Help Stupid Partner, Episode 1

Another bit from the same hand last Monday evening. At matchpoints, both sides vulnerable, sitting East you get this mess:
♠ x x   ♥ J 8 x x   ♦ J   ♣ K J 10 x x x

South deals and opens 1♠; partner overcalls 2♥. The rest of the auction: 

South	West	North	East (you)
1 ♠ 3 ♦ 3 ♠	2 ♥ Pass Pass	Pass Pass 4 ♠	Pass 3 ♥ All pass

Partner lays down the ♦7 -- sweet, she's trying to give you a ruff! Alas, you see this dummy:

North ♠ 9 8 x ♥ x x ♦ A 9 8 x x x   ♣ x x East (you) ♠ x x ♥ J 8 x x ♦ J ♣ K J 10 x x x

So much for your diamond ruffs; declarer likely has five diamonds for this auction, so partner had a singleton too. Oh well. Declarer plays low from dummy, you follow with the ♦J and declarer with the ♦K.  Declarer leads a small spade and partner flies with the ♠A, you follow. Partner leads the ♣A, low from dummy, and you follow suit with ...?

ANSWER: ... the ♣J, encouraging a club continuation. Not the ♣10, not a small club; play the ♣J.

WHY: Partner has recognized the danger of the long diamond suit in dummy. She's cashing out winners, and needs to know whether to continue clubs or switch to hearts. Does partner have the ♥A, and if so should she cash it? Does she think you have the ♥A, and she should lead to you?  Does declarer have the ♥A, in which case it doesn't much matter what you do? And what about Billy? (Huh?) You have no idea. The only thing you know for sure is that you don't have the ♥A, and you do have the ♣K. 

In this case, your club card is an attitude signal -- your opinion about another round of clubs -- rather than a suit preference signal, telling partner which other suit to lead. If it were clearly wrong to continue clubs (say, a singleton in dummy), then your card would be a suit preference signal suggesting that partner lead the higher-ranking or lower-ranking of the other two side suits.

Looking at your hand, a club continuation seems best, so tell partner that by playing the highest club that you can afford. Your lowest club would discourage a club continuation, and should imply a high heart honor. A middle-ish club would suggest to partner that you have no idea whether to continue clubs or switch, and by implication denies the ♣K or a high heart.

A side note: when giving an encouraging signal from a sequence of touching cards, always signal with the top of the sequence. When you play a high encouraging card , you are denying that you hold the next-higher card. In this case playing the ♣J says that you don't have the ♣Q, though that will be immediately obvious as soon as declarer plays. For a somewhat-lame mnemonic, think of Indian smoke signals from the top of a hill: signal from the top.

THE PRINCIPLE: My friend Steve liked to say, "the secret to this game is Help Stupid Partner". Not that partner is actually stupid, mind you. But partner is not a mind-reader, so tell your partner what you want: good policy, and not just at the bridge table :-)

The full deal (hands rotated from their original positions):

	North
	♠ 9 8 x ♥ x x ♦ A 9 8 x x x   ♣ x x
West		East (you)
♠ A x  ♥ K Q 10 9 x x ♦ 7 ♣ A x x x		♠ x x ♥ J 8 x x ♦ J ♣ K J 10 x x x
	South
	♠ K Q J 10 x x ♥ A ♦ K Q 10 x x  ♣ Q

On the actual hand, it doesn't matter which club you play; declarer has the rest of the tricks. But if declarer held two clubs and was void in hearts, you're the hero. And if partner held the ♥A and declarer a small heart loser? Well, maybe partner will try to cash the ace anyway.

ADDED 12-20: I forgot to mention... expert partnerships have an even better way to signal in this defensive situation. It's not for casual partnerships at the local bridge club, though. I'll cover it at some point in the future.