
pass 2 2 2
pass 4 pass 6
all pass
West leads the J against your slam. You ruff with the 2 and play the A,
East discarding a heart. What is your plan?
You must aim for a three-card end position where West has to ruff
and then lead into your KJ tenace. West’s helpful heart lead has already
allowed you to score one of the low trumps in your hand. You cross to the
J and ruff a heart with the 3. You return to dummy with the K and ruff
a third round of hearts with the 7, West following. What next?
West needs to hold at least three diamonds to give you a chance,
so you play the A. When East shows out, you play a fourth diamond
winner, discarding a club from dummy. You continue with the AK to
leave this position:

 8 5
 8
 —
 —
 Q 10 9  —
 — N  A K
 — W E  —
S
 —  J
 K J
 —
 —
 Q
When you lead the Q, West has to ruff and lead into your trump tenace.
Suppose instead that the diamonds had broken 3-3. You would then have
cashed three rounds of clubs and forced West to ruff the fourth round of
diamonds.
An essential part of the preparation for this end position was to score
the 732 in your hand, by ruffing dummy’s hearts. If West had led either
minor suit, not assisting you, the slam would have failed.

Chapter 11:
Avoidance Plays in the Trump Suit
‘Avoidance play’ is a fancy but impressive-sounding name for keeping a

dangerous defender off lead. In this final chapter of the book — I hope
you have enjoyed it — we will look at some avoidance plays in the trump
suit.
Two-way finesse in the trump suit

When you are missing four or five trumps to the queen, your play in the
trump suit will often be affected by avoidance considerations. Here is a
straightforward example:
 6 5 3
 K 10 3
 A Q J 6
 K 4 2
 K Q J 10 7  82
 Q 6 5 N  84
 7 5 W E  K842
S
 Q 10 8  J9653
 A 9 4
 A J 9 7 2
 10 9 3
 A 7

1
1 2 pass 3
pass 4 all pass
West leads the K against your heart game, East following with the 8.
Little can be lost by holding up the A for one round; if East ruffs the
next spade, he will be ruffing a loser. West continues with the Q, East
Chapter 11: Avoidance Plays in the Trump Suit | 187 |

completing a high-low and you win with the A. How will you play the
trump suit?
If it was essential for you to guess who held the Q, you would
probably play East for the card. That’s because he holds only two spades
to West’s five and therefore has more spaces in his hand for any particular
card in a different suit. Suppose you cross to the K, run the 10 and
find that the finesse loses. West will cash a spade, the third trick for the
defense, and you will then go down if the diamond finesse fails.
The danger hand is West, who can cash a third spade trick. Aiming
to keep West off play, you should run the 9 from your hand. You will
then make the contract whether the finesse wins or loses! If East wins with
the Q, he will have no spade to play. You would win his return, draw
the remaining trump and take the diamond finesse (which is again into
the safe hand). You would lose one spade, one heart and one diamond,
making the game exactly. When the cards lie as in the diagram, the trump
finesse will win and you will score an overtrick.
The same sort of situation can arise when you are missing five trumps
to the jack. Look at the trump suit on this deal:
 A
 Q 10 6 3
 8 6 2
 K J 5 4 2
 10 9 6  K Q 8 5 4 2
 J 8 7 5 N  2
 A Q 9 7 W E  J 10 5
S
 10 8  9 6 3
 J 7 3
 A K 9 4
 K 4 3
 A Q 7

1NT
pass 2 pass 2
pass 4 all pass
How will you play the heart game when West leads the 10?

You win with the ace and play a trump to the ace, two spot cards
appearing. You now have a two-way guess in the trump suit, to pick up a
possible holding of Jxxx. Which top honor should you play next?
If you play the K next, you run the risk that East (the danger hand
who can switch through your K) will turn up with Jxxx. You might
then lose a trump and three diamonds before you have time to take any
discards. The correct play in trumps is low to the Q on the second
round. When the cards lie as in the diagram, this will prove an incorrect
guess so far as the trump suit is concerned. No matter, because you will
still make the contract! When East shows out on the second trump, you
will turn to the club suit. West can do nothing when he ruffs the third
round of clubs with his penultimate trump. If he returns the J to your
K, you will ruff one spade and discard a spade and a diamond on the
surplus clubs. Ten tricks will be yours.
Spurning a trump finesse

Suppose you have a one-way finesse, against the king or queen of trumps,
and it is into the danger hand. It will sometimes be right, for reasons of
avoidance, to play for the drop instead.
 Q 4 2
 8 6 3
 A K J 3
 K 9 5
 J 10 9 6  A85
 Q 7 N  10 9 2
 7 5 W E
 Q862
S
 10 8 4 3 2  QJ6
 K 7 3
 A K J 5 4
 10 9 4
 A 7

1 pass 1
pass 1NT pass 2
pass 2 pass 4
all pass

West leads the J and you win with the K. Other things being equal,
with five trumps to the queen missing, you would normally finesse the J
at some stage. Here West is the danger hand, because he can lead a second
round of spades through dummy’s queen. If you finesse the J and this
loses to the Q with West, the defenders may take two spade tricks and an
eventual diamond trick.
It is safer to play the A and K. When the cards lie as in the diagram,
the Q will fall on the second round. You can then draw a third round
of trumps and score an easy overtrick. Suppose instead that the worst
happens: East began with Q1092 and West shows out on the second
round of trumps. It will not cause you any problem! You will cross to the
A and lead a trump towards the jack. You will lose at most one spade, the
Q and the Q, still making the game.
Playing the AK can pay off in a different situation. Suppose West
began with Q107 and also holds three low diamonds. You take a losing
diamond finesse but will still have time to discard a spade on the thirteenth
diamond.
Let’s see a deal where you are missing three trumps to the king.
 10 5 4
 A 9 7 6 2
 J 10 5
 Q 2
 7  K Q J 8 6 2
 8 3 N  K
 K 9 6 2 W E
 8 4
S
 K J 9 8 5 4  10 7 6 3
 A 9 3
 Q J 10 5 4
 A Q 7 3
 A

2 3
pass 4 all pass
West leads the 7 and you win East’s J with the A. How will you
continue?

Suppose you give the deal no special consideration and run the Q.
The finesse will lose and East will cash two spade tricks. The K is offside
and that will be one down.
East is the danger hand, the defender who can cash two spade tricks.
To reduce the chance of him gaining the lead in trumps, you should
overtake the Q with the A. When the cards lie as in the diagram,
success will be instant: the K will fall. You will draw the last trump and
run the J, setting up a spade discard for an overtrick.
Suppose you follow this line and find that West had started with K3
or K83. It would cost you an overtrick, yes, but you would still make the
contract. You would dispose of a spade loser on the diamond suit, losing
at most one spade, one heart and one diamond.
As was the case on the previous deal, your unusual play in the trump
suit can gain in a second situation. Suppose East began with K8 and also
held three low diamonds. When he produces the 8 under dummy’s A,
you would run the J to West’s K. East would have to follow to the next
two diamonds and you would ditch a spade from dummy on the fourth
round of diamonds. The game would be yours.
Trump finesse to keep the danger hand off lead

Suppose you are playing in a spade game and this is your trump holding:
 A 8 6 3

 K J 7 4 2
Missing four trumps to the queen, it is normal to play for the drop. If you
can afford to lose a trump trick but cannot allow East to gain the lead, it
may become a good idea to play the A and then finesse the J. By doing
so, you prevent East from gaining the lead when he holds Qxx.
Declarer used this technique on the next deal, where he was missing
five trumps to the jack:

 A K 7 4 2
 J 4 2
 7 6 3
 8 5
 5  J986
 10 8 7 3 N  95
 A 10 4 2 W E  QJ9
S
 Q J 10 7  9643
 Q 10 3
 A K Q 6
 K 8 5
 A K 2

2NT
pass 3 pass 3
pass 3NT pass 4
all pass
How will you play 4 when West leads the Q?

The only risk to the contract is that East will gain the lead in trumps
and lead through the K. Playing trumps from the top will be good enough
if the suit breaks 3-2; indeed, you will score at least one overtrick. East is
the danger hand, because only he can lead through the K. You must look
for a play in trumps that will give you the contract even if East holds Jxxx
You win the club lead and play a low trump to the ace, all following.
Next you should lead a low trump from dummy and finesse the 10. If
West wins with the J, you will have lost an unnecessary trump trick, yes,
but you will still make the contract. After drawing trumps, you will play
four rounds of hearts, discarding a diamond from dummy. You will then
lose at most one trump and two diamonds. The gain comes when the
cards lie as in the diagram. Your finesse of the 10 keeps East off lead and
you actually end with an overtrick.
Here is a slightly more difficult deal on the same theme:

 6 3 2
 A Q 5
 K 10 4 2
 A 10 5
 K Q J 9 4  10 8 7 5
 J 8 N  K 10 9 7 6 3
 A J 9 5 W E  —
S
 7 2  8 6 3
 A
 4 2
 Q 8 7 6 3
 K Q J 9 4

1
1 2 3 4
pass 5 all pass
West leads the K against your diamond game. How will you play the
trump suit?
You can afford to lose two trump tricks. What you cannot afford is for
West to gain the lead twice in trumps, playing hearts on both occasions.
You might then lose a trick to the K as well.
After winning with the A, you should lead the 6. If West produces
the 5, you will play dummy’s 2. When the cards lie as in the diagram,
your deep finesse will be a spectacular success. You will lead another
trump, intending to finesse the 10, and lose just one trump and one
heart. West will no doubt suspect you of supernatural powers.
Suppose instead that East wins the first round of trumps with the 9.
He cannot attack hearts productively from his side of the table. Diamonds
will break 3-1 at worst and you will lose only one further trump trick to
the ace. The eleventh trick will come from a heart ruff, after pitching two
of dummy’s hearts on your club suit.
It will not help West to insert the 9 on the first round. You would
cover with dummy’s 10, East showing out, and then lead low to the Q.
Again you would pick up the trump suit for one loser.

Ducking a trump into the safe hand
We saw in the previous section how you will sometimes choose to finesse
trumps into the safe hand. In this way you avoid the risk of the danger
hand gaining the lead eventually if he happens to hold long trumps. Even
when you do not have a normal finessing position, you may be able to
achieve the same effect by ducking a trump into the safe hand.
 8 5 4
 A Q 7 6 5 2
 J 5 3
 8
 A Q J 9 7  10 2
 10 N  J8 43
 9 6 2 W E  10 8
S
 K Q J 9  10 6542
 K 6 3
 K 9
 A K Q 7 4
 A 7 3

1 pass pass 2NT
pass 3 pass 3
pass 4 all pass
A transfer auction leaves you as declarer in 4. How will you play this
contract when West leads the K?
If you can prevent East from gaining the lead and switching to spades,
you will eventually be able to discard two of dummy’s spades on your
diamond suit. You win with the A and must give some consideration
to your play in trumps. If your next move is to play the K, you will go
down. East will ruff the third round of diamonds subsequently and switch
to spades, giving the defenders four tricks.
Instead you must aim to duck a trump into the safe West hand. You
cross to dummy with a club ruff at Trick 2 and lead a low trump. East
follows with the 3 and you cover with the 9, ducking the trick into
the safe West hand. You can afford to lose a trump trick and West cannot
play spades effectively from his side of the table. You will now score an
overtrick, in fact, losing just one trump and one spade.

You might try the same sort of play when holding only the K8. If
East holds J943 or 10943, he may not be alert enough to insert a high
card. In that case you will cover his low card with the 8 and the safe
hand (West) will have to win the trick.
Leading through the defender’s trump ace

The most common form of avoidance play, as we have seen, is to play a suit
in such a way that the dangerous defender cannot gain the lead. Another
possibility is to allow this defender to gain the lead, but only if he is willing
to pay a high price for the privilege. For example, you can lead a low card
through his ace of trumps. He can rise with the ace if he wishes, but this
will save you a trick in the suit.
 K 6
 A 6 2
 K J 7 5 2
 A K 2
 9  A J 10 8
 10 9 8 4 N  KQJ
 9 8 3 W E  10 6 4
S
 J 9 8 5 4  Q 10 3
 Q 7 5 4 3 2
 7 5 3
 A Q
 7 6

1 dbl 1
pass 2NT pass 3
pass 4 all pass
How would you play the spade game when West leads the 10?
You rise with dummy’s A and East produces the J. Unless this is
an unblock from KQJx, East holds only three hearts and is therefore very
likely to hold four spades for his minimum point-count double. How will
you continue?
You must turn to the diamond suit, with the intention of discarding
a heart or two. You cash the A and Q and cross to dummy with the
A. When you play the K, throwing one of your heart losers, both

defenders follow. What next? It’s not a good idea to play another diamond
immediately. You can dispose of your last heart, yes, but West will ruff
with his 9. You will then lose four trump tricks.
You need to remove West’s 9 by playing one round of trumps and
must lead through East’s A, making it too expensive for him to rise with
the card. What can East do when you play dummy’s 6? If he rises with
the A, to cash a heart, you will lose only two trumps and a heart. Let’s
assume East witholds his A instead. You win with the Q, return to
dummy with the K and only then play a fourth diamond. You will throw
your last heart on this trick, whatever happens. If East chooses to ruff, it
will be from a natural trump trick. You will lose three trump tricks and no
hearts, making your game exactly.
Ducking when a big trump appears

When you expect to lose a trump trick, you can sometimes choose which
defender will win this trick. The required avoidance play on the next deal
is seen more often in notrump contracts.
 A Q 5 3
 8 7 4
 Q 10 5 3
 K 8
 K 8  J 10 2
 A Q 9 N  J 10 6 2
 9 7 6 2 W E  84
S
 Q J 10 3  9754
 9 7 6 4
 K 5 3
 A K J
 A 6 2

1NT
pass 2 pass 2
pass 4 all pass
How will you play the spade game when West leads the Q?

Let’s start by seeing how not to play the contract. Suppose you win
the club lead in your hand, finesse the Q successfully and then play the
A. Trumps will break 3-2, yes, but you will then have to turn to the
diamond suit, aiming to discard a heart loser. East will ruff the third round
of diamonds and switch to the J. The defenders will claim three heart
tricks and you will be one down.
You need to draw trumps without allowing East (the danger hand,
who can lead through the K) to gain the lead. Win the club lead with the
ace and finesse the Q. You should then return to your hand with the A
and lead a second trump. When the K appears from West, you play low
in the dummy, leaving the safe hand on lead. Since he cannot attack hearts
effectively from his side of the table, he will doubtless persist with clubs.
You win with the K, draw East’s last trump and play three more rounds
of diamonds, discarding a heart from your hand. With the game secure,
you lead towards the K in the search for an overtrick. West wins with the
A but the game is yours.
Suppose West had decided to play the K on the first round. Again
you would have ducked, to avoid losing a trump trick to East. You could
attempt the same play with this trump holding:
 A K 6 4
 Q 7  J 10 2
 9 8 5 3
Suppose again that East is the danger hand and you do not want to lose a
trump trick to him. You would lead towards dummy and play the A on
the first round. You would then return to your hand in some other suit
and lead a second round of trumps, intending to duck if the Q appeared
from West. (If the cards lay differently and West played a low card on the
second round, you would win with the K and hope that it was West who
held the last trump.)

Quiz V: Accumulating trump tricks, trump avoidance
37.  AJ874
 KJ4
 A73
 A5
Q led Contract: 6
 K63
 AQ5
 K84
 K962
You open 1NT and end in 6 after a transfer sequence. You win the
diamond lead with the K, play the K and finesse the J. The finesse wins
but East shows out, throwing a heart. What next? (Answer on page 202.)
38.  32
 A743
 A62
 KJ42
J led Contract: 4
 AK5
 KJ65
 10 8 3
 Q 10 5
How will you play 4 when West leads the J? (Answer on page 202.)
39.  J732
 74
 AK7
 K865
J led Contract: 4
 AKQ54
 963
 10 6 3
 A7
West, who opened 3, leads the J against 4. When you play the A,
West throws a heart. How will you continue? (Answer on page 203.)
Quiz V: Accumulating trump tricks, trump avoidance | 199 |

40.  A J 6 5 4 2
 9 7 5
 A
 9 8 3
 K 9
 K 8 4
 9 7 4
 A K Q J 6
You open 1NT and end as declarer in 4. How will you play this when
West leads the Q? (Answer on page 203.)
41.  9762
 A63
 AQ
 J963
Q led Contract: 6
 A K
 K
 K 10 8 5 4 2
 A K 10 7
How will you play 6 when West leads the Q? (Answer on page 204.)
42.  AQ4
 AJ5
 K2
 KJ952
J led Contract: 4
 J 6 2
 K 10 9 6 3 2
 8
 Q 10 4
You open 2 and North raises to 4. What is your intended line of play
when West leads the J? (Answer on page 204.)

43.  943
 K3
 A852
 9642
 76
 A Q 10 8 6 5
 K63
 AK
West opens 1, followed by two passes. You contest with 3 and North
raises to 4. How will you play this when West cashes one top spade and
then switches to the Q? (Answer on page 205.)
44.  KJ54
 87
 A Q J 10 5
 A5
3 led Contract: 6
 A863
 AQ54
 K62
 K7
East opens 2 and you arrive in 6 on the South cards. West leads the 3
to East’s 10 and your Q. When you play the A, West follows with the
3 and East with the 7. How will you continue? (Answer on page 206.)
45.  853
 A63
 AK7
 10 8 5 4
 AKQ92
 K7
 83
 A763
You win the diamond lead with dummy’s A and play two top trumps,
East discarding a diamond on the second round. How will you continue?

Answers to Quiz V
37.  AJ874 to question
 KJ4
 A73
 A5

 K63
 AQ5
 K84
Contract: 6  K962
You win the Q lead with the K, play the K and finesse the J successfully,
East discarding a heart. You have apparent losers in trumps and diamonds
and must aim to condense these by ruffing two clubs in dummy.
You play the A, followed by three top hearts and the AK. You then
lead another club. If West ruffs with his master trump, you will discard
a diamond from dummy and easily make the remainder. If instead West
follows suit or discards, you will ruff with the 7. You return to your hand
with the K and lead your last club. Again West is powerless. If he ruffs,
you will discard dummy’s last diamond. Otherwise you will ruff with
dummy’s 8 (en passant), scoring your twelfth trick.
 A743
 A62
 KJ42

 AK5
 KJ65
 10 8 3
Contract: 4  Q 10 5
If West had led a diamond, exposing a total of three side-suit losers, you
would have taken your best chance to play the trump suit for no losers
(A and a finesse of the J). Now that the J has been led, you can afford
a trump loser; you will be able to discard a diamond loser on the fourth
round of clubs.
You should spurn the trump finesse, playing the A and K instead.
If the Q falls doubleton, you will draw the last trump. In any case, your

next move will be to set up the club suit, so that you can discard a diamond
loser. Finessing the J would be a clear mistake, since it would give West
the chance to switch to diamonds before the clubs were established.

 74
 AK7
 K865

 AKQ54
 963
 10 6 3
West, who opened 3, leads the J to your A. When you play the A,
West discards a heart. You cannot plan to ruff a heart with the J because
this would promote a trump trick for East. Instead, you should aim to
score the two low trumps in your hand by ruffing clubs. You play the
KQ, cross to the K and ruff a club, East following with the Q. You
return to dummy with the A and lead another club. If East ruffs with
his last trump, you will discard a diamond and make the last two trumps
separately. If instead East discards, you will score the 5 en passant,
making a total of six trump tricks and two ace-king combinations.
40.  A J 6 5 4 2 to question
 9 7 5
 A
 9 8 3

 K9
 K84
 974
Contract: 4  AKQJ6
If East gains the lead in trumps, he will be able to lead through your K
before you have had a chance to take any discards on your handsome club
suit. After winning the diamond lead in dummy, you should play a spade
to the nine. In this way you can prevent East from gaining the lead when
he holds such as Q73. If East produces the 10 on the first round, the
best chance is to win with the K and lead the 9 to dummy’s A. If the

Q is still out, you will have to turn to the clubs, hoping that three rounds
stand up or that the A is onside.

 A63
 AQ
 J963

 A K
 K
 K 10 8 5 4 2
Contract: 6  A K 10 7
A simple plan would be: ‘If one of the defenders holds Jxxx, I will have to
rely on the club finesse.’ A much better plan is: ‘If East has Jxxx, I may be
able to score six trump tricks by ruffing in my hand. Six trumps and six
side-suit winners will add up to twelve.’
Win with the K and cross to the A, all following. Cash the A,
throwing a club, and ruff a heart with the 4. You play the AK and
return to the Q, West showing out. A spade ruff with the 8 reduces your
trumps to K10. You continue with ace, king and another club, not caring
which defender wins the trick. Your trump tenace, sitting over East’s J9
will score the last two tricks.
42.  AQ4 to question

 AJ5
 K2
 KJ952

 J 6 2
 K 10 9 6 3 2
 8
Contract: 4  Q 10 4
Since you would not welcome a spade switch through dummy’s holding,
you cover the J lead with the K, losing to the A. You ruff the Q
continuation and consider your play in the trump suit. You can afford
to lose one trump, one diamond and one club. Suppose you play the A

and K, East showing out on the second round. When you play on clubs,
West may win with the A and clear a trick for East’s K. West will then
be able to ruff a club with his Q before you can take your spade discards.
You can prevent this with a trump avoidance play. Cash the K and finesse
dummy’s J. Whether or not the finesse wins, you will make the contract.
After drawing trumps, you will establish the clubs and march happily into
the sunset.

 K3
 A852
 9642

 76
 A Q 10 8 6 5
 K63
Contract: 4  AK
West cashes the K and switches to the Q. You win with the A and see
that six trump tricks will give you the contract. To manage this when East
began with Jxxx (or even Jxxxx), you will need to take two black-suit
ruffs in your hand and then exit in diamonds, to score your remaining
Q10.
At Trick 3 you play your second spade, preparing for a ruff in that suit.
Let’s say that West wins and continues with the J. You win and play the
ace and king of trumps. If trumps break 3-2, you will return to the K to
draw the last trump. When instead West shows out on the first or second
round of trumps, you ruff a spade in your hand. You play the K and A
and then ruff a club in your hand. Your last three cards are the Q10 and
6. You exit with the diamond, certain to score your last two trumps.

44.  KJ54 to question
 87
 A Q J 10 5
 A5

 A863
 AQ54
 K62
Contract: 6  K7
East opens 2 and West leads the 3 against your spade slam. East plays
the 10 on the first trick (to discover who holds the queen of the suit) and
you win with the Q. All follow low to the A and you must consider your
next trump play carefully. If you finesse the J and lose to a doubleton
Q, East may give his partner a heart ruff. You should therefore make the
avoidance play of a trump to the king on the second round. If East shows
out on the second round of trumps, you can return to the South hand to
lead towards dummy’s J5.

 A63
 AK7
 10 8 5 4

 AKQ92
 K7
 83
You win the Q lead and play two top trumps, East throwing a diamond
on the second round. If clubs divide 3-2, you will have time to set up your
tenth trick in that suit. You would like to make your contract even if West
has a singleton club. You can do this by ruffing a heart and a diamond in
the South hand.
You draw a third round of trumps and play the A. You continue with
the K and A and ruff a heart in your hand. Next you cross to the K
and ruff a diamond in your hand. You score five trumps and five side-suit
tricks.
(If West should happen to overruff the third round of hearts, thwarting
your first plan, you can still set up the clubs if they break 3-2.)

Master Point Press
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and software.
INTERMEDIATE
TRICKS WITH TRUMPS

The strength and power of a trump suit can cut both ways — it can
be a source of control and extra tricks for declarer, but it can also
benefit the defenders.
Working through this book, you will learn:
• Whether to draw all the defenders’ trumps straight away, or

just some of their trumps, and to recognize when you need to
perform some other vital task first.
• How to make your contract against a bad trump break.
• How to play a seven-card trump fit.
• How to survive a forcing attack on the long trump holding.
• When you need to unblock in the trump suit.
• How and when to put a defender on lead with a trump.
• How to use the trump suit for entries.
• How to perform a trump safety play.
• How to execute a trump avoidance play.
And much more.
DAVID BIRD (Southampton, UK) is the author of more than

100 books on bridge. His most recent are Defensive Signaling
and the ABTA award-winning Planning the Play of a Bridge
Hand (with Barbara Seagram).
MASTER POINT PRESS

978-1-55494-181-0

Syr 1 CleverPlaysInTheTrumpSuit

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Master Point Press • Toronto, Canada

Text © 2012 David Bird

All rights reserved. It is illegal to reproduce any portion of this material,

Master Point Press

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Bird, David, 1946-

1. Contract bridge. I. Title.

GV1282.3.B57 2012 795.41’53 C2011-908638-7

Editor Ray Lee

To William Bailey, whose wonderful Deep Finesse software has saved

Chapter 4: Trump Throw-in Plays 57

Chapter 6: Using the Trump Suit for Entries 95

Chapter 8: Unblocking Plays in the Trump Suit 133

Chapter 10 : Accumulating Trump Tricks 173

Chapter 1: Timing the Play of the Trump Suit | 9 |

West North East South

| 10 | Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

West North East South

You or I might have regarded a bid of 3 as adequate on the South cards.

Chapter 1: Timing the Play of the Trump Suit | 11 |

West North East South

| 12 | Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

West North East South

Chapter 1: Timing the Play of the Trump Suit | 13 |

Preparing for ruffs before playing the top trumps

West North East South

| 14 | Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

West North East South

Chapter 1: Timing the Play of the Trump Suit | 15 |

Surviving an attack on dummy’s trump entries

West North East South

| 16 | Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

Developing a ruff in a different suit

West North East South

How will you play 6 when West leads the J?

Reading the lie of the trump suit

West North East South

North’s 5 was part of the Roman Keycard Blackwood convention and

| 18 | Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

Ducking when a defender splits trump honors

West North East South

Chapter 1: Timing the Play of the Trump Suit | 19 |

Making a plan before drawing any trumps

| 20 | Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

West North East South

Chapter 1: Timing the Play of the Trump Suit | 21 |

West North East South

| 22 | Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

Catching a bad trump break directly

West North East South

Chapter 2: Trump Safety Plays | 23 |

West North East South

| 24 | Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

West North East South

How would you play 4 when West leads the Q?

Chapter 2: Trump Safety Plays | 25 |

Calculating the right safety play

West North East South

| 26 | Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

West North East South

Chapter 2: Trump Safety Plays | 27 |

Avoiding a second-round guess

| 28 | Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

Catering for a singleton ace of trumps

Chapter 4: Trump Throw-in Plays 57

Chapter 6: Using the Trump Suit for Entries 95

Chapter 8: Unblocking Plays in the Trump Suit 133

Chapter 10 : Accumulating Trump Tricks 173