LESSON 6: Trick-Taking Techniques
Although the bidding takes place prior to the play, it is best to have a firm understanding of the basic principles of play before attempting to learn about bidding. We will begin by seating you in declarer's chair. Your quest is to make the contract. (We strongly recommend that the reader lay out cards from an actual deck as he studies each diagram in this and succeeding chapters.)
How Tricks Are Won
TOP CARDS
Leading an ace provides a warm, secure feeling. If all of the other players follow suit, you must win the trick because your ace (the top card) cannot possibly fall victim to a higher card of the same suit. Even if another player discards an ace (or any other card), the trick is still yours because you have played the highest card of the suit led. In fact, the only way that an opponent can foil you is to trump the trick (which he is permitted to do only if he is unable to follow suit).
If your partnership also holds the king, you will usually be able to win two top tricks in the suit. No great effort is required; you simply lead out (cash) your winners. Some examples:
(a)
| DUMMY ♥ A |
||
| DECLARER ♥ K |
(b)
| DUMMY ♥ A 7 |
||
| DECLARER ♥ K 4 |
(c)
| DUMMY ♥ A 8 5 |
||
| DECLARER ♥ K |
(d)
| DUMMY ♥ A Q 6 3 |
||
| DECLARER ♥ K J 2 |
Example (a) is an exception; you are held to one trick despite the fact that your side holds both the ace and king. Since both you and dummy hold one-card suits (singletons) and the rule about following suit is inviolable, you must, alas, play your king on the same trick as dummy's ace.
In example (b), however, two tricks are there for the taking. Just be sure to play your four-spot under dummy's ace, saving your king for use on a different trick.
Case (c) will require somewhat more work on your part. When you play your king, you naturally play a small card from dummy. However, your hand retains the lead since you won the last trick. In order to cash dummy's ace, you must play a card in a different suit, so that dummy will win the trick (in bridge terminology, enter dummy). Then all will be in order; dummy, having won the last trick, will lead to the next one and the ace of hearts can be cashed.
In example (d), you can win four top tricks. Cash the king and jack from your hand, playing the three and six from dummy, then lead the deuce to dummy's ace. The lead is now in dummy, and the queen can be cashed for the fourth trick. If you instead lead the two to dummy's ace (or queen) at the first trick, things will get all tangled up and you may have trouble cashing all your winners.
Do not expect any success if you attempt to win a trick by discarding an ace. Suppose the contract is notrump and someone else leads a club. You have in your hand the ace of hearts and no clubs at all. You are unable to follow suit, so you may play your heart ace if you wish; but if you do, the trick will still be won by the highest club—the highest card of the suit led—and your ace will be powerless to affect the issue. Consequently, you should usually discard your most worthless card on such occasions.
Cashing top-card winners is a very straightforward way of winning tricks. Unfortunately, the simplicity of this method often leads new players astray, for it is sometimes a losing strategy to lead out your top-card winners as soon as possible. Suppose, for example, that your side holds the ace of spades (but not the king). If you lead the ace, the opponents will cleverly perceive that they have no chance to win the trick, and will therefore play their smallest cards. But if you wait until someone else leads the suit, an opponent may risk a high card (such as the queen or king) in an attempt to win the trick, and you can then capture a valuable card with your ace—one that would otherwise have been likely to bring home a subsequent trick for the opponents. In addition, you will rarely have as many top-card winners as you need to make your contract and must usually develop tricks by other means, keeping the top-card winners to assist in the process.
PROMOTED CARDS
A second way of winning tricks is to drive out higher-ranking cards and thereby promote your cards into winners. Suppose you are declarer in this situation:
| NORTH (Dummy) ♠ 6 4 3 | ||
| WEST ♠ A 10 7 |
EAST ♠ 9 8 5 2 |
|
| SOUTH (Declarer) ♠ K Q J |
You (South) won the previous trick and therefore have the lead. You wish to take some spade tricks, but West's ace presents a serious obstacle to this plan. You can't win any spade tricks right away, but you can take steps to ensure a prosperous future by leading the king of spades. West can win the trick with his ace, but your queen and jack are now promoted; they are the highest-ranking spades now that the ace and king have been removed from the scene. When you regain the lead (either in your own hand or in the dummy), you can play spades and win two tricks. Another example:
| NORTH (Dummy) ♦ 10 7 5 | ||
| WEST ♦ K 8 6 |
EAST ♦ A 9 3 2 |
|
| SOUTH (Declarer) ♦ Q J 4 |
Here, you have more work to do, but will promote a trick in diamonds if you persevere. Your hand is on lead, and we will follow the action trick by trick:
Trick 1. You lead the queen of diamonds. West, who can see both his own hand and the exposed dummy (but nothing else), knows that there is no ace lurking about to capture his king if he plays it on this trick (North doesn't have it, and you have already played). Therefore, West confidently plays his king, North plays the five, and East plays the deuce. Since West's king is already the highest card of the suit led, there is no need for East to play his ace; his side is already assured of winning the trick. In fact, if East should commit this egregious blunder, his side will take only one diamond trick instead of two and West will be highly annoyed.
Trick 2. West leads a different suit and you win the trick—let us say in your own hand.
Trick 3. You lead the jack of diamonds, West plays the six, North plays the seven, and East wins with the ace.
Trick 4. East plays a different suit, and you win the trick.
Trick 5. You lead the four of diamonds and are at last able to win a trick with dummy's promoted ten. In the two preceding examples it is equally effective to play the honors in any order; for example, you can lead a small diamond and play dummy's ten at the first trick instead of leading the queen from your hand. The queen, jack, and ten are equivalent since they are in sequence and held by the same partnership, and you will be able to establish one trick regardless of which ones you use to drive out the ace and king.
LENGTH WINNERS
When the opponents have no trumps (either because the contract is notrump or because all of their trumps have been played on previous tricks), your low cards can become winners if they are contained in long suits. Since no pestiferous trumps can appear on the scene, the highest card of the suit led must win the trick; and if you lead a suit which no one else has, the trick must belong to you:
| NORTH (Dummy) ♥ 8 5 3 | ||
| WEST ♥ A 6 2 |
EAST ♥ 10 9 |
|
| SOUTH (Declarer) ♥ K Q J 7 4 |
The contract is notrump and dummy is on lead. You would like to take tricks in hearts, and the action proceeds as follows:
Trick 1. You play the three of hearts from dummy, East plays the nine, and you cover (play a higher card) with the king. The consequences would indeed be tragic if you should play the four or seven; West would cheerfully play the deuce and East's nine would win the trick, leaving West's ace still at large. West wins the trick with his ace.
Trick 2. West leads a different suit, and you win the trick in your hand.
Trick 3. You lead the queen of hearts (a sure winner now that the ace and king are gone); West plays the two, North the five, and East the ten.
Trick 4. You lead the jack of hearts (also a certain winner by virtue of promotion), West plays the six, North the eight, and East (who has no more hearts) discards his most worthless card.
Trick 5. You lead the seven of hearts with full confidence that it must win the trick. There are thirteen hearts in the deck, and you have seen eleven of them played on previous tricks. You have two hearts remaining in your hand, and 11 + 2 = 13, so no one else has any more. Therefore, the ♥ 7 will be the only card (and hence the highest card) of the suit led and a certain winner.
Trick 6. You lead the four of hearts and win the trick when all the other players again discard. Your ♥ 7 and ♥ 4 became winners because the length of your suit enabled you to exhaust all the other players of hearts and establish the spot cards. Some further examples:
(a)
| DUMMY ♣ Q 4 3 |
||
| DECLARER ♣ A K 6 2 |
(b)
| DUMMY ♣ A K 7 4 2 |
||
| DECLARER ♣ 6 5 3 |
In case (a), you have three top winners and will be able to take a fourth club trick if the clubs are divided three-three in the opponents' hands, because they will be out of clubs by the time the fourth round is played and unable to contest the issue. If, however, one opponent has four or more clubs, you can take only the three top tricks.
In example (b), you cannot possibly take five tricks no matter how the enemy cards are divided. Should the suit split three-two, you can give up one trick somewhere along the line and end up with four winners (two top tricks and two length winners); if clubs divide four-one, you can get one length winner in addition to the two top tricks by giving up two tricks in clubs; but if you run into a five-zero division, you cannot take more than the ace and king.
TRUMPS
A trump is a valuable possession because it outranks any card in a different suit. If you are unable to follow suit, you may play a trump if you have one (although you are not compelled to do so), and you will win the trick if your trump is the highest one (or the only one) played. For example:
| NORTH (Dummy) ♠ 10 8 5 3 | ||
| WEST ♠ A K 6 4 |
EAST ♠ Q J 9 7 |
|
| SOUTH (Declarer) ♠ 2 |
Hearts are trumps, and you have several of them in your hand. West is on lead and plays the king of spades (equivalent to the ace since he holds both top honors), winning the trick. If there were no trumps, West could cash his ace and then play a third round of spades, allowing East to take two more tricks with his queen and jack—four tricks in all for the defenders. When West plays his ace, however, you are out of spades and trump (ruff) the trick by playing a heart, winning the trick for your side and stopping the defenders in their tracks.
| NORTH (Dummy) ♠ A 10 8 6 5 | ||
| WEST ♠ K Q J 7 |
EAST ♠ 9 4 3 2 |
|
| SOUTH (Declarer) ♠ — |
Once again, hearts are trumps and you have several of them in your hand. West leads the king of spades, and you can win the trick in either of two ways. Since you have no spades at all (are void of spades), you can play dummy's five and a trump from your hand. Alternatively, you can play dummy's ace and discard a diamond or a club from your hand. It would be highly extravagant to play both the ace of spades and a trump, for either one of these plays alone will win the trick; and you can discard a worthless card in another suit, that might otherwise lose a trick, on dummy's ace of spades.
In summary, declarer's objective is to make the best use of the various ways of winning tricks—top cards, promoted cards, established length winners, and trumps (if any)—in order to fulfill his contract. Some methods will be valuable in certain situations yet prove disastrous in others; declarer play will test your judgment concerning when to use each method as well as your understanding of what the methods are.
Finesses
Good declarers make a little go a long way. How many tricks can you wangle from the following holding?
| DUMMY ♦ A Q |
||
| DECLARER ♦ 6 2 |
If your first play is the ace the defenders will carefully play small and retain the king to capture the queen, and you will take only one diamond trick. Leading the queen from dummy will not help, for either defender can win the trick with the king. Now suppose that you lead a small card from your own hand, West plays small, and you put on dummy's queen. The two main possibilities are:
(a)
| NORTH (Dummy) ♦ A Q | ||
| WEST ♦ K 3 |
EAST ♦ 5 4 |
|
| SOUTH (Declarer) ♦ 6 2 |
(b)
| NORTH (Dummy) ♦ A Q | ||
| WEST ♦ 4 3 |
EAST ♦ K 5 |
|
| SOUTH (Declarer) ♦ 6 2 |
In case (a) your queen holds the trick, and you win two tricks in the suit. In case (b), however, East tops the queen with the king and limits you to one trick in diamonds. Thus, you will score a second diamond trick half the time (when West has the king) and be held to one trick half the time (when East has the king). This play, in which you attempt to win a trick by playing a lower card than one held by an opponent, is called a finesse. Some other positions in which a well-calculated finesse can produce an extra trick are:
(a)
| DUMMY ♠ 8 3 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ K 5 |
(b)
| DUMMY ♥ Q J 7 |
||
| DECLARER ♥ 5 3 2 |
(c)
| DUMMY ♦ K Q 4 |
||
| DECLARER ♦ 8 6 3 |
(d)
| DUMMY ♣ A 4 2 |
||
| DECLARER ♣ K J 3 |
(e)
| DUMMY ♦ Q J 10 |
||
| DECLARER ♦ A 4 2 |
In exhibit (a), leading from your own hand will prove singularly unsuccessful. If you play the five, the opponents will win the trick cheaply and retain the ace to smother your king; if you play the king, the opponent with the ace will pounce on it, and dummy's eight is not high enough to win the next round of the suit. If you lead spades from dummy, however, you have half a chance to win one trick. If East plays the ace, you follow small and your king is promoted; if East plays small, you put on your king and will win a trick if East has the ace. If West turns up with the ace, there was nothing you could have done about it anyway.
In example (b), lead a small heart from your hand and play one of dummy's honors if West plays low. If East wins with the ace or king, lead low from your hand the next time you play the suit and put up the other honor from dummy if West plays small. This plan will produce one trick unless East has both high cards.
In case (c), you should also lead twice up to dummy's honors. This will provide two tricks if West has the ace. If instead you lead an honor from dummy, it will be captured by the ace regardless of which opponent has it, and you will be held to one diamond trick.
In case (d), cash dummy's ace and lead a small one, putting in the jack if East plays small. This will provide three tricks if East holds the queen. Playing the ace first guards against West having the singleton queen.
In example (e), lead the queen from dummy. If East covers with the king, the jack and ten are immediately promoted. If East plays small, play low from your hand to finesse. Should East hold the king you will wind up with three diamond tricks.
(f)
| DUMMY ♦ Q 4 3 |
||
| DECLARER ♦ A 6 2 |
In case (f), however, you cannot afford to lead the queen from dummy. To be sure, if East has the king and plays small, you can play your deuce and win the trick; but East will not be so accommodating. He will cover with the king! Now you cannot possibly take more than one trick in the suit.
The correct procedure is to cash the ace and lead a small one from your hand, putting up the queen if West plays low. If West has the king, this will net two tricks. What if East holds the king? Then you are simply out of luck and cannot take more than one trick.
Once you have learned how to finesse, you are likely to find this technique for creating an extra trick so exhilarating that you apply it excessively. Consequently, it is only fitting that the first four-hand diagram in this book illustrates a situation in which it is wrong to finesse:
| NORTH (Dummy) ♠ A 8 7 ♥ K Q 3 ♦ Q J 5 ♣ 8 7 6 4 |
||
| WEST ♠ K Q J 10 9 ♥ 10 8 5 ♦ 8 6 ♣ K 5 2 |
EAST ♠ 6 3 ♥ 9 7 4 2 ♦ 10 9 7 4 ♣ J 10 9 | |
| SOUTH (Declarer) ♠ 5 4 2 ♥ A J 6 ♦ A K 3 2 ♣ A Q 3 |
The contract is three notrump and West leads the king of spades. If you win with dummy's ace and take the club finesse, very bad things will happen; West will win with the king of clubs and cash four spade tricks. This will give the defenders five tricks and leave only eight for your side; since you contracted for nine, you will be set and not make your game. Now suppose that instead of rushing helter-skelter to take a finesse, you count your winners. You have one sure spade trick (the ace), three top-card winners in hearts, four top-card winners in diamonds, and the ace of clubs—nine tricks in all—and can therefore ensure success without taking the finesse. True, East might have the king of clubs, in which case the finesse would win; but what of it? By taking the finesse, you stand to gain 30 points (the overtrick you will make if the finesse succeeds) and risk losing hundreds of points (the value of the game that will be lost if the finesse fails and West takes enough spade tricks to set the contract). Your first obligation is to make your contract! Had you had only eight top tricks, the club finesse would be necessary to make three notrump and it would then be proper to take it.
Double Finesses
There are some situations in which a declarer in need of tricks can finesse against more than one card. For example:
(a)
| DUMMY ♠ 6 4 2 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ A Q 10 |
(b)
| DUMMY ♠ 6 4 2 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ A J 10 |
In example (a) you can win three tricks if East has both the king and jack by leading small from dummy and finessing the ten, later finessing the queen. The plays are not interchangeable; if the queen is finessed first, East will retain the king-jack against the ace-ten and you will win only two tricks.
In case (b) you cannot win three tricks but have a good shot at taking two. The correct procedure is to lead low from dummy and finesse the ten (or jack); if this loses, finesse the jack later. This plan will score two tricks unless West holds both the king and queen.
Playing for the Drop
Suppose that you need four tricks from the following holding:
| DUMMY ♦ A K Q 10 |
||
| DECLARER ♦ 5 4 3 2 |
The lead is in your hand, so you have two choices. You can cash the ace, king, and queen, and hope to drop the jack (thereby promoting dummy's ten); or you can finesse the ten at the first trick and hope that West has the jack. The correct procedure is to play for the drop. Finessing is superior if West has four or five diamonds to the jack; playing for the drop will save the day if East has one, two, or three diamonds including the jack. (On all other holdings, both plays work equally well or poorly.) The drop wins more often and is therefore the superior play.
To save you the trouble of struggling with numerous mathematical computations every time you face such a decision, here is a useful table which indicates when it is proper to finesse and when you should play for the drop:
| Honor Holding | Total Cards in Suit (Declarer + Dummy) | All other things being equal, your best play is: |
|---|---|---|
| A Q | Eleven | The ace (drop) |
| Ten or fewer | The queen (finesse) | |
| A K J | Nine or more | The ace and king (drop) |
| Eight or fewer | The jack (finesse)* | |
| A K Q 10 | Seven or more | The ace, king, and queen (drop) |
| Six or fewer | The ten (finesse)* | |
| A K Q J 9 | Any | The ace, king, queen, and jack (drop) |
*First cash as many top honors as you can afford to and still leave yourself enough cards (and entries) to take the finesse.
Be sure to note the phrase "all other things being equal." Often there are clues from the bidding or play that indicate the normal choice should be rejected. In the absence of such information, however, your best bet will be to follow the above table.
Finesses after the Opponents Lead
At times, the defenders will make a lead that gives you a chance to take a finesse. For example:
(a)
| DUMMY ♠ Q 6 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ A 4 3 |
(b)
| DUMMY ♠ Q 6 4 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ A 7 2 |
(c)
| DUMMY ♠ A 5 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ Q 4 3 |
(d)
| DUMMY ♠ Q 10 3 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ A 4 2 |
(e)
| DUMMY ♠ A Q 4 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ 10 6 5 |
In each case, West has the lead and plays a low spade. In example (a), put up dummy's queen; if West has the king, you will win the trick. Unless the queen is played now, it will never win a trick. If you play the six, East will drive out your ace by playing a middle card (such as the nine or jack) and the queen, alone and defenseless in dummy, will fall victim to the king next time.
In case (b), however, you can afford to play low from dummy (unless you are in a hurry to take two tricks), top whatever card East plays, and lead up to the queen later. It is to your advantage to keep the queen in dummy, for if East has the king and later gains the lead, he cannot play spades without allowing the queen to win.
In case (c), you should also play low from dummy. This guarantees two tricks in the suit.
In example (d), put on dummy's ten. If it drives out the king, your queen is promoted; if East tops the ten with the jack, you can lead up to the queen later on.
In situation (e), your only chance to take all three tricks is to play low from dummy. If West has both the king and jack, your ten will win, and you can later finesse the queen. Playing small from dummy also gains if West has the jack and East the king, for East must put up his king to win this trick, promoting dummy's queen. If West has the king and East the jack, no harm is done, for you can always finesse the queen later on.
Above all, don't be surprised if the defenders make a lead that you can turn to your advantage. They cannot see each other's hands and may well make incorrect decisions about what to lead. But don't risk your contract by succumbing to greed and taking an unnecessary finesse!
The Ruffing Finesse
The power of the mighty trump can be used to create a finessing position where one would not ordinarily exist. For example:
(a)
| NORTH (dummy) ♠ A Q J 10 |
||
| SOUTH (declarer) ♠ 4 |
(b)
| NORTH (dummy) ♠ K Q J |
||
| SOUTH (declarer) ♠ — |
Hearts are trumps, and you have an ample supply in your hand. In example (a), you can take an ordinary finesse by leading the four of spades and inserting dummy's ten. Alternatively, you can lead the spade four to the ace and return the queen, planning to discard if East plays small and to ruff if East plays the king (the ruffing finesse). Thus, you can play either opponent for the king. In case (b), however, you have only one choice; you must hope that East has the ace. Lead the king from dummy; ruff if East plays the ace and discard if East plays small. In the first example, the ruffing finesse will produce three spade tricks if the first finesse wins and you continue with the jack (and ten); in the second case, you will score two tricks in spades if the ace is where you want it to be (with East).
Entries
You are not permitted to play blithely from your hand or the dummy as you see fit; whichever hand wins a trick must lead to the next one. Thus, if a finesse requires leading from dummy and you have just won the last trick in your own hand, you must enter the dummy (lead a card in a different suit which dummy wins) before you can attempt the finesse. For example:
| NORTH (dummy) ♠ A ♥ 3 2 |
||
| WEST ♠ 2 ♥ 6 5 |
EAST ♠ 3 ♥ K 4 | |
| SOUTH (declarer) ♠ 4 ♥ A Q |
You would like to take a heart finesse, but have won the previous trick in your own hand. Therefore, you first enter dummy by playing a spade to the ace. Now that dummy has the lead, you can play dummy's heart deuce and execute the finesse against East's king.
| DUMMY ♠ A 4 ♦ 6 3 |
||
| WEST ♠ K 7 ♦ 8 4 |
EAST ♠ 5 3 ♦ A 10 | |
| DECLARER ♠ Q J ♦ K 2 |
Dummy is on lead, and you can manage to take both finesses if you proceed properly. The first play is a low diamond from dummy; suppose East decides to play the ten. You put up the king; when it wins, you lead the queen of spades for a finesse against West. Thus, one finesse provides the necessary entry to take the other finesse.
| DUMMY ♠ 3 ♥ — ♦ 6 4 2 |
||
| WEST ♠ — ♥ 7 4 ♦ 5 3 |
EAST ♠ — ♥ 6 ♦ Q 8 7 | |
| DECLARER ♠ — ♥ 2 ♦ A K J |
Spades are trumps. You would like to take a diamond finesse, but the lead is in your own hand. Therefore, cash the ace of diamonds (in case West has the lone queen), lead the two of hearts, and trump with dummy's three of spades. Dummy wins the trick, and the defenders meet their usual fate when a low diamond is led from dummy.
It frequently happens that you need more entries to one hand than to the other, and this need can often be satisfied by careful handling of the combined assets:
(a)
| DUMMY ♠ A Q 3 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ K J 2 |
(b)
| DUMMY ♥ K Q J 9 8 7 |
||
| DECLARER ♥ 10 |
(c)
| DUMMY ♦ A K Q 3 |
||
| DECLARER ♦ J 10 9 2 |
(d)
| DUMMY ♦ A K 7 4 3 |
||
| DECLARER ♦ 6 5 2 |
In example (a), you are sure of three tricks, but can arrange an extra entry wherever it is needed most. If dummy is in need of entries, play a low spade to the queen; the ace will provide a second entry. If, however, your hand is the one requiring entries, play dummy's three of spades to your jack for the first entry, and overtake the queen with the king to produce the second entry.
In case (b), you are playing a notrump contract and would like to take a great many heart tricks; the lead is in your own hand. Since all the hearts are equivalent in value, it is tempting to lead the ten and play small from dummy. If, however, an opponent refuses to take this trick, you will need one entry to dummy to play hearts again (to drive out the ace), and a second entry to dummy to lead out the established hearts. A better plan is to overtake the ten with the king. Now, even if the king is allowed to win, the lead will be in dummy and you can play more hearts; when the opponents take their ace, dummy will need only one entry for the established hearts to be run.
In situation (c), you have three sure entries to dummy and can create a fourth if the opponents' diamonds divide three-two. Overtake the jack with the ace to provide the first entry; later, overtake the ten with the king. If both opponents have followed, there can be only one diamond left; overtake the nine with the queen to provide the third entry, and later lead the deuce to dummy's three to gain the fourth entry to dummy. If an opponent discards (shows out) on the first or second round of diamonds, you must abandon this plan, for one opponent will have at least four diamonds and the three will not be a winner on the fourth round of the suit.
In case (d), let us suppose that dummy has no entries in any other suit, and that you need four diamond tricks. If the enemy diamonds divide three-two, you will be successful—if you play very carefully. Suppose you commit the error of cashing the ace and king and leading a third diamond, which the opponents win. Dummy's two diamonds are now established, but there is no entry to dummy to lead them and they can never take any tricks. The only possible entry is in the diamond suit itself, and you must save it until the low cards have been established. Therefore, first play a small diamond from both hands, conceding your sure loser at once. When you later regain the lead, cash the ace and king of diamonds. As before, the opponents have won one trick and the suit is established, with one vital difference—the lead is now in dummy, and good diamonds can be led to win the next two tricks.
Unblocking
Sometimes your entries will need a little unscrambling:
| DUMMY ♦ A K 6 5 4 |
||
| DECLARER ♦ Q 9 8 2 |
You are playing a notrump contract, and the lead is in your hand. You cash the queen of diamonds, and both opponents follow suit. This is good news, because it means neither opponent holds four diamonds and you can therefore take five tricks in the suit. Matters look simple from here on in—but watch out! If you now play the deuce of diamonds to dummy's king and one opponent shows out, you will be in trouble. Your next play must be the ace, to drop the outstanding enemy honor, and on the fourth round of diamonds your own nine will get in the way and win the trick. The fifth diamond in dummy will now be useless unless dummy has a side entry, because you are in your hand and cannot lead it.
To avoid this problem, lead the nine of diamonds to dummy's king after cashing the queen, and continue to unblock by playing the eight-spot on dummy's ace. The roadblock has now been cleared, and you can cash dummy's remaining two diamonds.
Careful entry management is one of the hallmarks of the competent declarer. You will find it quite challenging to plan a hand in advance, so that the lead will be in the desired hand at each point. At first, you won't always be successful; but the more you play, the better you'll do!
Developing Your Card Memory
It is important to remember the cards that have been played, because you are not permitted to look at a previous trick if your side has played to the next one. We have heard many beginning players complain: "How can I learn to play bridge? I can't keep track of the cards!"
Memory for cards can be acquired. We recommend you amuse yourself by dealing out a deck into four bridge hands. Arrange and take a good look (five seconds) at one of the hands, place it face down, and see how many cards you can call back. At first, it may be difficult to get more than five or six correct. But by practicing just a few minutes a day, you will be surprised how quickly your "card memory" develops. Keep a record of how well you do; make it a goal to beat the number remembered of the previous day before you quit. You may not always achieve this goal, but soon the day will come when you are able to remember all thirteen cards. And you will do it automatically, without even thinking about it. This will give you a real edge over players who choose not to invest any effort to build up their card memory and who therefore lose track of important cards—frequently with most unfortunate consequences.
Capsule Summary: Introduction to Declarer Play
I. How Tricks are Won
1. Top cards—you lead out the highest card (s) in the suit.
2. Promoted cards—you drive out higher-ranking cards in the suit, promoting yours to top rank.
3. Length winners—you exhaust the opponents of their cards in the suit, and your low cards then become winners.
4. Trumps—you have none of the suit led and win the trick by playing a trump.
II. Finesses
1. A Q opposite 3 2: lead small to the queen.
2. K 4 opposite 3 2: lead small to the king.
3. Q J 2 opposite 5 4 3: lead twice up to the queen-jack.
4. K Q 2 opposite 5 4 3: lead twice up to the king-queen.
5. A 3 2 opposite K J 4: cash the ace and finesse the jack.
6. Q J opposite A 4: lead the queen.
7. Q 3 2 opposite A 5 4: cash the ace and lead up to the queen.
8. A Q 10 opposite 4 3 2: lead small to the ten; next time, finesse the queen.
9. A J 10 opposite 4 3 2: first, finesse the ten; next time, finesse the jack.
10. K Q J opposite void (suit contract): lead the king; ruff if the ace appears, otherwise discard (ruffing finesse).
11. A Q J opposite 2 (suit contract): either lead small to the queen (ordinary finesse) or play the ace and lead the queen for a ruffing finesse.
12. If a suit is led by the opponents:
| West leads | North (dummy) | South (declarer) | Your play |
|---|---|---|---|
| ♠ 2 | A. ♠ Q 3 | ♠ A 5 4 | Queen from dummy |
| B. ♠ Q 4 3 | ♠ A 6 5 | Low from dummy | |
| C. ♠ A 5 | ♠ Q 4 3 | Low from dummy | |
| D. ♠ Q 10 3 | ♠ A 5 4 | Ten from dummy | |
| E. ♠ A Q 3 | ♠ 10 5 4 | Low from dummy |
13. Play for the drop with (a) A Q and eleven cards; (b) A K J and nine cards or more; (c) A K Q 10 and seven cards or more; (d) A K Q J 9 (always).
III. Entries Declarer may not lead from either hand at will. If the lead is not where you wish it to be, you must enter the appropriate hand by having it win a trick. Plan your entries in advance.
REVIEW QUIZ
(1)
| DUMMY ♥ A K Q 2 |
||
| DECLARER ♥ J 3 |
Dummy has no side entries. How should you (declarer) play to take four top tricks?
(2)
| DUMMY ♠ A K 3 ♥ A |
||
| DECLARER ♠ Q ♥ 4 3 2 |
You (declarer) are on lead. How should you play to ensure winning all four tricks?
(3a)
| DUMMY ♠ K J 9 ♥ 4 3 2 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ A Q 10 ♥ A Q J |
You (declarer) are on lead. How should you play in order to have the best chance of winning all six tricks?
(3b)
| DUMMY ♠ K J 9 ♥ A Q J 10 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ A Q 10 ♥ 5 4 3 2 |
This time, dummy is on lead; you again wish to take all the tricks. How should you play?
(4)
| DUMMY ♠ K 4 3 ♥ 4 3 2 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ A Q 5 ♥ A Q J |
You (declarer) are on lead, and wish as many tricks as possible. How should you play?
(5)
| DUMMY ♦ ♣ 6 5 4 3 2 |
||
| WEST ♦ A ♣ Q J 10 9 |
EAST ♦ 8 7 6 5 4 ♣ — | |
| DECLARER ♦ K Q J ♣; A K |
Dummy is on lead; the contract is notrump. You (declarer) want as many tricks as you can get; how should you proceed?
(6)
If you (declarer) are on lead and dummy has no side entries, how should you handle each of the following combinations to take as many tricks as possible?
(a)
| DUMMY ♠ A 10 9 6 3 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ Q J 2 |
(b)
| DUMMY ♥ A 5 4 3 |
||
| DECLARER ♥ J 10 9 8 |
(c)
| DUMMY ♦ A 8 6 4 2 |
||
| DECLARER ♦ K 5 3 |
(d)
| DUMMY ♣ A K 5 3 2 |
||
| DECLARER ♣J 10 7 4 |
(7)
| DUMMY ♣ A K 6 3 |
||
| DECLARER ♣Q 5 4 2 |
(a) How many club tricks can you take?
(b) How should you play if you need as many entries to dummy as possible?
(c) How should you play if you need as many entries as possible to your own hand?
(8)
| DUMMY ♠ 3 2 ♥ K Q J ♦ — ♣ — |
||
| WEST ♠ — ♥ A 10 9 ♦ 7 3 ♣ — |
EAST ♠ — ♥ — ♦ Q J 10 ♣ Q J | |
| DECLARER ♠ — ♥ — ♦ 6 5 4 ♣ 6 5 |
You (declarer) are on lead and spades are trumps. How should you play to take as many tricks as possible?
(9)
In each situation, declarer is on lead and wishes as many tricks as possible. Plan the play.
(a)
| DUMMY ♠ 6 4 2 ♥ A K Q |
||
| DECLARER ♠ K Q 3 ♥ 6 5 2 |
(b)
| DUMMY ♠ A Q ♥ A Q 10 |
||
| DECLARER ♠ K J ♥ 5 4 2 |
(c)
| DUMMY ♠ K J 10 9 ♥ A |
||
| DECLARER ♠ Q ♥ 5 4 3 2 |
(10)
| DUMMY ♠ K Q J 10 ♥ — ♦ — ♣ A K |
||
| DECLARER ♠ — ♥ 3 ♦ 4 3 2 ♣ 3 2 |
Hearts are trumps, and declarer is on lead. What is the best play for all the tricks? (The opponents are out of trumps.)
Solutions
1. Play the heart jack and dummy's deuce, and then lead small to to dummy's honors. Winning the first trick in dummy will keep you from cashing four top winners.
2. Cash the spade queen, play a heart to the ace, and cash dummy's two high spades. Hearts cannot be played first, as the ace is needed as an entry to dummy's top spades.
3. (a) Lead the spade ten and overtake with the jack, and lead a low heart and finesse the queen. If the finesse wins, re-enter dummy by overtaking the spade queen with the king and finesse the jack of hearts.
(b) Lead the spade nine and put on the ten, and finesse the heart ten. If it wins, overtake the spade jack with the queen and finesse the jack of hearts; finally, play the king of spades to the ace and finesse the queen of hearts. All this finessing will be essential if West has four or more hearts including the king.
4. Lead the five of spades to the king and finesse the queen of hearts, cash the ace and queen of spades, and cash the heart ace and hope the king drops. With no second entry to dummy, you cannot take another heart finesse; and there is no way to engineer a second entry in spades.
5. After leading a club from dummy and winning in your hand, play diamonds immediately to promote your honors. If you inadvertently cash a second club, West will win all the rest.
6. (a) Lead the queen of spades and finesse if West plays low. If the queen wins, continue with the jack for a second finesse, and then play small to the nine. Don't lead the spade deuce at the first or second trick, for you'll be unable to run five tricks if West plays the king.
(b) Lead the jack of hearts and finesse if West plays low. Next time, lead the ten for another finesse.
(c) Play a low diamond from both hands at the first trick (or cash the king and then play low from both bands). The only entry to dummy is the ace of diamonds, and you cannot afford to use it up until the low diamonds are established. If the opponents' diamonds divide 3-2, this plan will produce four tricks; but if you cash the ace and king first, dummy's two long diamonds will be forever stranded.
(d) Lead the seven to the ace; if all follow, play for the drop with nine cards and cash the king, dropping the ten. Then lead the two to the jack; later, overtake the four with the five and cash the three.
7. (a) Four, if the enemy clubs divide three-two; otherwise three.
(b) The ace and king will provide two entries. If the suit splits three-two, a third entry can be obtained; cash the queen and play dummy's three, and then lead the five-spot to dummy's six.
(c) Cash the ace and king and play the six to the queen. If the suit splits three-two, the three can be overtaken with the five for a second entry to your hand.
8. Lead any card from your hand and trump it with one of dummy's spades; then lead hearts until West takes his ace. Dummy wins the return (trumping if necessary) and cashes the rest of the tricks.
9. (a) Lead a heart to dummy and play a spade up to the king. If this wins, re-enter dummy with a heart and lead another spade. This will produce two spade tricks if East has the ace.
(b) Lead a low heart and finesse the ten. If this wins, overtake the queen of spades with the king, lead a low heart and finesse the queen.
(c) Lead the queen of spades, overtake with the king, and continue playing spades from dummy until the ace is driven out. The heart ace remains as an entry to cash the promoted spades. If you lead the spade queen and play small from dummy and the opponents permit you to win the trick, the lead will be in the wrong hand.
10. Lead a club to dummy's king and play the king of spades for a ruffing finesse. If East plays small, discard a diamond in the hope East has the ace. If East plays the ace, ruff it and lead a club. Dummy is now high. (Be careful not to discard the second club! You need that card to enter dummy to cash the spades after the spade ace is driven out.)
This article is an adapted excerpt from "Bridge for Beginners" by Alvin Roth and Jeff Rubens.
Copyright 1970. Used by permission.
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