Declarer Tips
Make the most of dummy
You are declaring 4♠. What is your plan for 10 tricks after the lead of the ♣Q?
Answer:
In a trump contract, you start by counting losers in the long hand (the hand with the most trumps). Here, you have three heart losers and two diamond losers. Fortunately, dummy’s ♦K covers one of your diamond losers, but you still have four losers total – one too many. What to do about this?
You have two options: The diamond suit could split 3–3, allowing you to discard a heart from your hand, or you can ruff a heart in dummy. Only one option is foolproof.
You guessed it – ruff that heart! Win the ♣A and lead a low heart at trick two. Either defender can win and see what you’re up to; they will lead a trump. No bother: Win the spade and lead another heart. Win the next spade return and trump your third heart in dummy.
The full deal:
Note than an initial trump lead by the West hand would put the defenders one step ahead in the race to exhaust North’s trumps.
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Bridge Term Breakdown
Carding (verb)
The defensive signaling used by a partnership.
Signals (verb)
The conventional meanings assigned to plays made by the defenders in order to exchange information.
“What is your carding?” is a common phrase heard at the bridge table or chatted in a private message online. Often, this question is asked by declarer to ascertain if or how the defenders are (legally) communicating via the card played or by what is discarded when a defender cannot follow suit.
What could the defenders be telling one another? Let’s start with the basic concept of “attitude,” which is whether you like the suit led by partner.
Standard attitude
Playing standard carding, following suit to partner’s lead or discarding with a high card means you like the suit. Following with a low card means you don’t like the suit. If this were your hand:
♠A 8 7 2 ♥9 5 2 ♦9 4 3 2 ♣8 7,
and partner led the ♥A, you could play the ♥2 to say you don’t like hearts. If your partner wants to continue leading hearts, they should not expect any help from you! At your first opportunity to discard, you might play the ♠8 to say you like spades, meaning if partner regains the lead, you would like them to lead a spade.
Upside-down attitude
Playing upside-down, the attitude meanings are the opposite. When following to partner’s lead or discarding, a low card means you like the suit, and a high card means you don’t.
Agreement
You and your partner should agree which method you want to play when defending!
Sometimes with attitude signals, you might not have the right cards to send the message you want to convey. Just do the best you can, and remember, you’re trying to help your partner.
Best Bidding
Game triess
When you open 1♥ or 1♠, and partner gives you a single raise, what happens next?
It depends on the strength of your hand. Partner has generally shown a hand with trump support in the 6–9 high-card-point range. This bid is not invitational to game from responder’s perspective.
As opener, if you have a minimum or a game-forcing hand, your decisions are easy: pass or bid game. Pass with a minimum, something like 12–14 HCP and flat distribution:
♠A K 9 8 4 ♥K 8 4 ♦Q 6 2 ♣Q 2
With a strong hand – 17+ HCP or extra distributional values – such as either of these:
♠A Q J 10 7 ♥K J 10 ♦K J ♣K J 10
♠A K 10 9 8 6 ♥5 ♦K Q 10 5 ♣J 8,
you can bid 4♠.
What about when you have an in-between hand?
In the old days, opener invited game with 3♠; partner passed with 6–7 HCP or accepted and bid game with 8–9 HCP.
The modern method is to add game tries to your partnership agreements. There are various types of game tries. You and your partner should agree which type you want to play. The simplest is “natural,” showing a four-card or longer suit, such as this:
♠A Q 10 7 6 ♥8 2 ♦A J 8 3 ♣A 6
After opening 1♠ and getting a 2♠ raise from partner, you can bid 3♦ to ask partner if they have a useful diamond holding, such as ♦K x x or maybe ♦Q 10 x. If so, responder can bid game, provided their hand is not minimum in high cards. If partner doesn’t have a useful diamond holding, they can retreat to 3♠.
Alternatively, you and your partner could play “short suit” game tries, showing a singleton or void. For example, holding:
♠A K J 5 2 ♥2 ♦K Q 9 ♣Q J 10 9,
you would open 1♠, and after a 2♠ raise, you would bid 3♥ using this method to show heart shortness. If partner doesn’t have wasted heart values (honors in the heart suit), they should consider bidding game. Here’s a hand that would raise to 4♠
♠8 4 3 ♥10 7 3 ♦A 7 6 2 ♣K 3 2.
There are other game tries, too, but the important thing to know is what these three-level bids mean after a major-suit raise. Remember, you and partner should discuss and agree on which method you like.
