You are sitting East, vulnerable against not, and pick up
♠ A 10 3 ♥ 4 3 ♦ 7
6 3 2 ♣ A K 6 5
South, on your left, is the dealer and starts the auction.
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South
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West
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North
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East (you)
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1 ♥
3 ♥
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Pass
All Pass
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2 ♥
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Pass
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Partner leads the ♣9, and you get a look at dummy.
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North
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♠ J 7 6
♥ K 6 2
♦ K 10 8
♣ 10 8 7 3
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East (you)
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♠ A 10 3
♥ 4
3
♦ 7
6 3 2
♣ A K 6 5
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Partner’s ♣9 goes to your ♣K, as declarer follows with the ♣2.
You play the ♣A, declarer the ♣4, and partner shows out with the ♦4.
Now what?
ANSWER: Give partner a
ruff by leading the six of clubs – not the five! The ♣6 suggests to partner that
she should return a spade.
THE PRINCIPLE: When
giving partner a ruff, the card you lead indicates suit preference with respect
to the other two non-trump suits. A higher card suggests the higher-ranking
suit (spades, in this case), a lower card suggests the lower-ranking suit
(diamonds here).
In this hand, you now know declarer has a fourth club. You
are indicating to partner how to get back to your hand so you can give her
another club ruff. By playing the ♣6, the higher of the two clubs you hold, you suggest to
partner to lead the higher-ranking suit. She’ll lead a spade to your ace, and
you’ll lead another club for her to ruff. Two club tricks, a club ruff, the ace
of spades, another club ruff; the defense takes the first five tricks for down one.
Will partner
really notice the difference between the ♣6 and the ♣5? Yes, she will. Having led
her singleton club, and hitting the jackpot with your ♣A and ♣K, partner has been watching
the club spots very carefully. She saw the ♣2 and ♣4 and ♣J from declarer’s hand, and
the ♣3 and ♣7 from dummy. When you play the ♣6, she will realize the ♣5 has not been played and
must still be in your hand. She’ll then know to return the higher-ranking spade suit.
Note that even in cases where partner won’t get any more
ruffs, you have the opportunity to signal to partner how best to proceed with
defense on the rest of the hand; take advantage of that opportunity!
The complete hand:
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North
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♠ J 7 6
♥ K 6 2
♦ K 10 8
♣ 10 8 7 3
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West
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East (you)
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♠ Q 8 5 4 2
♥ J 7 5
♦ Q 9 5 4
♣ 9
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♠ A 10 3
♥ 4 3
♦ 7 6 3 2
♣ A K 6 5
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South
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♠ K 9
♥ A Q 10 9 8
♦ A J
♣ Q J 4 2
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If you play the ♣5 at trick three, partner will dutifully return the lower-ranking suit
(diamonds). Declarer will win, draw trump, and take the rest of the tricks
except for the ♠A – making three. Not so good for the defense.
My friend Steve liked to say, "When I'm your partner, the secret to this game is Help Stupid Partner." Not that partner is stupid, not by any means. Though she can't read your mind, she can certainly read your signals.
