Bridge is a brilliant game—full of logic, creativity, and endless discovery.
These quizzes are here to help you sharpen your skills in both declarer play and defense. Each hand presents a real-world challenge: you’ll only see your own and dummy’s cards, just as at the table. Along the way, I’ll pose questions—clues to guide your thinking and help you work through the hand.
In a way, it's like solving a riddle.
The goal? To train you to ask the right questions at the right time. Whether you’re declaring or defending, success often hinges on knowing what to look for—and what you need to figure out.
Try each hand on your own before checking the solution.
As before, you’ll find a “Things to Remember” section at the end—highlighting key lessons in bidding, play, and defense that you can carry into your next game.
I hope you enjoy—and keep growing on your bridge journey.
First Question:
You've agreed to play standard carding with your partner - for attitude, high encourages, and low discourages; for count, high–low shows even, and low–high shows odd.
Against 3NT, you lead the ♣5. Your partner played the ♣J, and declarer won with the ♣A and played the ♦Q, overtaking in dummy when you played low. Declarer continued with the ♦J, discarding the ♣4 from hand, and you won with the ♦A.
Where is the ♣K?
Where is the ♣10?
What is declarer's distribution?
Which card must you hope your partner has to beat 3NT?
Which card should you play next?
Solution
Where is the ♣K? With declarer, as partner didn't play it at trick 1 (third hand plays high).
Where is the ♣10? With declarer, as partner didn't play it at trick 1 (third hand plays low from a touching sequence).
What is declarer's distribution? 4-4-1-4. Declarer showed 4-4 in the majors and followed to only one diamond, so they must have four clubs.
Which card must you hope your partner has to beat 3NT? ♠A. If declarer has it, they already have 10 tricks: 2 hearts, 5 diamonds, 2 clubs, and the ♠A. You must assume partner holds it (otherwise 3NT makes) and play accordingly.
Which card should you play next? ♠K. Assuming partner has the ♠A, you need to defend in a way that allows the defense to make four spade tricks. If you lead a low spade, partner wins the ♠A, returns a spade to your ♠K (♠Q falls), you cash the ♠J, but declarer's ♠10 becomes high. If you lead the ♠J first, declarer covers with the ♠Q, partner wins the ♠A, returns a spade to your ♠K9, but again, declarer's ♠10 is high. You need the third spade to come from partner's hand. That means they must win the second round of spades — so you must win the first. Therefore, lead the ♠K first, then the ♠2 to partner’s ♠A (♠Q falls), and partner returns a spade — your ♠J9 sits over declarer’s ♠108.
Things to remember:
Third hand plays high, if both first and second hands play low.
From a touching sequence, third hand plays low from that sequence. Example:
When you play the ♦5, North (as dummy) plays the ♦3, partner plays the ♦J, and declarer (South) wins with the ♦A. It’s clear that partner has the ♦Q; otherwise, declarer would have won the trick with the ♦Q instead. So, when you regain the lead, you can safely play a low diamond to partner’s ♦Q. Another example:
In this case, it’s clear that declarer holds the ♦J, since partner didn’t play it — they would have played the ♦J from QJ as third hand. So, when you regain the lead, switch to another suit and try to put partner on lead, allowing them to return the suit to your ♦K10 sitting over declarer’s ♦J.
You lead a spade, North (dummy) plays the ♠10, partner plays the ♠Q, and declarer follows with the ♠5. Partner must have the ♠K — otherwise, declarer would have won the trick with it. So, when you regain the lead, return a spade to help establish partner’s ♠K. Another example:
In this case, declarer must hold the ♠Q — otherwise, partner would have played it (third hand plays the Q from KQ). So, when you gain the lead, consider switching to another suit to look for tricks elsewhere.
If you realize that setting the contract depends on partner holding a specific card — assume it's there and play accordingly. What other choice do you have?
If declarer holds four spades and defeating 3NT depends on partner having the ♠A, then given the following position:
You should lead the ♠K, then play the ♠2 to partner’s ♠A. Partner returns a third spade, allowing your ♠J9 to sit over declarer’s ♠10 and ♠8.
And which card should you lead in this sequence?
Lead the ♠J! Declarer must cover with the ♠Q, partner wins the ♠A, returns a spade, and you have ♠K9 over declarer’s ♠108.
Bidding the fourth suit at the 1-level (as in the question 1) can mean one of two things: – It may be Fourth Suit Forcing, indicating a Game-Forcing hand, – Or it may be natural, showing a genuine 4-card spade suit. So, if you bid 1♠ and later rebid your original suit, it suggests that the 1♠ bid was artificial, and the sequence is Game Forcing. (Alternatively, you and your partner may agree that a 2♠ bid is the artificial fourth suit, while 1♠ shows natural spades.)
Note: If North rebids 3♦ after bidding 1♦ (without bidding 1♠), it shows a 6-card diamond suit and 10–11 points. South may pass with a minimum hand.
Second Question
West led the ♦A, ♦K, and ♦Q. East discarded a heart on the third round of diamonds, and West continued with the ♦10.
How many losers do you have?
How are the opponents' points divided?
How is the diamond suit divided?
How is the heart suit divided?
How is the spade suit divided?
How is the club suit divided?
Will you ruff the fourth diamond? If yes, with which club? If not, why not?
How will you play?
Solution
How many losers do you have? Six: 1 heart, 4 diamonds, and 1 club.
How are the opponents' points divided? About 12 points in West and 6 in East, based on the bidding.
How is the diamond suit divided? Four diamonds in West and two in East, as East followed to only two rounds.
How is the heart suit divided? At least 5 hearts in East and a maximum of 4 in West. The opponents hold 9 hearts in total. Since West did not open 1♥, they likely have a maximum of 4 hearts, meaning East has at least 5.
How is the spade suit divided? At least 5 spades in East and a maximum of 2 in West. If East had only 4 spades and 5 hearts, they would have responded 1♥. With a 5-5 distribution in the majors, East would bid spades first. Also, if West had 3 spades, they likely would have doubled 2♣ (support double).
How is the club suit divided? At least 3 clubs in West and a maximum of 1 in East. East appears to have at least 5-5 in the majors and 2 diamonds, so they can have at most 1 club.
Will you ruff the fourth diamond? If yes, with which club? If not, why not? Don’t ruff the fourth diamond. Discard a heart instead. If you ruff with a low club, East may overruff. Ruffing with the ♣10 is also risky if East has a singleton ♣Q. Even ruffing with the ♣K is problematic, as it would then be impossible to capture the ♣Q. Discarding a heart (loser on loser) means you lose the fourth diamond but save a heart loser. You can later ruff a second heart safely, without risk of an overruff.
How will you play? Discard a heart on the fourth round of diamonds and allow the ♦10 to win. Win any return from West, cash the ♣A, and if the ♣Q doesn’t fall from East, play another club and finesse to the ♣10. Then play the ♣K to drop West’s ♣Q. Later, ruff your remaining heart loser with dummy’s last club. This way, you lose only four diamond tricks.
Things to remember:
How to count losers: Losers are counted when playing in a trump contract. Many players get this wrong. You should choose one hand as the base hand (usually the one with longer trumps) and count losers from there. The other hand is the short hand. Example: If the base hand has xx and the short hand has Axx, you count 1 loser—one goes on the ace, one is lost, and the third can be ruffed. However, if the base hand has xxx and the short hand has Ax, you count 2 losers. These are still losers until the third card is ruffed or discarded. This is why we counted 4 diamond losers in Question 2.
When trumps are 4-4: Choose one hand as the base (typically the more balanced hand) and try to ruff in the short hand. Example:
West
East
♠KXX
♠AXXX
♥AQXX
♥KJXX
♦AXX
♦X
♣XXX
♣AXXX
Playing in 4♥: – If West is the base: 1♠, 0♥, 2♦, 2♣ = 5 losers. Plan: Ruff 2 diamonds in East (short hand) → 6 trump tricks instead of 4. – If East is the base: 2♠, 0♥, 0♦, 3♣ = 5 losers. Plan: Try to ruff the 4th spade and club in West. The first plan is easier—take West as base and ruff two diamonds in dummy.
Bridge is all about counting: You count tricks, losers, points, and distribution. This hand is a great example of counting distribution. Bidding gives you clues about both the suits that were bid and the ones that weren’t. If you can count three suits, you can infer the fourth (trump suit here).
Understanding West’s Pass after the 2♣ overcall: A common mistake is to bid 2NT here, which actually shows 18–19 points. Why? Because East’s bid shows 6+ points. If a responder changes suit at the 1-level, opener’s 1NT shows 12–14, and 2NT shows 18–19. If the responder changes suit at the 2-level (showing 10+ points), then opener’s 2NT shows 12–14, and 3NT shows 18–19. So, with a minimum opening hand, West should pass the 2♣ overcall.
Loser-on-loser play: This is a standard maneuver in bridge. You use it when ruffing is unsafe (e.g., fear of an overruff), to break communication between defenders (see the “scissors coup” in Test Your Bridge Skills #60), or to avoid shortening your long hand and losing control. It’s also used to prevent the dangerous hand from gaining the lead.
The “Eight Ever, Nine Never” rule: This guideline suggests that with 8 cards in a suit missing the queen, you should finesse; with 9 cards, play for the drop. However, as seen here, counting often overrides this statistic. Use the rule when you lack better information, but always prioritize counting.
About the Author
Oren Lidor is considered one of the best bridge teachers in Israel, is the author of 5 bridge books, and teaches bridge to people from all over the world on BBO.
5 comments on “Test Your Bridge Skills #61”
Very Creative thinking PLAY
Spade K and making 4 Tricks in S; WOW!
Always great examples, very clear and detailed explanations. On The 2d hand distribution could also be 6/5/2/0 in East hand meaning 4 clubs in West hand leaving us without any solution to catch the queen of club.
Very Creative thinking PLAY
Spade K and making 4 Tricks in S; WOW!
Always great examples, very clear and detailed explanations. On The 2d hand distribution could also be 6/5/2/0 in East hand meaning 4 clubs in West hand leaving us without any solution to catch the queen of club.
A dream teacher!
Counting. Counting. Counting
Very useful learning and best thing is the way teaching is done.I will like to go through the entire series of Test your Bridge Skills if possible.
Many thanks again