Trumping in Dummy

The most fundamental occasion where you have to delay drawing trumps is when you have to ruff in the short trump hand (normally dummy). Dummy must be voided and extra cards ruffed whilst dummy still has trumps.

On our featured 4 ♥ deal there was such a suit – in which dummy has fewer cards - namely spades. Declarer won West’s top-of-a-sequence ♦ Q lead with ♦ K. Without touching a trump (which would signal defeat), declarer led a spade, beginning the voiding-dummy process. East won ♠ 9 and, realising declarer’s cunning plan, switched to a trump [this is the standard defence in such situations: the defence must try to remove dummy’s trumps before you can use them for ruffing].

Winning ♥ K, declarer led ♠ 6, voiding dummy. West beat ♠ J with ♠ Q and persisted with ♥ 7. Winning ♥ J, it was now declarer’s big moment: he led ♠ 7 – a loser – and trumped it in dummy. This was the extra trick which made the difference between 10 tricks and game made as opposed to nine tricks and ‘a good effort’.

Declarer now crossed to his hand via (say)♣ K, draw the remaining opposing trump and cashed his remaining top tricks, merely giving up a third round club trick.

There was a defence to beat 4 ♥ . West must lead a trump at trick one. The defence can lead two further trumps when in with spades and now there are no more trumps in dummy to ruff the third spade.

Whilst leading a trump would have worked well here, such a lead risks handing declarer the initiative on (at least as) many other occasions, where setting up diamond winners early is key. That’s Bridge – you can’t always be right.

Endplay & Squeeze

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How will your Trumps Split

Here are the odds of the various trump splits:

West leads ♣ Q v 4 ♠ [the killer lead would be ♦ K, but how can West find that?]. As declarer, you win and should make some guesstimates. You’d guess trumps are 3-1 (a missing even number of cards does not rate to split evenly); and you’d guess hearts are 4-3 (a missing odd number of cards does rate to split as evenly as possible).

With the above expectations, you win ♣ A (East encouraging by playing ♣ 10) and play over to ♠ K and back to ♠ A East discarding (♣ 3) on the second round), revealing that, indeed, trumps are 3-1.

Leaving West’s master trump outstanding – the Rule of One – you now play out hearts. You cash ♥ A, overtake ♥ Q with dummy’s ♥ K, then follow with ♥ J, discarding a minor-suit loser. Both opponents follow (as expected) and you now lead the good ♥ 10, discarding another minor-suit loser. West ruffs, but you do not mind, as you have just two minor-suit losers remaining. 10 tricks and game made.

Note that without ♥ 10, the sequence of plays would be ♣ A, ♠ A, ♥ AQ, ♠ 2 to ♠ K, ♥ KJ.

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The positional factor

A finesse is an attempt to promote a card (or cards) in a suit, when a higher card (or cards) is missing. The key is the relative position of the higher card. But contrast:

Declarer won the club lead with the king, and led a heart to dummy’s jack, winning the trick as West held the ace. He next crossed to the queen of diamonds and led a second heart to the queen, West ducking again (best). He followed by crossing to his ace of diamonds, and leading a third heart towards the king. This time West took his ace and led a second club. Declarer won the ace, crossed to the king of diamonds, cashed the promoted king of hearts, and scored his ninth trick with the ace of spades. Game made.

Note that had declarer lazily led a top heart from dummy, he would only have scored two tricks in the suit. He would have had to rely on a 3-3 split to score dummy’s five as a length winner. Not this time.

The Ruffing Finesse in action.

The Ruffing Finesse is a method of card promotion that enables you to benefit, even though the critical missing honour is sitting over your strength. The technique has the advantage of allowing you to dispose of a loser in another suit should the ruffing finesse fail.

The success of this 4 ♥ contract depended on guessing which opponent held the queen of spades. West led the king of clubs and, when it won, continued with the queen of clubs to East’s ace. East switched to the king of diamonds, and declarer won the ace.

There were several good reasons for playing the ruffing finesse (ace-king then run the jack - in the hope that East held the queen) as opposed to the regular finesse (low to the ten - playing for West to hold the queen).

• (i) West had preempted, so East rated to have the length (and strength) outside.

• (ii) The contract would go one fewer down should declarer misguess.

• (iii) The ruffing finesse against East would also succeed if West held the queen in a singleton or doubleton holding.

Declarer cashed the ace of trumps and crossed to dummy’s ten, West discarding (a club). Leaving East’s last trump out (needing the queen of trumps as a later entry), declarer cashed dummy’s ace-king of spades. No queen fell, so he followed with dummy’s jack (the ruffing finesse).

If East had covered with the queen of spades, declarer would have ruffed, crossed to the queen of trumps, then cashed the promoted ten of spades discarding a diamond. He would merely lose one diamond at the end. At the table East played low on the jack of spades. Declarer discarded a diamond and, when the jack won the trick, was able to draw East’s last trump and concede just one diamond. Game made.

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4NT as quantitative

A 2 NT response to a 1 NT opener shows 11-12 points and is invitational to game, saying “Partner, are you minimum or maximum for your bid?”.

West led the four of spades (a heart lead would have been best, but is impossible to find from such a broken-honour holding). Declarer counted 11 top tricks: three spades, one heart, three diamonds and four clubs.

The five-card diamond suit would have to provide the extra trick, so declarer won the first trick with his ten of spades, led to dummy’s king of diamonds and returned a diamond, East following small. He was just about to play his queen when he paused for thought.

All declarer needed was one extra diamond trick. This would be guaranteed if he finessed his ten (key play). If the ten lost to West’s jack, then the suit was splitting no worse than 4-2, and the fifth card would be good after cashing the ace-queen. If the ten won, he was home and dry.

West discarded on the ten, so the finesse had been vital. Declarer cashed the ace-queen of the suit, then the ace-king of clubs. He overtook the jack with the queen and cashed the ten, and finally took the ace-queen of spades, and ace of hearts. 12 tricks. Slam made.

Rarely right to lead an honour when finessing.

It is generally a mistake to lead an honour when finessing. If the defender playing second has the missing higher honour, he can cover the card, and draw two of your honours for one of his: a bad trade for you.

This illustrative deal sees West attack declarer’s weak spot with a spade lead - to dummy’s jack, East’s king and declarer’s ace (no point in ducking as they will surely lead a second spade). Needing to run nine tricks without losing the lead, declarer needs to get lucky in both minors.

At Trick Two declarer leads a low club (not the queen). West’s king beats air, and dummy’s ace wins. He crosses to his queen and next leads a low diamond (not the jack) to dummy’s queen (winning). He cashes the ace, and sees West’s king drop. He can now cash his remaining top cards in both minors. 10 tricks and game made.

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Finesse or Drop Test

There was a strikingly good example of the importance of “retaining the finesse position” on this slam deal. Correct technique gained not one but two tricks in the key suit - diamonds. Seeking to avoid losing to the missing queen of diamonds, the odds favour taking a finesse.

However that is not the end of the story - as one declarer found to his cost. West led a heart to East’s ace, and East hopefully tried to cash the ace of clubs. After trumping the club and cashing the ace of trumps (both following), declarer led a diamond to dummy’s jack. Oops. East won his singleton queen, and now declarer could not avoid losing a second diamond trick to West (his ten-nine-seven ensuring that he had a fourth-round winner). Down two.

Correct technique in the diamond suit involves retaining the finesse position - dummy’s king-jack - until the second round. After ruffing the club and drawing trumps, declarer cashes his ace of diamonds (key play). When he sees East’s queen drop, he deduces that West has all the remaining diamonds. He therefore leads a second diamond, and when West plays low, inserts dummy’s eight. East duly discards, so he cashes the king-jack of diamonds, crosses to the king of hearts, and reveals his hand (all trumps). 12 tricks and slam made.

Note that if West played the nine of diamonds on the second round, declarer would win dummy’s jack, cross back to hand, then finesse West’s ten of diamonds, dummy holding king-eight over West’s ten-seven.

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Examine the entry situation

Consider the following suit combinations:

What happened
Winning ♦ K lead with ♦ A (East carefully signalling encouragement with ♦ 9, holding an equal honour, ♦ J, to partner’s ♦ KQ sequence), declarer eyed up the spades. He saw the opportunity to discard both his losing diamonds on dummy’s overlapping ♠ AQ. At Trick Two declarer cashed ♠ K, then sought a way of reaching dummy’s ♠ AQ. He tried ♥ 2 to ♥ J. No good. East won ♥ A, and the defence promptly cashed two diamonds plus ♣ A. Down one.

What should have happened
Declarer must realise that there is no quick entry to dummy, except in the spade suit itself. Only needing to shed one diamond (he can afford to lose one diamond trick, to go with ♥ A and ♣ A), he makes the key play at Trick Two of overtaking ♠ K with ♠ A, then cashing ♠ Q discarding ♦ 4. Now he leads trumps, and loses the three tricks as above, but not the second diamond. 10 tricks and game made.

If you remember one thing...
Examine the entry position when playing “overlapping winners”.

Loser on Loser

Here is a defensive Trump Promotion (spades are trumps):

If you as South are on lead, you can cash the ace of trumps felling West’s king, and enjoy the queen. But, infuriatingly, if East is on lead and selects a diamond (the suit in which West is void), you cannot avoid losing to West’s king: if you trump with the queen, West overtrumps, and if you trump with the ace, West discards. 

Sometimes there is nothing you can do to prevent such a Trump Promotion. Sometimes there is. 

Click to play this deal

What happened
West led ♠ 10, and East won ♠ Q, cashed ♠ A, and followed with ♠ K. Declarer ruffed low, but West overruffed, and the defence had to come to a third-round club trick. Down one.
It was pretty clear that West held no more spades, having led “high-low” and East having opened the suit. However it would have done declarer no good to have ruffed the third spade high (with ♥ K/♥ A). West would discard, and would come to a promoted trump trick (plus a club). Down one. Is there a way out?

What should have happened
The solution (at Trick Three) is to throw away a club, which is a loser anyway. This “Loser-on-Loser” play stymies the defence. If East leads a fourth spade, declarer discards (or ruffs low), and dummy can overruff West if necessary. If East leads anything else, declarer can win, draw trumps, and claim. 10 tricks and game made. Neat.

If you remember one thing...
Look out for Loser-on-Loser plays - perhaps to prevent a defensive Trump Promotion.

Set up extra winners a.s.a.p.

We are focussing on the need to delay drawing trumps, when there is an “overlapping winner” (or the potential for one) in dummy. Look for a suit in which there are more winners, than number of cards in your hand.

What happened
Declaring 4 ♠, South won ♣ Q with ♣ A and led a trump. East won ♠ A and, knowing from his partner’s lead that declarer held ♣ K, brightly switched to ♥ 7.

Winning ♥ K, declarer led ♦ 6 to ♦ J. West won ♦ A and persisted with hearts, knocking out ♥ A. Declarer led ♦ 7 to ♦ 10, but East could win ♦ K and cash a third round heart winner. Down one.

What should have happened
Declarer has the potential for an overlapping winner in diamonds. However, because he has two top diamonds to force out first (and two heart stoppers), he cannot afford to lose a tempo by conceding to ♠ A.

Winning ♣ A, you as declarer lead ♦ J at Trick Two (key play). The defence win and switch to hearts (best). Carefully win ♥ A (preserving ♥ K as a dummy entry for the promoted diamond winner), and lead ♦ 7 to ♦ 10. The defence win, but you can win their heart return in dummy with ♥ K, and cash the promoted ♦ Q discarding your heart loser from hand. Only then can you play trumps - 10 tricks and game made.

If you remember one thing...
Overlapping winners often involve losing the lead. Set them up a.s.a.p, or you lose a vital tempo.

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Can you afford to play a top Honour first?

Consider how to play the following suit:

• AKJ43 facing 982

What happened
Defending 4 ♠, West led ♣ J to East’s ♣ K, and East switched to ♦ J (best). Declarer covered with ♦ Q, and took West’s ♦ K with ♦ A. At Trick Three declarer led ♠ 2 to his ♠ J. West won ♠ Q, and the defence cashed a trick in each minor, then led a third diamond. Declarer ruffed, and laid down ♠ A. Disappointed when West discarded, he had to concede a fourth round trick to East’s ♠ 10. Down two.

What should have happened
After winning Trick Two with ♦ A, declarer crosses to ♠ A (key play), retaining ♠ KJ for a second-round finesse. The extra chance - that West holds ♠ Q singleton - duly materialises. Knowing that East holds the guarded ♠ 10, declarer now crosses to ♥ K, and runs ♠ 9. A third spade to his ♠ KJ picks the suit up without loss. Game made.

If you remember just one thing...
Cash as many higher honours as you can afford (retaining the finesse position), before taking the finesse.

How many trump tricks do i need?

When planning a trump contract, count up the number of sure tricks you have outside the trump suit. Provided you have no possibilities of extra tricks in those suits, you can calculate the number of trump tricks you need in order to fulfill your contract.

Click here to Play this hand

Have the opponents preempted?

Thirty Three

There is no doubt that in the heat of battle an improving bridge player needs guidelines to clutch hold of. To that end I have devised a useful Rule that relates to each number up to twenty. Next week I will begin with The Rule of One.

After South opened 1 NT showing 12-14 points, North used The Rule of Thirty-Three to go straight to 6 NT. The Rule does not say that the contract will always be made however, and it took South's finest technique.

West led ♠ J and declarer won dummy's ♠ K and played a second ♠ to his ♠ Q, observing East discard ♥ 10. If this was a true signal, it indicated that East held ♥ K, dooming the normal ♥ finesse. Declarer then cashed ♦ A, ♦ J, crossed to ♦ Q and cashed ♦ K, discarding ♥ 2 from his hand. He cashed dummy's ♣ AK and crossed to his ♣ Q, West discarding. After cashing ♠ A, East discarding ♥ 8, everybody was left with three cards. Dummy held ♥ AQ6, declarer held ♠ 3, ♥ 3 and ♣ 8, and East was known to hold ♣ J and two ♥s. Can you see what declarer led?

At trick eleven declarer exited with his losing ♣. East won ♣ J but was forced to lead away from ♥ K9 into dummy's ♥ AQ.

RULE OF THIRTY-THREE: If you know that 33 points are held by the partnership, bid for 12 tricks - a Small Slam.

Support or Preference?

When a player has bid two suits, he is asking his partner to give a preference. Frequently the partner will be choosing the lesser of two evils with no great enthusiasm. A preference bid must not be confused with genuine support.

Ruff low then high? or high then low?

To draw or not to draw? Perhaps the most important occasion in which drawing trumps must be delayed is when you need to trump (“ruff”) losers in dummy. Players are often overly worried about an overruff.

What happened

West led ♦ K, and declarer correctly identified the need to ruff two hearts in dummy. However, after winning ♦ A, then correctly cashing ♥ AK and leading ♥ 2, he ruffed with ♠ 10. Oops. East overruffed with ♠ J, and the error of his ways was revealed when East returned ♠ 4 removing dummy’s last trump. Declarer could not now ruff his last heart, and went down one.

What should have happened
You can afford to lose a trump trick, as long as both your hearts are ruffed. Ruff the third heart with ♠ Q (key play), and the fourth with ♠ 10. East can overruff with ♠ J, but that is the only trick you lose. 12 tricks and slam made.

If you remember one thing...
With two ruffs to secure, normally ruff first low then high; but not if you want to be ensure both ruffs.

Jump rebids

This article was taken from Andrew's What Should Have Happened Book

Some bids in bridge are complete “sign off’s” - e.g. 1NT-2♠. Some are invitational - e.g. 1♥-3♥, and some force partner to speak again - e.g. 1♣-1♦. A few bids actually force partner to keep bidding until Game is reached; one such “Game-forcing” sequence is a jump rebid in a new suit by Opener - e.g. 1♣-1♦-2♥ or 1♥-1♠-3♦.

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Re-evaluate

When South first picked up his cards, he counted 15 points. Why, then, when his partner had given him jump support for ♥s showing 10-12 points, did he refuse to go on to Game? The answer is that his 15 points had dwindled down to 12 because his ♦ QJ were now almost certain to be worth nothing. Even 3 ♥ should have failed.

West led ♦ A, followed with ♦ K, then switched safely to ♣ 9. Declarer won ♣ Q, cashed ♥ AK drawing the opposing trumps, cashed ♣ AK, then trumped ♣ 4. He crossed to ♥ J then led dummy’s ♠ 4. East followed with ♠ 2 and he played ♠ 9.

West won ♠ 10 but had no good lead. If he led a ♦, declarer could discard a ♠ from one hand and trump in the other, and if he led a ♠ then declarer’s ♠ K would score a trick. Declarer had restricted his losses to two ♦s and two ♠s.

East should have risen with ♠ J - a tough play - when dummy’s ♠ 4 was led. Now declarer would have had to lose three ♠ tricks and fail.

ANDREW’S TIP: Keep re-evaluating your hand as the bidding progresses.

Do you know where you are going?

How opener bids a five card suit

To open a suit you need just four cards; to repeat a suit, however, you should try to have six cards. With five cards, you usually have a preferable alternative to rebidding your suit. 

Exercise: On each of the following three hands you have five spades. But will you be opening and rebidding them?

(a) Open 1 ♠ but rebid 2 ♥, indicating your five-four shape (see deal).

(b) You will not even bid spades once, instead opening 1NT, showing a balanced 12-14 (yes - even with a five-card major).

(c) You do have a Rule of 20 opener (points + no. of cards in two longest suits getting to 20). You will open 1♠, but your rebid will depend on partner’s response. Over 1NT or 2♣, you will rebid 2♦; over 2♦, you will raise to 3♦; but over 2♥, you will understandably be loath to rebid 3♦, taking the bidding to the nine-trick level with no assurance of a fit or more than half the pack in points. A 2♠ rebid is best, in spite of the lack of a sixth spade. Repeating a  five-card suit, however, is exceptional.

Intermediate deal of the month

1) Rule of 20 opener:  open when high-card points added to length in two longest suits get to 20.

2) Should rebid 2 ♥ to show 5-4 shape. 

Opening Lead: ♣10.

3NT failed on ♣10 lead - to ♣J and ♣K. Declarer won ♣A on the third round, knocked out ♥A, but the defence cashed a fourth club and ♠A. Down one.

How the Deal should be Bid

Final Contract: 4 ♥ by North
Opening Lead: ♣3.

What should have happened

4♥ makes. After ♣3 lead win ♣A and (optional) play ♦AKQ throwing ♣4. Then lead to ♠Q. Say East wins ♠A and leads ♥3 to ♥A then ♥5. Win ♥Q, lead to ♠K, trump ♠4, and cross-trump your way to 10 tricks. Game made.

If you remember just one thing....

I was once asked in an interview to give one useful piece of advice to intermediate players. This was it: Do not rebid a five-card suit if you have an alternative.

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What are my alternatives

There is an undoubted temptation to “over-finesse”. Leading (say) to an ace-queen, and seeing whether or not the queen loses to the king, like tossing a coin and betting whether it will turn heads, is a gamble with an undoubted lure. However a failing finesse, by its very nature, involves losing the lead. If you cannot afford this to happen, and have alternative options, then those other approaches should be sought.

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What happened
Declarer won West’s ♦ K lead with ♦ A, and knew the correct odds to avoid losing to ♠ Q; missing five cards including the queen it was to finesse. He crossed to ♠ A, then led back ♠ 3 to ♠ J. Disappointment - West won ♠ Q, and promptly cashed ♦ Q. Down one.

What should have happened
Although the correct odds to avoid a trump loser are to lead to ♠ A then finesse ♠ J, the consequences of losing the finesse are fatal (a diamond is cashed). Declarer should have tried to dispose of the diamonds from one hand or the other before potentially losing the lead.

After winning ♦ A, declarer should cash ♠ AK, expecting the most likely result that four low spades but no ♠ Q will appear [♠ Q rates to be in the three-card length as opposed to being in the doubleton (3 : 2)]. Leaving ♠ Q out, he must concentrate on discarding the diamonds from one hand. This will be possible in clubs, should the suit split 3-3 (against the odds); possible in hearts if the player with ♠ Q has more than two of the seven missing cards (a big favourite).

After taking ♠ AK, declarer cashes ♥ Q, then leads over to ♥ AKJ. One diamond from hand goes on the third heart, the other goes on the fourth heat. Note that West ruffs this fourth heart, but it’s too late, as both your diamonds have gone. 12 tricks and slam made.

If you remember just one thing...
Do not rush to finesse, if the consequences of a losing finesse are fatal.

Andrew is beginning a couple of weeks on the topic of Stayman in his Level Three BridgeCast (click here)

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Lead towards the honour you are trying to promote

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Possibly the single most common mistake in the whole of Bridge - let alone in Finessing - is actually to lead the card you are trying to promote. Take:

What happened
West led ♣ K vs the 4 ♠ game. Winning ♣ A, declarer drew trumps in three rounds finishing in hand, then led ♦ Q. Oops.
If West held ♦ K, he would simply cover; in fact ♦ Q ran to East’s ♦ K, and the defence cashed two clubs and waited for a third-round heart trick. Down one.
What should have happened
To promote ♦ Q, you must lead from the opposite hand. Draw trumps finishing in dummy, then lead ♦ 5. East can rise with ♦ K, and lead to West’s ♣ QJ. However you win (say) ♥ 3 with ♥ K, cash ¨♦ Q, cross to ♥ A, then cash ¨♦ A discarding ♥ 7. 10 tricks and game made.
If you remember just one thing...
Do not lead the honour you are trying to promote; lead from the opposite hand.