This quiz was written by Oren Lidor.
Hand 1
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.
You led the ♥3. Dummy played the ♥9, partner followed with the ♥5 and declarer with the ♥4. Declarer tried a Diamond finesse at trick 2, and you took it with the ♦K.
- How many points does partner have?
- What is the meaning of partner’s ♥5?
- What can you also know about the Heart suit?
- What does partner need to have for you to defeat the contract?
- How will you continue?
Solution
- How many points does partner have?
Between 2 and 4 points: Declarer has 13–15 for their 3NT jump, dummy has 14 and you have 10. So partner is left with 2–4 points.
- What is the meaning of partner’s ♥5?
Count. It is rare that count is given in third seat (unless you lead the King, asking for count). But in situations where partner cannot cover a relatively low card from dummy, they will signal count. It can’t be attitude, as clearly partner has no high card in this suit; otherwise, they would cover the ♥9 with it. So, partner’s ♥5 is their lowest card, which means they have ♥xx5. They can’t have a singleton; otherwise, South would have had four Hearts and would have bid 1♥.
- What can you also know about the Heart suit?
Partner has the ♥865 and declarer has ♥Q4. If partner had the ♥Q, they would have played it at trick 1 (third hand plays high).
- What does partner need to have for you to defeat the contract?
The ♣K, otherwise declarer would have 9 tricks. Even if partner has the ♠A, it would still not be enough to set the contract, as declarer would then have 4 Clubs, 3 Diamonds and 2 Hearts.
- How will you continue?
Continue with the ♥2 at trick 3! That move will keep communication with partner (as you have no more entries to your hand) and will also tell partner that your original length was 5 cards (the ♥3 was fourth-best and therefore the ♥2 is the fifth). Declarer will win it with the ♥Q, but when they try the Club finesse, partner will get the ♣K, play their third Heart, and you will take three more Hearts to set the contract.
Things to remember:
- Third seat:
- Play high if first and second seat played low.
- Play low from a touching sequence (so if you have QJ2 and first and second seats played low, play the J).
- Give attitude (want/don’t want) if first seat led the Ace or if dummy played a top card in second seat.
- Give count if first seat led the King (needs agreement) OR if third seat cannot cover a relatively low card from dummy (like in this hand).
- Give suit preference if the suit is “DEAD” (Clearly no more tricks for us in this suit because dummy has all the high cards, or because dummy has a singleton or void in a trump contract).
- The 3NT bid shows (12)13–15 points and denies 4 cards in the majors.
- Ducking on defense is sometimes necessary to keep communication. A duck is made when your sole entry is with the long suit you want to develop and you have no side entries. Normally, it is when you play this suit from hand and choose to play low as third hand instead of your Ace. Here it was a bit different, as you led low from hand, but it has the same effect.
- When leading fourth-best, you can also tell partner about additional length by playing the fifth card later. Like here, leading the ♥2 indicated that your original length was 5 cards.
- If partner could have more points or if they would play a high Heart at trick 1, then the best chance to set the contract could be a Spade switch, hoping partner might hold ♠AJxxx.
Hand 2
Against 5♦, West led the ♠9. East followed with the ♠J and you won with the ♠A.
- How many losers do you have?
- What is the plan to get rid of these losers?
- How will you play the Diamond suit?
- Assuming you manage to pull out the trumps without losing a trick, what will you play next?
- Having a sure Heart and Spade loser that you cannot avoid, how do you plan to get rid of your Club loser?
- How will you play the hand?
Solution
- How many losers do you have?
You have 6 losers. If you take your hand as the base, you need to count 1 Spade loser, 1 Diamond, 3 Hearts and 1 Club = 6 losers. If you take dummy’s hand as the base, you need to count 1 Diamond, 3 Spades, 1 Heart and 1 Club.
- What is the plan to get rid of these losers?
Play the Diamonds in such a way as to avoid a Diamond loser (either drop the ♦Q or finesse it), ruff two Hearts in dummy, and use either a finesse to get rid of the Club loser or discard it on another promoted card. Your goal is to lose just 1 Heart and 1 Spade.
- How will you play the Diamond suit?
♦K first. If both opponents follow, then the ♦A will drop the ♦Q. If East shows out, as happens here, you can play a second Diamond and finesse to the ♦J. Finish drawing the trumps with your ♦A. If East has ♦Q10x, then you cannot avoid losing a Diamond trick, which is why you need to start with the ♦K. You can avoid losing to ♦Q10x only if it is in West.
- Assuming you manage to pull out the trumps without losing a trick, what will you play next?
Play the ♠10 and lose it to East’s ♠Q.
- Having a sure Heart and Spade loser that you cannot avoid, how do you plan to get rid of your Club loser?
Via a finesse. HOWEVER! Not a Club finesse, but a ruffing finesse in Spades, which is marked to succeed.
- How will you play the hand?
Win ♠A. Play ♦K and when you see East discard, continue with a Diamond finesse to the ♦J and the ♦A. Play a Spade and lose your ♠10 to East’s ♠Q. Win East’s Club return with your ♣A and lose a Heart. Win another Club with your ♣K, ruff a Heart and play the ♠8, ruffing finesse East’s marked ♠K. If East covers, ruff in hand, ruff your last Heart in dummy and discard your ♣J loser on your promoted ♠7.
Things to remember:
- Counting losers: Count losers from one hand, normally the long trump hand (but not always). If both hands have the same length, you need to take one hand as the BASE (= treat it as the long hand) and count from this hand, planning to ruff from the other hand.
If you take your hand as the base, count 1 Spade, 1 Diamond, 3 Hearts and 1 Club = 6 losers. If you take dummy as the base, count 3 Spades, 1 Diamond, 1 Heart and 1 Club. Here, it’s best to take your hand as the base, planning to ruff two Hearts in dummy and promote your fourth Spade.
- West’s double is a negative double, showing 8+ points (on a 2-level overcall) and at least 4 cards in Hearts. A negative double on a 1-level overcall shows (6)7+ points.
- Note that the jump to 4♦, especially when it comes after a double or when both opponents have bid, must be weak. Note that many players will bid 5♦ to disturb the opponents’ bidding. The main purpose is to disturb the opponents, but it also suggests a sacrifice in case the opponents reach a making game.
If North had a good hand with Diamond support, they could have bid 2♠, a cue bid, which shows a limit or better hand (10+ points and a fit).
- Note that South’s first bid is a dilemma, and different players would choose different bids here: Some players will choose to double (not ideal with just xxx Hearts), others will choose 1NT (not ideal with short Spades and just 1 stopper), and some will choose a 2♦ overcall (which is also not ideal as the Diamond suit is rather poor).
- Note that the bidding and the ♠9 lead marked East with ♠KQJxx. So, after the ♠J lost to your ♠A and your ♠10 lost to the ♠Q (and the ♠9 is also out at trick 1), there is only the ♠K remaining over your ♠87, which makes the Spade ruffing finesse a sure success.
- Note that as the cards lie, 4♥ makes here, losing just 2 Clubs and 1 Spade. This means that 5♦ would have been a good sacrifice even if it goes 1 or 2 down.
If this hand comes up in a tournament, there would be many different scores and results: Some E-W pairs would play in Hearts, some N-S pairs in Diamonds, and some N-S pairs would not find the Diamond fit if South bids 1NT.
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.
