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BTS 02 TricksWithTrump
BTS 02 TricksWithTrump
www.masterpointpress.com
www.masteringbridge.com
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www.bridgeblogging.com
(Bridge technique; 2)
ISBN 978-1-55494-002-8
1234567 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Reversing the Dummy 5
Using the entries in the right order 8
Scoring small trumps in hand 9
Key points 10
Quiz 11
Entry Management
Tricks with Trumps
Safety Plays
Eliminations and Throw-Ins
Deceptive Card Play
Planning in Suit Contracts
Planning the Play in Notrump
Defensive Signaling
Squeezes Made Simple
Reading the Cards
Planning in Defense
Tricks with Finesses
C H A P T E R • 1
Reversing the
Dummy
Suppose you are playing in a heart contract with this trump suit:
♥QJ9
N
W E
S
♥ A K 10 8 3
You start with five trump tricks. If you take one ruff in dummy, with the
shorter trump holding, you will bump that total to six. What if you take
a ruff in the long trump holding instead? This will produce no direct
benefit. You will still score only five trump tricks.
Suppose, however, you could somehow take three ruffs in the South
. ♠AQ6
♥QJ9
♦AKQ
♣A963
♠J874 N ♠ 10 3
♥64 W E ♥872
♦ 10 8 4 S ♦9753
♣ Q 10 8 5 ♣KJ74
♠K952
♥ A K 10 5 3
♦J62
♣2
You arrive in a heart grand slam and West leads a trump. If you
view prospects from the South hand, the only loser is the fourth spade.
All will be well if spades are 3-3. An extra chance can be gained by
drawing only two rounds of trumps before playing on spades. You will
then be able to ruff the fourth spade safely if the defender with a
doubleton spade holds only two trumps. East has two spades and three
trumps here, so that line would fail.
Now consider prospects from the North viewpoint. If all three club
losers can be ruffed, and the trumps drawn with North’s ♥QJ9, the total
will come to thirteen!
How does the play go? You win the trump lead with the nine and
check that the trumps are 3-2 by playing another round. You cash the
ace of clubs, ruff a club, cross to a diamond, and ruff a second club. A
spade to the ace permits a third club ruff and you return to dummy with
a diamond to draw East’s remaining trump. Count the tricks you have
made: three trump tricks in the North hand, seven side-suit winners, and
three ruffs in the South hand.
What if the second round of trumps had revealed that the trumps
were 4-1? A dummy reversal could not then succeed, because after
taking the ruffs you could not draw trumps with dummy’s ♥QJ9. You
West leads his singleton heart, won in the dummy. Prospects are
not good if you simply play on clubs. The suit is unlikely to break 3-3,
and the defenders will doubtless remove dummy’s trumps before you
can ruff the fourth club.
How about a dummy reversal? After ruffing one heart you will
need three more entries to the North hand — two to take further heart
ruffs and one to draw trumps. This can be achieved by taking two
finesses in the trump suit. At Trick 2 you ruff a heart with the king. You
then cross to the ace of diamonds and ruff a heart with the queen.
Hoping for the best, you play a trump to dummy’s eight. It wins! A
third heart ruff with the jack is followed by a trump to dummy’s nine.
When East follows, you can draw the last trump and claim the contract.
North bid a little too aggressively and a bad game was reached.
West launched the defense with two top diamonds and South ruffed the
second round. Once the defenders had failed to take three club tricks,
the contract had a chance.
To achieve a dummy reversal, South needed to ruff three diamonds
in his hand. He played the ace and king of trumps, then ruffed another
diamond with the ten. He returned to dummy with a heart and ruffed
dummy’s last diamond with the jack. On this trick something
unfortunate happened. East discarded his last heart! When declarer
tried to reach dummy with a heart, to draw the last trump, East ruffed.
One down was the sad outcome.
Declarer should have used the heart entries early, before East had a
chance to throw a heart. The sequence should be: ruff West’s diamond
continuation, ace of trumps, cross to a heart, second diamond ruff, cross
to a heart, third diamond ruff. Now a trump to dummy’s king allows
trumps to be drawn and the game is made.
Key points
1. Ruffing in the long-trump hand does not usually produce an extra
trick. For a dummy reversal to succeed, you must take sufficient
ruffs to leave the opposite hand longer in trumps. (For example, in
a 5-3 fit you must take three ruffs in the long-trump hand.)
2. Most dummy reversals succeed only if you can eventually draw the
outstanding trumps with your shorter trump holding. This may
require a favorable trump break. Wherever possible, you should
check for this before embarking on the play.
3. One variant of the dummy reversal is where you simply score the
low trumps in the long hand by ruffing. Consider this option when
there are plenty of entries to dummy and you cannot score enough
tricks by simply drawing trumps.
A. ♠Q74
♥ J 10 8
♦A73
♣ A 10 7 2
N
♠J led W E
S
♠853
♥AKQ93
♦KQ52
♣4
Sitting South, you arrive in 4♥. West leads the ♠J and the
defenders cash three tricks in the suit. East then exits with the
♦10. How would you play from this point?
B. ♠76
♥A932
♦AK5
♣ A 10 7 2
N
W E
♥Q led S
♠AK8532
♥6
♦92
♣8643
This time you are in 4♠, West leading the queen of hearts. How
would you tackle the hand?
A. You will not be surprised to hear that the best line of play is a dummy
reversal! Some care is needed with the entries. You should win
East’s diamond switch with the king, cross to the ace of clubs, and
ruff a club with the queen. Return to dummy with the ♦A (using this
entry before the defenders have the chance to discard a diamond),
then ruff a club with the king. Cross to the ♥8 and ruff the last club
with your ace. Finally, you overtake ♥9 with the jack and draw the
last trump with the ten.
B. Suppose you win the heart lead and play two top trumps, discovering
a 4-1 break. You would dearly like to score your four low trumps by
ruffing now but, with only three entries remaining to dummy, the
opportunity would be gone. To avoid this fate, you should take one
heart ruff before playing the top trumps. You can then return to
dummy three more times, aiming to ruff two more hearts and a
diamond.
A bad trump break can sometimes prevent you from drawing trumps in
a straightforward manner. Suppose this is the trump suit:
♥J5
N
♥7 W E ♥K843
S
♥ A Q 10 9 6 2
You lead the jack from dummy and East correctly refuses to cover.
When you continue with a heart to the queen, West shows out.
Although it is no longer possible to pick up East’s king of trumps by a
direct finesse, you may nevertheless be able to prevent it from taking a
trick. Can you imagine how?
♣6 led
N
W E ♥K8
S
♥ A 10
You must aim for this two-card end position where the lead is in
dummy and you hold ♥A10 over East’s ♥K8. You lead a side suit from
dummy and overruff whichever trump East plays.
West leads the ♣10 and dummy’s queen loses to the king. (In a
social game, some Easts would attempt a belated double of the
contract!) East returns a spade to the dummy and the jack of trumps is
run, followed by a trump to the queen.
With the cards lying as shown it is possible to make the contract
despite the bad trump break. For the ending to work, you need to hold
exactly two trumps, ♥A10, sitting over East’s ♥K8. In other words,
you must take sufficient ruffs in your own hand to reduce your trump
length to the same as East’s. Here you started with six trumps to East’s
four. Very well, you will have to ruff twice in your own hand.
Let’s see how the play should go. The club finesse fails and you
win the spade return in dummy. The jack of trumps is run and a trump
played to the queen. You cross to the ace of clubs and ruff a club,
leaving yourself with only one more trump than East. You cash
dummy’s top diamonds and ruff a diamond. You then have only two
trumps left, the ace and the ten. Two more spade winners are cashed,
leaving dummy on play in this end position:
♠—
♥—
♦52
♠— ♣6 ♠—
♥— N ♥K8
♦ 10 7 W E ♦Q
♣9 S ♣—
♠—
♥ A 10 2
♦—
♣—
No good, is it? Whichever card is led from dummy, East will play
the diamond queen. South will have to ruff and the lead will then be in
the wrong hand to pick up East’s king of trumps. It’s precisely to avoid
ending up in the wrong hand that you need to reduce your trump length
to match that of the defender.
It is not always necessary for dummy to be on play at the key
moment. You can achieve the same effect by throwing the lead to the
defenders.
You arrive in 4♥ and West leads the king of spades. If the trumps
break 3-2, there will be ten easy tricks. Suppose you start by playing
the king of trumps and a trump to the ace, West showing out. It will then
be too late to think of a trump coup — far too late!
To achieve a trump coup you will need to ruff two spades, to reduce
your trumps to the same length as East’s. Suppose that you are smart
enough to foresee this — how should you play the hand?
At Trick 2 you make the cost-nothing play of ruffing a spade,
reducing your trump length to five. You then play the ace of trumps,
followed by a trump to the king. If trumps break 3-2, you simply return
to hand and draw the last trump. When East turns up with four trumps,
as here, you are conveniently in the dummy to take a second spade ruff.
All is now well. You cash your three top cards in the minors and pass
the lead to the defenders. You are sure to score the game-going tricks
with your ♥Q10.
♠53
♥AKQ97
♦J983
♣KQ
♠— ♠ Q 10 8 4
N
♥J852 E
♥ 10 4
W
♦AKQ52 S ♦ 10 7 4
♣9863 ♣J742
♠AKJ9762
♥63
♦6
♣ A 10 5
♠8
♥—
♦—
♣9
♠— ♠Q
♥— N
♥Q
W E
♦— S
♦—
♣QJ ♣—
♠9
♥8
♦—
♣—
The last club from dummy promotes your ♥8. You score your last
trump en passant, as they say.
♠—
♥6
♦95
♣—
♠— N
♠—
♥— W E ♥QJ
♦QJ8 S ♦—
♣— ♣ 10
♠—
♥—
♦ K 10 6
♣—
It’s time for West to go home. You lead the ♦6 from your hand,
restricting him to just one trump trick.
Key points
1. For a trump coup to succeed, you need to reduce your trump length
to match that of the key defender.
2. Once the end position has been set up, you can either lead a plain
card towards your trump tenace or exit to the defenders.
3. When entries to dummy are scarce, it may be necessary to make a
trump-reduction play before you know whether the trumps are
breaking badly.
A. ♠97642
♥K3
♦ 10 8 6
♣K74
N
♣J led W E
S
♠AK3
♥ A Q 10 7 6 2
♦AK
♣83
Sitting South, you arrive in 4♥. The defenders attack in clubs
and you ruff the third round. How will you continue?
B. ♠ 10 4
♥AKQ8
♦A743
♣KJ4
N
♥J led W E
S
♠AJ9852
♥7
♦K82
♣AQ5
West leads the ♥J against 6♠. How will you plan the play?
A. Since you have a certain spade loser, you must pick up the trump
suit. If East turns up with jack fourth, a trump coup will be
necessary. Cash the ace of trumps at Trick 4 and continue with the
two top diamonds. Now cross to the king of trumps. If West shows
out on this trick, ruff a diamond to reduce your trumps to the same
length as East’s. Finally you play ace, king and another spade.
Provided East follows to two rounds of spades, you are home. Your
♥Q10 will score the last two tricks.
B. Your general plan is to take two trump finesses. If the first finesse
loses to a singleton honor, however, you will need a trump coup to
pick up East’s remaining honor. Win the heart lead in dummy and
lead the ♠4 to the jack. Let’s say that West wins with the singleton
queen and returns a diamond. Win with dummy’s ace and lead the
♠10. East refuses to cover (from his remaining ♠K73) and you are
left conveniently in the dummy. You cash the ♥K, throwing a
diamond, then ruff the ♥8. You cross to the ♣J and ruff the ♥Q.
Since you are shortening your trumps by ruffing a master, this play
is awarded the name ‘Grand Coup’. Finally, you play the ace and
king of clubs. If all this passes by without accident, you will be in
dummy with your ♠A9 poised happily over East’s ♠K7. That will
be twelve tricks.
The trump coups we saw in the last chapter occur with some regularity.
In this chapter we will admire briefly two rarer and more fragile flow-
ers in this field. You may not have many chances to bring off one of
these plays, but when you do... you can tell people about it for years!
♠ Q 10 9 6 3
Since dummy holds one trump fewer than West, it may seem
impossible to prevent West’s king from scoring a trick. Not quite!
Suppose you start by taking two finesses, East showing out on the sec-
ond round. If you can throw East in at Trick 11, he may have to return
a side suit in which the other three hands are void. You ruff with a high
trump in the South hand and West’s king is dead, whether he chooses to
overruff or not. Let’s see the play in the context of a full hand:
♦ A 10 5 3
N
♦Q7 W E
♦J82
S
♦K964
It may seem impossible to avoid losing a trump trick, but if the side
suits lie favorably it can be done. Look at this layout:
♠6
♥ A 10 7 2
♦ A 10 5 3
♣KQ52
♠Q832 N
♠J974
♥J963 W E ♥Q84
♦Q7 S ♦J82
♣ 10 9 8 ♣643
♠ A K 10 5
♥K5
♦K964
♣AJ7
Imagine that after some optimistic bidding you reach the seeming-
ly hopeless contract of 7♦. West leads the ♣10 and you win with the
ace. Playing on trumps directly will succeed only when one of the
defenders holds Q-J doubleton. Suppose you cash two more club win-
ners instead, both defenders following. You can then play the two top
spades, throwing dummy’s last club. After ruffing a spade, you play the
king and ace of hearts, then ruff a heart in hand. When you ruff anoth-
er spade, it proves to be your lucky day. Both defenders follow.
West can beat the contract by ruffing the ♠5 with the queen!
Defending Against
Trump Coups
Understand the trump coup from declarer’s point of view and you are
most of the way towards knowing how to defend against it. Declarer
needs to reduce his trump length — very well, you must refuse to assist
him in doing this.
East defended carelessly on the next deal. Would you have made
the same mistake?
Declarer did not need East to follow to both the ace and king of dia-
monds. He crossed to the king of diamonds and played high clubs. East
had no winning option. If he ruffed dummy’s last club with the nine,
declarer would overruff and play the ace of diamonds, forcing East’s ace
of trumps and establishing his last trump as a tenth trick. If instead East
discarded on the last club, declarer would throw the ace of diamonds
and lead a plain card towards his ♥106, promoting the ten.
How could East have prevented this? His spade return at Trick 4
assisted in the trump reduction. He should have played a diamond
instead, attacking the entries to dummy. If declarer then ruffed a spade
and played a club to the king and ace, a second diamond from East
would remove the last entry to dummy. Declarer would still hold one
West led the queen of spades and declarer played low from dummy,
East signaling an even number of cards with the nine. West continued
with another spade and declarer ruffed. A club to dummy’s ace was fol-
lowed by a losing finesse of the trump queen. What did West do now?
Very unwisely, he continued with yet another spade. Do you see the
effect of this? By continuing to shorten South’s trumps, he was greatly
increasing the risk of being caught in a trump endplay.
Declarer ruffed the third spade and paused for thought. It was
entirely possible that East’s ten of trumps had been a singleton. In that
case the contract would fail unless West could be endplayed.
Declarer crossed to the king of diamonds and ruffed dummy’s last
spade. He returned to dummy with the club king and ruffed a club,
reducing his trumps to just two. He then cashed the ace of diamonds
successfully. The lead was in the South hand, with these cards still to
be played:
♠—
♥—
♦ 10 7
♣94
♠ Q 10 8 N
♠—
♥— W E ♥—
♦4 S ♦J
♣— ♣ Q 10 8
♠KJ
♥—
♦6
♣5
Your partner now leads the master ♦J. Let’s see first what happens
if you allow this card to win. Declarer will ruff the ♣10 continuation in
dummy and play a trump to the eight. Your partner will have to win
with one trump honor and lead away from the other. Contract made.
Now try the effect of ruffing partner’s master diamond. You can
then play a spade, which partner will ruff with the queen. Since he still
has a safe exit in clubs, he will score the king of trumps too. A sweaty
plus 200 instead of a disastrous minus 730.
Key points
1. When you fear that your trump holding is exposed to a possible
trump coup, do not assist declarer in reducing his trumps. Aim
instead to remove the entries to the hand opposite declarer’s long
holding.
2. Be wary of becoming ‘trump bound’ — the situation where you hold
nothing but trumps and have to ruff partner’s winners and lead into
declarer’s trump tenace.
Promoting Trump
Tricks in Defense
♠AKJ92
If declarer has the lead, he will have no problem drawing trumps
without loss. Suppose, instead, that East is on play and can lead a side
suit in which both South and West are void. Declarer will now lose a
trump trick. Whether he ruffs with the nine or a top honor, West’s queen
of trumps will be promoted.
Neither Vul. ♠ 10 8 6 4 3
Dealer South ♥973
♦AJ92
♣A
♠Q7 N
♠5
♥QJ4 W E ♥AK62
♦ Q 10 8 6 4 S ♦753
♣J96 ♣ 10 8 5 4 2
♠AKJ92
♥ 10 8 5
♦K
♣KQ73
You are sitting East and partner finds the happy lead of the queen
of hearts, continuing with the jack. You overtake with the king, in case
he holds no more hearts, and cash the ace successfully. Where can a
fourth trick be found?
It is clear from the dummy that there is little chance of a minor-suit
trick. The setting trick must surely come from the trump suit. If partner
has the ace of trumps or K-x, it will not matter what you do. If he has
Q-x, as in the diagram, you will need to play a fourth round of hearts to
promote the queen. The same defense would be necessary if partner
held a singleton king of trumps.
Another way to promote a trump trick is to find partner with a
trump that can beat all the trumps held by the hand in a position to
overruff. That’s what happens here:
♠AQJ654
Suppose East, your partner, leads a side-suit in which both you and
the declarer are void. If declarer ruffs low, there is no problem; you will
overruff with the ten and later score the king of trumps. What if declarer
ruffs with the queen instead? Now it would be a mistake to overruff.
When declarer regained the lead, he would draw the outstanding trumps
with the ace and the jack. You would score no more than the one trump
trick you started with. Discard on the trick instead and you will
eventually score both the king and the ten of trumps. The position
would be the same, although more difficult to visualize, if you held K-
9-4 of trumps with partner holding the bare ten.
As a general rule, you should refuse to overruff with a natural
trump trick when there is any prospect that your trump holding may be
promoted by discarding instead.
Most ‘rules’ in bridge have exceptions to them (thank goodness, or
it would be a boring game!). On the next deal West saw that the
moment had come to break the rule we have just given.
North-South Vul. ♠ J 10 4
Dealer East ♥Q3
♦AQ85
♣ 10 8 7 3
♠K3 N
♠AQ8752
♥J94 W E ♥ 10 5
♦763 S ♦J2
♣KJ654 ♣A92
♠96
♥AK8762
♦ K 10 9 4
♣Q
West leads the king of spades and continues with a second round.
Sitting East, you win with the queen. What next?
If you ‘do what comes naturally’ and continue with the ace of
spades, a competent declarer will succeed. He will discard his club
East-West Vul. ♠ 10 8 7 5
Dealer East ♥Q63
♦Q53
♣AKQ
♠KJ63 N
♠Q94
♥A97 W E ♥ 10
♦J7 S ♦ A K 10 8 6 2
♣J873 ♣964
♠A2
♥KJ8542
♦94
♣ 10 5 2
Partner leads the jack of diamonds, declarer covers with the queen
and you take your king. What now?
Had the final contract been 4♥ instead of 3♥, it would be
reasonable to continue with ace and another diamond, hoping to
promote a trump trick for partner. To beat the lower contract of 3♥, a
trump promotion will not be sufficient. You will need to make at least
one spade to bring the total to five tricks.
The uppercut
In the trump promotions we have seen so far, declarer had to ruff in the
second seat — in front of a defender who might overruff. We look now
at a different situation, where declarer is in the fourth seat. The
defender in front of him ruffs with a high trump, forcing him to overruff.
The aim is to promote a trump trick for the other defender.
Suppose the trump suit lies like this:
♠ 10 8 5 4
N
♠Q2 W E
♠J7
S
♠AK963
If East could play a side suit in which both South and West were
void, a standard trump promotion would ensue. Suppose instead that
West plays a side suit in which South and East are void. East ruffs high,
with the jack, and this seriously weakens declarer’s trump holding. He
has to overruff with an honor and West’s queen is promoted into a trick.
East’s high ruff is a technique known as an ‘uppercut’. Think of it as
punching a hole in declarer’s trump holding.
Here is a full-deal example of an uppercut involving the trump
position we have just seen:
Sitting West, you make the inspired lead of the ♦5. Partner wins
the ace and returns the ♦4 to your king. If you play another diamond
immediately, East will uppercut with the ♠J but declarer will discard his
club loser and soon claim the rest. To beat the contract, you must cash
the ♣A first, then play a third round of diamonds for the uppercut.
Would you have visualized an uppercut on the next deal?
North-South Vul. ♠874
Dealer West ♥KQ
♦ 10 9
♣AQJ963
♠A92 N ♠ 10 3
♥96 W E ♥ 10 7 5 4 2
♦AKQ642 S ♦J73
♣K5 ♣842
♠KQJ65
♥AJ83
♦85
♣ 10 7
♣J42
If the trumps lie in such a way that an uppercut is possible, you will
want to cash three rounds of clubs, then have partner uppercut on the
fourth round. Suppose instead that the club suit lies like this:
♣ 10 8 7
N
♣AKQ6543 W E ♣9
S
♣J2
Now you may want to cash two rounds of clubs and have partner
uppercut on the third round. Partner cannot know when to ruff unless
you help him. On the first layout you should lead the king of clubs, then
continue with the queen and ace. Since you are leading winners, partner
knows that you don’t expect him to ruff. On the second layout, where
declarer has only two clubs, you would again lead the king followed by
the queen. On the third round, however, you would lead a low club, and
partner will realize that you want him to ruff.
The next hand is more complex. Take the East cards and see what
you make of it.
Partner leads the king of diamonds and continues with the ♦10,
covered by dummy’s queen. How do you defend?
If declarer held another diamond, partner would probably have
cashed his ace before leading one for you to ruff. It looks as though
declarer has no more diamonds and partner is trying to promote his
trump holding. Suppose that you ruff with the ten. Declarer will
overruff and play a trump. You will score your ace and later partner will
make the ♥K and the ♠A. That is only four tricks for the defense, not
enough to beat the contract.
Now watch the effect of ruffing the second diamond with your ace!
Declarer discards a black card. Reading the ♦10 as indicating a spade
entry, you return a spade to partner’s ace. He plays a third round of
diamonds, and you ruff with the ten — an uppercut. Declarer overruffs
but partner’s ♥K9 are now worth two tricks. Your side will score a
spade, a diamond, and three trump tricks. One down.
You are sitting East and partner launches the defense with his three
top clubs. How should you react on the third round?
Let’s suppose first that you are too mean to expend an ace on thin
air and discard instead of ruffing. Declarer will ruff cheaply, cross to
dummy, and play a trump to the king. He will then return to dummy
and lead a second round of trumps, drawing the bare ace. Your side will
score only one trump trick and the contract will succeed.
A much better idea is to ruff with the ace at trick three, removing
that card from the fray and scoring a trick at the same time. All the
remaining trumps, including your partner’s jack, will move up one
notch. On this deal, the jack will become the setting trick.
Neither Vul. ♠7
Dealer East ♥ A K 10 6
♦ J 10 8 5 4 2
♣AK
♠K862 ♠3
N
♥Q73 E
♥J952
W
♦6 S ♦AKQ3
♣J9752 ♣Q864
♠ A Q J 10 9 5 4
♥84
♦97
♣ 10 3
Key points
1. As a defender, you can promote trump tricks in two main ways. You
can force declarer to ruff in front of your partner, who is in a position
to overruff. You can also ruff high in third position (an uppercut),
forcing a higher trump from declarer or the dummy.
2. Be wary of overruffing when you hold a natural trump trick. By
discarding instead, you may promote your own trump holding.
3. When there is no chance of your own trump holding being promoted,
an overruff by you may result in the promotion of partner’s trump
holding.
4. When seeking a defensive trump promotion, you may need to cash
one or more winners in the other side suits first. Otherwise, declarer
may be able to discard a loser as you promote a trump trick.
A. ♠ 10 9 3
♥76
♦J642
♣AKJ3
♠J52 N
♥ 10 8 4 2 W E
♦AKQ3 S
♣62
B. ♠AK5
♥ J 10 9 7
♦QJ4
♣ 10 9 5
N
♠J983
W E ♥64
S ♦86532
♣74
C. ♠QJ74
♥5
♦Q9652
♣AKQ
♠K5 N
♥J862 W E
♦ K 10 8 4 S
♣962
D. ♠QJ4
♥K5
♦ A K J 10
♣Q965
N
♠AK8653
W E ♥64
S ♦8
♣ A 10 8 7
Rightly or wrongly, you decide not to bid 4♠. Partner leads the
♠9, covered by the queen and king. You cash the spade ace
successfully, all following. What will you do next?
A. You must hope that partner has two diamonds, rather than four.
Continue with the queen and ace of diamonds, making it clear that
you do not want partner to ruff. Then lead your last diamond. If
partner holds as little as the eight of trumps he can uppercut with this
card, promoting your jack of trumps as the setting trick.
B. You should ruff with your higher trump, the six. Partner’s refusal to
lead the ace of clubs on the third round means that he wants you to
attempt an uppercut. If South’s trumps are A-K-5-3-2 your six will
force a top trump honor, promoting partner’s doubleton queen. You
must then hope that partner has some high card such as the ♦K to set
the contract.
C. You should refuse to overruff. You are following the normal rule of
not overruffing with a natural trump trick when there is any prospect
of promoting your own trump holding. Here you hope that partner
has the singleton queen (or king) of trumps. Do not worry that your
partner may hold the ace of diamonds and that declarer will now
discard his diamond losers. If partner held the diamond ace he would
have cashed it before playing a third spade.
D. The chances are quite good that a third round of spades will promote
a trump trick for partner. For example, his trumps might be Q-9-2,
declarer holding A-J-10-8-7-3. However, you will need a fourth trick
to beat the game. Before playing another spade you should cash the
ace of clubs. This will prevent South from discarding a singleton
club as you play for the promotion.
Taking Control of
the Trump Suit
Imagine that declarer is playing in a 5-3 trump fit and you hold four
trumps yourself, or suspect from the bidding that partner may hold four
trumps. It is generally good policy to lead your longest and strongest
side suit. Your aim is to attack declarer’s five-card trump holding, forc-
ing him to ruff in that hand. If you can make him ruff twice in the long
holding he will have ‘lost control’.
Let’s see this technique in action. Take the West cards here:
♠5
N
♠A9 W E ♠—
S
♠QJ
Declarer is now very unhappy. If he persists with trumps, forcing
out your ace, you will play yet another diamond and he will go two
down. As on the previous deal, the best he can do is to abandon trumps,
playing on his side suits. You will ruff a club with the nine and the con-
tract will go one down.
How do you know the right time to win your master trump? There
is an easy but important rule that covers all these situations:
When you are playing a forcing game, win the trick on
which the short hand plays its last trump.
In our example, dummy had ruffed once and had three trumps left.
It was therefore correct to take your ace on third round of trumps, and
not before.
Take the East cards on the next deal and aim to follow the same
style of defense. You are defending 4♥.
Partner leads the ♦2 and you take the first two tricks. From part-
ner’s carding you know that he holds the remaining diamond. You are
going to make the king of trumps, but where will a fourth defensive
trick come from?
The only real chance is to promote your nine of trumps into the set-
ting trick, and the way to enhance your prospects of a second trump
trick is to persist with diamonds at Trick 3, giving declarer a ruff-and-
discard that is of no use to him. He will have to ruff in hand, or there
will be no trump left in dummy with which to finesse later against your
nine. He then leads a trump to the ten, jack and king. This will be the
trump position:
♥A5
N
♥— W E ♥942
S
♥Q87
You continue your attack on the trump suit with yet another dia-
mond. Declarer has no answer. If he ruffs in dummy, he cannot pick
up your ♥9. If he ruffs in hand, he will lose control.
What happens if, instead of continuing diamonds at Trick 3, you
exit in a black suit — with a spade, say? Declarer will win in hand and
Key points
1. When you hold four trumps, or hope that partner does, consider a
‘forcing defense’. By leading your strongest side suit, you aim to
force declarer to ruff with his long trump holding
2. To pursue the attack on declarer’s trump length, it is often necessary
to hold up your ace of trumps until the trumps in declarer’s shorter
holding are exhausted. Otherwise declarer may be able to take the
force in the short-trump hand.
3 Even when not pursuing a forcing game, always consider holding up
with three or more trumps to the ace. You will then be able to pull
two more rounds of trumps if declarer continues the suit.
A. ♠AJ2
♥ Q J 10 4
♦ 10 9 6
♣KJ2
N
♠95 W E
♥K952 S
♦AKJ74
♣63
DAVID BIRD has authored more than forty previous books, including the
well-known ‘St Titus Abbey’ series and several co-authored with
Terence Reese. He writes two newspaper columns in the UK, and his
work appears regularly in numerous bridge magazines in the UK and
the US.