Welcome back readers!
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.
Partner led the ♥J. You won with the ♥A and declarer followed with the ♥5.
- Where is the ♥Q?
- Where is the ♣K?
- Where is the ♠Q?
- Where is the ♦Q?
- With 3 certain tricks, where does the chance for the setting trick lie?
- What can prevent your plan from succeeding?
- How will you continue?
Solution
- Where is the ♥Q?
With declarer, from partner's ♥J lead.
- Where is the ♣K?
With declarer, from the 3♣ bid.
- Where is the ♠Q?
Most likely with declarer for the 2♠ opening bid, vulnerable, needing high honors in spades.
- Where is the ♦Q?
Hopefully with partner, though declarer might have it.
- With 3 certain tricks, where does the chance for the setting trick lie?
Either by making another diamond trick or by ruffing a heart.
- What can prevent your plan from succeeding?
You can count 10 tricks for declarer: 5 spades (partner is marked with a singleton spade, so even if partner has the ♠Q it will fall, and the defense will not be able to make more than one spade trick), 2 hearts and 3 clubs, totaling 10 tricks. To manage 2 diamond tricks or a heart ruff, you will need to put partner on lead, and there is no visible entry to that hand.
- How will you continue?
Hope that partner has the ♦Q and create an entry to that hand. That is the only chance to set: Play the ♦J at trick 2. Declarer would need to win this with the ♦K (otherwise the ♦J becomes the setting trick) and upon winning your ♠A, play a low diamond to partner's ♦Q. A heart return from partner will grant you the setting heart ruff.
Things to remember:
- Note that a low diamond at trick 2 will succeed only if partner holds the ♦10 or the ♦9, which is a reasonable chance, but not the case here. The ♦J play is far superior.
- Count partner's points while playing on defense. That way you can know what to expect and plan accordingly. Since declarer opened with a weak 2, holding at most 10 points, and the ♥Q, ♣K and likely ♠QJ are marked in declarer’s hand, there is a good chance to find the ♦Q with partner.
- As you count that declarer can make 10 tricks, timing is important. You need to develop the defense's fourth trick before declarer manages to draw trumps and take the 10 tricks.
- Playing IMPs, this is the right defense, as it gives the only chance to set. But at matchpoints it is harder: If declarer has 3 hearts and a singleton diamond, you might give a trick away, losing your sure ♦A trick and never getting a heart ruff. Similarly, if declarer has ♦xx and ♣Kx, declarer wins the ♦K when you play the ♦J and then plays 3 rounds of clubs to discard the remaining diamond loser, making an overtrick. The overtrick is important at matchpoints but less so at IMPs.
- When playing weak 2, 2NT is always an artificial bid. Some play 2NT as Ogust, asking partner about the strength of the trump suit. For example: 3♣ shows a minimum (6-8 points, relatively poor trump suit), 3♦ shows 6-8 points with all values in the trump suit, 3♥ shows a maximum (9-10 points, relatively poor trump suit), and 3♠ shows a maximum (9-10 points, values concentrated in trumps). Others play 2NT as Feature, as here, asking if partner has a high card in a side suit. Without a feature, partner rebids their suit at the 3-level with minimum or at the 4-level with maximum. Another option is to play 2NT as asking for a singleton, where opener shows a singleton if they have one, or returns to their suit otherwise, bidding at the 3-level with minimum and at the 4-level with maximum.
Second Question
Against 4♥, West led the ♣K.
- You and partner have 24 points together. Why do you think both your opponents bid? And how are points divided between them?
- How many tricks and losers do you count?
- What is your best chance to make extra tricks or throw your losers?
- What is the danger?
- How will you play to avoid the danger?
Solution
- You and partner have 24 points together. How do you explain that both opponents bid? How are points divided between the opponents?
One (or both) of your opponents bid light. Likely the opener did so, having a distributional hand.
- How many tricks and losers do you count?
9 tricks: 6 hearts, 2 diamonds and 1 club. 4 losers: 3 spades and 1 diamond.
- What is your best chance to make extra tricks or throw your losers?
Try to develop the diamonds and throw losers on the promoted diamonds. West opened 1♠, so playing a spade to the ♠K has very little chance to succeed.
- What is the danger?
Having a sure diamond loser, the danger is to lose the 3rd diamond to East (if East has 3 diamonds), get a spade return (♠Q here) from East, and thus lose a diamond and all 3 spades.
- How will you play to avoid the danger?
To avoid the danger posed by East, let the ♣K win. That way West is still on lead and the spade suit is still protected. Say West continues with another club: throw a diamond on the ♣A, play ♥K and a heart to the ♥A, continue with ♦AK, ruff the 3rd diamond and play a 3rd heart to dummy's ♥J. Throw 2 spade losers on your promoted ♦8 and ♦7, and claim 11 tricks, losing just 1 club and 1 spade.
Things to remember:
- The Rule of 20: This rule needs to be agreed on by both partners. According to this rule, the hand is worth opening if the sum of the points plus the lengths of the two longest suits is 20 or more, but only if the points are in the long suits. For example, if you have 10 points and a 5-5 hand (like West’s here) or 6-4 or 7-3, and the points are in the long suits, the hand is worth opening. Same with 11 points and a 5-4 or 6-3. According to this rule, a hand of 12 points with 4-3-3-3 is not worth opening. Points are not everything. Distribution is much more important, and points in long suits give power to lower cards, making them potential tricks, especially (but not only) if one of these suits becomes trumps (but useful also in no-trump).
- To defend against a dangerous hand, you sometimes need to use special techniques, like loser-on-loser, or like here, deliberately lose a club trick to keep West on lead. This later allows you to throw a diamond loser and avoid East.
- Developing a side suit with ruffs is an important tool to make extra tricks when you hold a long side suit. Diamonds here have excellent potential for extra tricks. However, when developed, you need to make sure you have an entry to that suit (via trump here).
- It is very important to analyze the bidding. Counting that the opponents have too few points for what they promised (West promised 12+, East showed 6-10, so how come they only have 16 together?) it should be clear that one of them has a distributional hand, likely the opener. Since West did not rebid spades, he is likely to have long clubs. That means he is very likely short in diamonds. If you play ♦AK and then a 3rd diamond, hoping to lose it to West, you will likely be disappointed.
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.
#2
I think it is better to play Di to K and DI to A without drawing trumps. Nothing is lost if di are 3-2 but you may be able to handle 4-1 Di. Change W hand slightly
AJT96
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KQ942
W can ruff second Di but then he can't prevent you from crossing to dummy with Khe ruff another Di high cross back to Jhe and Play Adi and good di discarding 2 Sp
IInd Hand;Giving k-C is Clever idea.& Throwing a loosing D;
Thta helped to make Xtra trck in D!
1st hand switch to J of diamonds. Win ace of spades and lead high diamond to partners Q for a heart ruff.
duck club, pitch diamond on A of clubs. Set up diamond suit now.
a very good one i enjoyed it hope will help how to think
Teaching ideas and logic. Excellent as always.