Major-Suit Shade Card

Which color for the guest bedroom: Pineapple Frappe?  Kale Bisque? Hangover Sunrise? 

When you have a long, strong major suit -- one that will definitely be trump -- there is an equivalent "shade card" for bids to match the strength of your hand. Color preferences are a matter of taste; fortunately, the major-suit shade card is pretty much standard. 

To find the right shade, you must consider high-card strength and playing strength. For an example, let's use this hand from a recent Wydaho online game:
    ♠ AKJT8432 ♥ K ♦ 76 ♣ AQ

POP QUIZ: How many tricks is that spade suit worth?

ANSWER: Eight tricks. If partner has the queen, yay! If partner has three or more spades, yay! And otherwise, the queen might still be singleton or doubleton. Feel free to do the probability calculations, or just go with your gut feel that things will probably work out. Bottom line: You have an 87% chance for eight tricks, and a miniscule chance of only six tricks with this suit.

Okay, we have eight spade tricks. Add one-and-a-half tricks in clubs (partner has the king, or the finesse works, or an opening club lead), and a half-trick in hearts (partner has the ace or queen, or the ace is on our right and isn't played to the first round). That's ten playing tricks. You definitely want to be in game; slam is a distinct possibility!

How many ways can you open with a long strong major? We'll use spades for this discussion, but the same applies to a heart suit. You intend to unequivocally set the trump suit.

Shading from weakest to strongest:

• Open 4 in first, second, or third seat. This shows 6 or 7 tricks (not vulnerable) to 7 or 8 tricks (vulnerable). Most important, this denies an opening hand. Partner will restrain her enthusiasm accordingly.
  Example: ♠ KQJTxxxx ♥ xx ♦ xx ♣ x
• Open 1, then rebid 4. This shows a full opening hand, but denies enough strength for a 2 ♣ opener. Thus a hand in the range of 11-15 HCP and about 7 or 8 playing tricks. Given your shortness in other three suits, it seems quite unlikely that 1 ♠ will be passed out.
  Example: ♠ KQJTxxxx ♥ Kx ♦ Kx ♣ x
• If your partnership plays the Namyats convention, open 4 minor showing 8 to 8.5 tricks in the corresponding major with some potential for slam if partner has useful outside cards.
  Example: ♠ AKJTxxx ♥ Kx ♦ KQ ♣ xx
• Open 4 in fourth seat. This is not a weak preempt. You intend to get a plus score; otherwise you could have passed the hand out, or bid only two or three spades. The bid shows about 8.5 or 9 playing tricks and at most a poor 15 HCP; you can count on partner to have one trick for you somewhere. This bid denies slam interest. Even if partner has a maximum for her Pass, she won't make a move at this point.
  Example: ♠ KQJTxxxx ♥ Ax ♦ Kx ♣ x
• Open 2 ♣, then rebid 4. This shows a bare minimum 2 ♣ opener, at least 14 HCP with long spades and a hand worth about nine tricks. The message here is that partner should not pursue slam without three likely honor tricks. You have completely described your hand; it's up to partner to make any further move. (Regular partnerships should have an agreement on whether 8.5 tricks is enough for a 2 ♣ opening.)
  Example: ♠ AKQTxxxx ♥ KQ ♦ xx ♣ x
• Open 2 ♣, then rebid 3. This sets trump and asks partner to start cuebidding aces (or controls, per agreement) up the line. It shows a hand that is worth ten or more tricks, with at least 14 HCP. The key message is "spades are trump, show me controls." Show me the money, partner! You are the captain in this auction.
  Example: ♠ AKJT8432 ♥ K ♦ xx ♣ AQ

Note what's missing here: There is no "open 2 ♣, then rebid two" option. When you are absolutely sure about the trump suit and don't care about finding a secondary fit, don't let partner blab about her hand to the opponents. Take charge, set the trump suit, and if slam is in the picture get busy finding out about controls in the side suits.

THE PRINCIPLE: With a one-suited hand, the playing strength of the hand -- how many tricks can you expect -- is at least as important as the number of high-card points. A 2 ♣ opener may contain as little as 14 HCP if it is within one trick of game against normal splits. Using this shade card for single-major hands, partner will have a good idea of the strength of your hand and can proceed appropriately. It's a partnership game!

BONUS MINUTE:
The ACBL Convention Charts allow a very strong artificial 2♣ opening that contains:

i. at least 20 HCP; or 

ii. at least 14 HCP and is within one trick of game assuming suits break evenly among the other hands; or

iii. at least 5 Control Points and is within one trick of game assuming suits break evenly among the other hands. 

-- Ray 

Better Bridge in 5 Minutes.  Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)

After Partner's Weak Two

Partner's opening typically shows a six-card suit, probably two of the top three honors, 5-10 HCP, limited defensive values, and usually no four-card major on the side. Now what?

Ground Rule #1: Partner has, on average, king-queen-sixth and an outside queen. The most you can hope for is ace-king-queen-sixth, or king-queen-sixth and an outside ace; any hand stronger than that is an opening one-level bid nowadays.

Ground Rule #2: The weak-two opener will not bid again unless forced. This applies to any preemptive opening; exceptions are rare. Responder is the captain, and is in complete control of the rest of the auction.

With that background, here is a recommended structure for responding to a weak-two opening.

• Support With Support! A raise is not invitational; a raise is simply continuing the preempt. With three-card support and no game interest, raise to three. With four-card support or more, raise to four (maybe just three at unfavorable vulnerability). Don't wait to see if the opponents will let you play at the two-level. There is no minimum point requirement for a raise. If you have no points at all, then the opponents can surely make game if not slam; take away their bidding space to make their lives more difficult. Consider raising even with honor-doubleton, particularly at favorable vulnerability and with poor defensive values.
  
• If the player to your right makes a takeout double, all the more important to show support if you have it. If you have a fit, the opponents will never let you play your two-level contract doubled.
  
• If you absolutely want to be in game across from as little as, say, king-queen-ten-sixth and out, just bid game. Note that this is indistinguishable from a weak jump to game with four-card support; make the opponents proceed at their own risk. Remember, opener is not going to bid again unless forced.
  
• A new suit by an unpassed hand is forcing for one round. It suggests no fit, and at least a six-card suit of your own. Opener will raise your suit with honor-doubleton or more. Otherwise, opener can show a lower-ranking second suit (four or more cards) or just rebid the opening suit. Responder is in charge and will place the contract. This allows for responder to "rescue" a hopeless no-fit situation by bidding a new suit (forcing), and then rebidding it to play; this should be a good seven-card suit for a rescue. Note that a new suit by a passed hand is nonforcing.
  
• If you want more information about partner's hand: Bid 2NT asking for a "feature", an outside ace or king. Opener shows an outside ace or king by bidding that suit (Alert!), or bidding 3NT with AKQTxx ("six solid tricks", Alert!). Otherwise, opener simply rebids her suit. A singleton or void is not a feature; responder might be looking for a outside entry in order to play in notrump, or a fitting honor in a suit of her own. The 2NT feature-ask does not indicate a fit for opener's suit. Responder will place the contract, not necessarily in opener's suit!
• Many pairs prefer that opener not show a feature with a minimum hand; make sure you and partner are on the same page.
• Some pairs prefer to use 2NT as the Ogust convention, asking about opener's overall strength and suit quality. Make sure you and partner are on the same page.
  
• If you have a strong notrump opener or equivalent, you probably belong in game. Consider that if you had opened 1NT, partner will bid game holding an "average" weak two hand. Use the 2NT feature-ask if you think you need more information.
  
• With no fit and no six-card suit of your own, be very cautious. Misfit hands belong in suit contracts; don't bid 3NT with no fit unless you can play all thirteen tricks from your own hand. With a very strong hand -- say, 20 HCP or more -- it's fine to put partner in game on a 6-1 fit.
  

Remember, opener will not bid again unless forced. Responder is the captain, and is in complete control of the rest of the auction. 

EXPERTS MINUTE:
If you have an exceptional hand and just want to go slamming, "Preempt Key Card" is a useful convention. It is standard practice among expert players. After an opening preempt, an immediate 4♣ bid by responder (Alert!) asks about key cards. Opener's responses are steps showing 0-1-1-2-2 as follows: 

      4♦ - no keycards
      4♥ - 1 keycard without trump queen
      4♠ - 1 keycard with trump queen
      4NT - 2 without trump queen
      5♣ - 2 with trump queen

All responses must be Alerted immediately in online play, or after the auction has ended in face-to-face play. Responder will then place the contract, not necessarily in opener's suit! 

Opener will never have three or more keycards; that would be an opening one-bid. Using Preempt Key Card the partnership can find out about keycards without ever going past five of the trump suit, and often staying at the four level with dismal hands.

-- Ray
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)

HSP: Partner Needs To Know

"When I'm your partner, the secret to this game is to Help Stupid Partner." -- Steve B.

Ignore the missing side suit cards, they are irrelevant today...

	♠ 4 3 2 ♥ 3 2 ♦ K Q J 10 9 ♣ 4 3 2
	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ 8 5 2 ♣ —

HAND #1: South opened 2 NT, North raised to 3 NT. Declarer won the opening heart lead, then led the ♦ 7 from her hand. Partner played the ♦ 3, and declarer played the ♦ K from dummy. Your play?

	♠ 4 3 2 ♥ 3 2 ♦ K Q J 10 9 ♣ 4 3 2
♠ — ♥ — ♦ 8 2 ♣ —	N W E S

HAND #2: South opened 2 NT, North raised to 3 NT. You led a heart and declarer won in hand. At trick two, declarer led the ♦ 7. Your play?

THE PRINCIPLE: When dummy has a long suit with only one loser and no other entries, the defender without a high honor is in a mandatory count situation. Partner, holding the stopper -- the ♦ A here -- doesn't want to play it right away; that would set up the suit while declarer still has another card in the suit to reach dummy. But if partner waits too long, she might not score the card at all; declarer might get all the tricks she needed from the suit. Even if you and your partner don't normally give count signals, this is a textbook situation where partner needs to know your count in the suit.

Standard count signals are:
  - low then higher shows an odd number of cards in the suit
  - high then low shows an even number of cards in the suit

	♠ 4 3 2 ♥ 3 2 ♦ K Q J 10 9 ♣ 4 3 2
♠ — ♥ — ♦ A 6 3 ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ 8 5 2 ♣ —
	♠ — ♥ — ♦ 7 4 ♣ —

ANSWER #1: East plays the ♦ 2, showing an odd number of diamonds. West will then know to win her ♦ A on the second round of diamonds because declarer only held two, and can no longer reach dummy.

	♠ 4 3 2 ♥ 3 2 ♦ K Q J 10 9 ♣ 4 3 2
♠ — ♥ — ♦ 8 2 ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ A 6 3 ♣ —
	♠ — ♥ — ♦ 7 5 4 ♣ —

ANSWER #2: West plays the ♦ 8, showing an even number of diamonds. East will then know to hold up her ♦ A until the third round of diamonds.

THE PRINCIPLE (again!): When dummy has a long suit with only one loser and no other entries, the defender without a high honor must give a count signal to the first trick in that suit.

-- Ray
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)

Fifteen Seconds for Sleuthing

From a Wydaho online game earlier this year...

East Deals None Vul	♠ K J 8 6 ♥ K 9 5 3 2 ♦ 7 4 ♣ 9 8
♠ Q 5 3 2 ♥ A Q J 8 7 ♦ K 3 ♣ Q J	N W E S

WEST	North	East	South
		Pass	Pass
1 ♥	Pass	2 ♦	3 ♣
All pass

You opened 1 ♥ in third seat. Partner's 2 ♦ bid was natural and nonforcing (as a passed hand). 

You led the ♦ K, partner played the encouraging ♦ 9 and declarer played the ♦ 5. You decided to play the ♥ A at trick two, building a fence for partner so she will return a diamond for you to ruff after you lead your remaining diamond at trick three. We're sure that partner does not have three hearts; declarer won't ruff the ace.

What else can we figure out on this hand? 

• Who has the ♦ A? Partner's 2 ♦ bid promised at least a decent five-card suit, and a decent hand considering that she passed as dealer. Your king held the first trick, and partner played the ♦ 9, an encouraging card. Partner must have the ace. 
• How many diamonds does partner have? She needs at least five for her two-level bid. With a six card suit, she might well have opened a weak two diamonds. So assume that partner has five diamonds.
• How strong is partner's hand? Her hand wasn't good enough to open; neither was declarer's. She could have passed, or bid 1 NT instead of introducing a suit at the two-level. You can see 22 high card points between your hand and dummy. It seems as if the remaining 18 HCP must be about even between partner and dummy. So, give partner -- and declarer -- roughly nine high card points.
• How many clubs does declarer have? Declarer wandered into the auction at the three-level with about nine points. If declarer had seven clubs, he might well have opened 3 ♣. Is declarer crazy enough to enter a live auction at the three-level with only a five-card suit and a nine-count? Probably not. So, declarer likely has exactly six clubs. And therefore partner has three clubs.
• Which club honors does declarer have? You have the queen and jack. Would declarer enter the auction at the three level with only nine points and a six-card club suit headed by ace-ten or king-ten? Seems unlikely, so give declarer ace-king-sixth of clubs.
• Who has the ♠ A? If declarer has it, he would have AK-sixth of clubs and the ♠ A. Surely that's an opening bid nowadays. So, give partner the ♠ A.
• How many spades does partner have?  If she had five, surely she would have bid them. With ace-fourth of spades... hard to say, she might have chosen to bid diamonds instead, showing a five-card suit and suggesting more-than-minimum values.  She has five diamonds, three clubs, and at most two hearts, so partner has at least three spades, and possibly four.  That means partner has at least one heart, possibly two. And the same for declarer.
• Who has the queen and jack of diamonds? If partner has both, would she have opened 1 ♦ with AQJxx and the ace of spades? Maybe, maybe not. But that would give declarer AK-sixth of clubs and nothing else for his passed-hand 3 ♣ overcall. If declarer has both diamond honors, would partner have bid 2 ♦ (instead of 1 NT) with ace-empty-fifth of diamonds and the ace of spades? Probably not. So it seems most likely the diamond queen and jack are split.
• Who has the ten of diamonds? Partner signaled with the nine. If she had the ten and the nine, she would have played the ten, signaling from the top of a sequence. Thus her play of the nine denied holding the ten. Declarer has the ten of diamonds.
• How many hearts does declarer have? We know he has at least one, because partner denied having three hearts. Partner has at least one heart, because otherwise she would have five spades and didn't bid them. And would declarer bid 3 ♣ holding two small hearts? That seems a bit unlikely; declarer is somewhat more likely to have the singleton heart.

THE PRINCIPLE: At trick one, all players are entitled to about fifteen seconds -- all players at the same time -- to think through the entire hand. Use that time effectively! And then play the rest of the hand in tempo.

That was a lot to sort out in fifteen seconds, but with practice you can do this. Not every hand will be as clear as this one. And there is definitely some guesswork and assumptions involved. But look how much easier this game is when you can work out all four hands!

	♠ K J 8 6 ♥ K 9 5 3 2 ♦ 7 4 ♣ 9 8
♠ Q 5 3 2 ♥ A Q J 8 7 ♦ K 3 ♣ Q J	N W E S	♠ A x x ? ♥ x ? ♦ A H 9 x x ♣ x x x
	♠ x ?  ♥ x ? ♦ H 10 5 x ♣ A K x x x x

x = a known spot card

H = a known honor card

? = a card that may or may not be present

On the actual hand, declarer did indeed have a singleton heart, and declarer's diamond honor was the queen.
Extra Credit: You can make a reasonable argument that declarer was a favorite to have the ♦ Q. Why?

-- Ray

Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)

Building A Fence

From a Wydaho online game earlier this year...

East Deals None Vul	♠ K J 8 6 ♥ K 9 5 3 2 ♦ 7 4 ♣ 9 8
♠ Q 5 3 2 ♥ A Q J 8 7 ♦ K 3 ♣ Q J	N W E S

WEST	North	East	South
		Pass	Pass
1 ♥	Pass	2 ♦	3 ♣
All pass

You opened 1 ♥ in third seat. Partner's 2 ♦ bid was natural and nonforcing, 1NT would have also been nonforcing per your partnership agreements.

You led the ♦ K, partner played the encouraging ♦ 9. Declarer played the ♦ 5; note that declarer might be concealing a lower diamond. 

What is your plan? What do you lead to the second trick?

It looks like we can beat this contract!  Partner clearly has the ♦ A and can give you a diamond ruff.  That's two diamond tricks, a diamond ruff, your ♥ A... and partner surely must have the ♠ A for her two-level bid. Down one; and if you can get another diamond ruff, or if partner can ruff a heart, even better yet.

What could go wrong? Partner knows you have at most two diamonds; with king-third you would have led low rather than the king. After you lead your remaining diamond to her, she might be concerned that you can't ruff higher than dummy on the third (and fourth) rounds of diamonds. Instead of giving you a diamond ruff, she might lead back a heart, especially if she has only one heart. 

Your lead to trick two?

ANSWER: Cash the heart ace right now, before continuing diamonds. That way, dummy's king will be an obvious deterrent to partner returning a heart. This is known as "building a fence" for partner, keeping her away from an undesirable action. You will have made it clear that you don't want a heart return, and thus you must really intend to ruff diamonds with a trump card higher than dummy's.

THE PRINCIPLE: When partner will have a choice of actions, and one choice would be disastrous, look for ways to remove that choice as a possibility.

There is another advantage to cashing the ♥ A right now: If partner is void in hearts, you'll know right away and will have her ruff out dummy's king later.

What if declarer ruffs the heart ace? Don't worry, that's not going to happen. You have five hearts, dummy has five hearts. If partner had the remaining three hearts, yes, declarer would be void. But that would mean partner didn't raise hearts with three-card support. Partner would not do that to you!

Bonus Minute: This is a cool deal! After seeing dummy and the play to the first trick, you can reasonably determine the exact distribution and honor holdings in the other two hands. I'll cover that in a future post. Try it for yourself now...

-- Ray
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)

First, Do No Harm

 Continuing with our hand from a recent Wydaho online pairs game:

♠ A 8 4
♥ J 10 8
♦ Q 10 8
♣ A Q 9 7

You are on lead against 1 NT; declarer opened 1 NT (15-17) after partner passed.

THE PRINCIPLE: Think of notrump contracts as a race: Can the defenders set up and cash their winning tricks before declarer crosses the finish line? 

We saw that a fourth-best club lead from this hand -- underleading the ace-queen -- has about a 70% chance of blowing a trick, giving declarer a trick she cannot get on her own. (To be precise, 71.2%, considering declarer could have 16 or 17 points.) Let's not give declarer a one-trick headstart 😝

We usually want a lead that will help establish our winning tricks, without giving away too much in the process. Against a notrump contract, finding and establishing five-card (or longer) suits is usually the winning strategy. If you don't have a five-card suit that looks worthwhile, maybe partner does; your two- and three-card holdings might be where partner has some length.

Where might partner have a long suit?  Note that if partner has a six-card (or longer) suit, she might well have opened a weak two or a higher preempt instead of passing. But we can still hope for a five-card suit in her hand. But which suit?

• Note that dummy did not transfer to a major over her partner's 1 NT; dummy does not have a five-card (or longer) major. 
• If dummy was 4-4 in the majors -- or even 4-3 -- she might have bid Stayman even with a very weak hand, planning to pass any response by opener

So if partner has a five-card suit, it is somewhat more likely to be a major suit because the opponents haven't peeped about the majors.

When leading against notrump, three-card honor sequences are always a good choice: king-queen-jack, queen-jack-ten, jack-ten-nine.  There is almost no danger of setting up a trick for declarer in those suits. Two-and-a-half honor sequences are almost as good -- king-queen-ten, queen-jack-nine, jack-ten-eight -- because there is only a very slight chance of giving up a trick. A suit with only two touching honors (and no supporting card one step below) is still a reasonable choice; the standard lead is low from honor-honor-fourth or fifth, but lead the top honor from honor-honor-third.

In this hand, then, the ♥ J is the standout lead. We hope to find partner with heart length, and not blow a trick on the opening lead. Our club tricks can wait patiently for somebody else to lead that suit.

Bonus Minute
When I started to play bridge, the standard advice for notrump leads was "fourth best from your longest and strongest." That was a long time ago; in those days it was dummy's job to go stand watch against dinosaur attacks. 😏  A lot has changed; much of what I learned back then turned out to be wrong (and not just the bridge bits, hmm).

If you are interested in more effective defense against notrump contracts, I highly recommend Winning Notrump Leads by David Bird and Taf Anthias. The authors created several hundred thousand computer-generated hands matching up with various notrump auctions, and did the double-dummy analyses to determine which leads were most effective in various situations. One key takeaway: Fourth-best from four is probably a waste of time. I specifically owe my first Regional Knockout Team win to the advice in that book. It is not an easy read, but well worth some patient effort by intermediate-to-advanced players; the book truly is a game-changer.

-- Ray
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)

Playing The Odds

From a recent Wydaho online pairs game:

♠ A 8 4
♥ J 10 8
♦ Q 10 8
♣ A Q 9 7

Partner passes as dealer, then the auction proceeds 1 NT (15-17) on your right, all pass.
What do you lead? Since this is featured in a blog post, it must be some sort of "problem hand"; take an extra moment to think it over.

If you are like most players in that event, your fingers (or mouse) are hovering over the ♣ 7. Let's take a closer look at the ♣ 7 lead.

Whether the ♣ 7 is an effective lead depends on where the ♣ K is!

• If partner has the ♣ K, wonderful, you struck gold: At least three, possibly four club tricks for our side.
• If dummy has the ♣ K it will always win a trick, but the question is who has the ♣ J? If the king is in dummy and declarer has the jack, declarer will play low from dummy and win with the jack. That's not so good for you; declarer will score two club tricks, and your queen is in jeopardy. Ugh.
• If declarer has the ♣ K, ugh! The club lead lets declarer score a trick with the king, a trick that she cannot win without your help. Consider instead that if declarer has to lead clubs, or if partner leads clubs, your ace-queen will trap declarer's king; two club tricks for you, zero for declarer.

We don't know where the king is (without peeking, anyway); the best we can do is estimate what the chances are. Here's how:

There are 40 high card points in every deal: the AKQJ in each of four suits. The relative odds of any particular honor card in any particular hand roughly correspond to the relative distribution of high-card points in the four hands. (It gets more complicated if you know anything about the suit distributions.) 

Here you have 13 points, which leaves 27 points in the other three hands. Declarer has at least 15 points for her 1NT opening. So there is a 15 of 27 chance that declarer has the king; that's more than a 50-50 chance that the club lead will blow a trick (55.5% to be exact, but who wants to be exact with bad news like that).

But partner could have the king; what are the chances of that?  We don't know partner's point count, but we can make a rough estimate. There are at most 12 HCP outstanding (you have 13, declarer has 15-17). If dummy had 8 or 9 points, dummy would have bid over 1NT; so dummy is limited to 7 points. If partner had all the missing honors, partner might have bid over 1NT. So we guess to call it even, 6 points for dummy, 6 points for partner. A 6 in 27 chance is a bit less than 1 in 4, 22% to be exact. 

So, our chances on a club lead are:

• Partner has the king, 6 in 27 chances. 
• Dummy has the king, 6 in 27 chances. And if so, then 15 of 24 that declarer has the jack.(That works out to roughly 2 in 27 are break-even, 4 in 27 blow a trick).  Ugh. 
• Declarer has the king, 15 in 27 chances. Ugh.

If we lead a club, we have a 22% chance of something good, 8% of breaking even (king in dummy, partner or dummy has the jack), and a 70% chance of blowing a trick to declarer's king or jack.

PRINCIPLES:

• The distribution of high card points around the table is a rough estimate for the chances of any specific honor being in any particular hand.
• When most of the high cards are on your right, leading fourth-best from a broken honor holding is likely to lose a trick that you could win by just waiting.

Still want to lead the ♣ 7?  No, I didn't think so. Me neither. So what should we lead? Stay tuned...

Bonus Minute:  If you had a weaker hand, the chances of finding the ♣ K (or any other honor) in partner's hand are greater because partner will have a share of more missing high cards. Declarer will have a correspondingly lower chance of holding the ♣ K. Even so, the ace-queen holding is almost always dangerous to lead from when declarer has the strongest hand; with a 1NT opener, declarer will have at least 15 of 34 chances to hold the king. Figuring out why would be a good homework exercise...

-- Ray
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)

Clearing The Way

 

	♠ Q 9 7 6 ♥ Q J ♦ 7 5 4 ♣ A K 10 4
	N W E S	♠ 8 5 2 ♥ A 9 5 4 ♦ K Q 9 3 ♣ 9 3

Partner	North	You	South
			Pass
Pass	1 ♣	Pass	1 NT
All pass

Partner led the ♥ 6, fourth-best, to your ace. You returned the ♥ 4 (original fourth-best) to partner's king. Declarer played the ♥ 3 and then the ♥ 8.

Pop Quiz: How many hearts did partner start with?

ANSWER: Probably five. Partner has at least four hearts for that lead. Nobody has played the ♥ 2 yet. A cagey declarer might be hiding the deuce; a careless declarer would not.

Does partner know that you had four hearts?

ANSWER: Most likely yes. Declarer had the opportunity to bid a four-card heart suit, but did not. If partner had five hearts, she'll know your ♥ 4 (lowest card available) was from either two or four originally. Partner knows declarer might have bid a four-card heart suit, so partner knows you have most likely have four.

AT TRICK THREE, PARTNER PLAYS THE ♠ K. Which spade do you play?

ANSWER: Play the ♠ 2, discouraging. Partner must have the ♠ A as well, and is lighting a candle in the window to show the way back to her hand. You don't want her to cash out spades; you want her to continue with hearts!

AT TRICK FOUR, PARTNER PLAYS THE ♥ 10. Now what?

ANSWER: Get out of partner's way; play the ♥ 9! Notice that your ♥ 5 will then not be able to take a trick. This is called an "unblocking" play. Partner made a thoughtful play of the ♠ K first, to show you that she has a sure entry. That ♠ K is a very strong indication that she had five hearts and would like you to unblock . Declarer has at most one heart left if partner had four, so no danger of setting up a heart trick for declarer. If partner had five hearts, you want partner to stay on lead. On the fifth heart, you will signal enthusiastically for a diamond lead, while partner still has control of the spade suit. If partner only had four hearts, she should still be able to figure out why you unblocked to keep her on lead rather than wasting a spade entry.

Of course if you have the two highest remaining hearts right now, there is no way to unblock. Playing the highest of your two cards would be suggesting suit preference high (spades); you want diamonds, not spades, so you would play the lower of two equal hearts.

	♠ Q 9 7 6 ♥ Q J ♦ 7 5 4 ♣ A K 10 4
♠ A K 4 ♥ K 10 7 6 2 ♦ 8 2 ♣ 8 6 5	N W E S	♠ 8 5 2 ♥ A 9 5 4 ♦ K Q 9 3 ♣ 9 3
	♠ J 10 3 ♥ 8 3 ♦ A J 10 6 ♣ Q J 7 2

Notice that if you play the ♥ 5 instead of the ♥ 9, you must eventually return a spade to partner's ace in order for her to cash the fifth heart. But that will set up dummy's queen, giving declarer a trick. If you keep partner on lead, she can run the hearts and then lead a diamond per your signal. That will set up a diamond trick for you while partner still has control of the spade suit. One notrump down two; nice work!

-- Ray
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)

HSP: Candle In The Window

"When I'm your partner, the secret to this game is to Help Stupid Partner." -- Steve B.

	♠ Q 9 7 6 ♥ Q J ♦ 7 5 4 ♣ A K 10 4
♠ A K 4 ♥ K 10 7 6 2 ♦ 8 2 ♣ 8 6 5	N W E S

You	North	Partner	South
			Pass
Pass	1 ♣	Pass	1 NT
All pass

(Standard leads and carding) You led the ♥ 6, fourth-best, catching partner with the ace. She returned the ♥ 4 to your king. Declarer played the ♥ 3 and then the ♥ 8. This is going well!

Pop Quiz: How many hearts did partner start with? What about declarer?

ANSWER: Partner had either 2 or 4 hearts initially. When partner returned the ♥ 4, that is her lowest heart (you can see the 2 and the 3). If she only had two hearts, she wouldn't have a choice. But if she started with four hearts, she would return her original fourth-best heart. With three hearts initially, she would return the second-highest (the nine or the five, in this case).

Either two or four? Can you be more specific?

ANSWER: Probably four. Remember the auction? Declarer had the opportunity to bid a four-card heart suit, but did not. Would declarer bid four hearts to the nine-eight? Maybe, maybe not. If declarer had four hearts, how likely is that she would specifically play the three and then the eight? A cagey declarer just might try that. But that declarer might also have tried the five and then the nine, or some other combination.

So partner almost certainly has ♥ 9 5 remaining. If you cash the ten, partner's nine will win the next heart trick and she'll have to figure how to get back to your hand. If you lead low to partner's nine... What if declarer fooled you with her bidding and play? Oh no, what if partner made a mistake, and held only  ♥ A 5 3 to start with? Declarer would be delighted to score her ♥ 9!

So, now what? High heart? Low heart? Something else?

ANSWER: Put a candle in the window for partner. Play the ♠ K! Even if you normally lead ace from ace-king, don't lead the ace here. When the king holds the trick, it will be crystal-clear to partner that you also have the ace. With the queen in dummy, declarer would certainly capture your king if she had the ace. Once you play the ♠ K, partner will know the way back to your hand. Leading low to partner's nine should normally work out okay, but you will be very embarrassed if it doesn't.😢

Why play the ♠ K right now, instead of after the ♥ 10?

Three reasons:

1. If partner did only have two hearts, she will have to discard on the ♥ 10. Knowing that you have the ace of spades might help her choose her discards more accurately.
2. When you know how the defense should proceed, tell your partner too, so she can make better decisions.
3. (The third reason is worth an entire post of its own.)

-- Ray 

Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)