Quiz - Playing the Second Hand

You must cover as there's a chance to promote a trick for partner. For example:

Case (I)

You've promoted partner's 9 by covering. If you don't cover, and then on the next trick Declarer plays low, taking your ♠K with the ♠A, they'll make the rest of the tricks as they still have ♠J10.

Case (II)

By covering, you've promoted partner's ♠10. If you don’t cover, and on the next trick Declarer plays low, they'll make all the tricks.

So, always cover if your hand is shorter or the same length as dummy's and, if you see a chance to promote a trick for you or for partner.

Hand 3

You're sitting East.
Declarer plays ♦Q from dummy.
Will you cover with ♦K?

You need to cover as there's a great chance to promote a trick for partner.

Case (I)

You'll promote partner's ♦10 if you cover. Here's how it'll work:
Dummy plays ♦Q, you cover with the ♦K, Declarer takes with the ♦A, and partner follows with the ♦2.
Next, Declarer plays the ♦J; players follow with low ♦ - 6,3, and 4. So, now partner's ♦10 is high.

If you don't cover, Declarer will win a trick with the ♦Q, then they can finesse the ♦J, cash the ♦A and your partner's ♦10 will fall. It also makes Declarer having 5 tricks - ♦Q, ♦J, ♦A, then ♦9 and ♦8 are tops because your K and 10 will drop when Declarer plays the ♦A.

Case (II)

In this case you promote partner's ♦9 if you cover. If you don't, dummy's ♦Q will win the trick and declarer will finesse the ♦J to score 4 tricks.

Hand 4

You're defending, sitting East.

Declarer plays ♦Q from dummy.

Do you cover with ♦K?

Declarer can finesse you once again, but after they cash the ♦A, your ♦K is high. There's a chance, that if you cover, you'll promote something for partner, but here's what's more likely to happen:

Case (I)

Case (II)

On (I) and (II) you promote all declarer's diamonds if you cover. If you don't cover, your ♦K will take a trick if declarer continues to play that suit.

So, don't cover if your suit is long enough to protect your honor and you can't promote a card from your hand.

Hand 5a

You're sitting West.
Declarer plays ♣J.
Will you cover with the ♣Q?

You'll lose to the ♣AK10, but in so doing you'll promote your ♣9.

If you don't cover, declarer will run the ♣J, finesse to the ♣10, and then win all the tricks.

Hand 5b

You're sitting West.
Declarer plays ♣J.
Will you cover with the ♣Q?

Correct Answer: No

This time, don't cover. You can't promote a trick for yourself or partner. Play low and hope that declarer won't finesse or has a singleton ♣J.

Hand 6a

You're sitting East.
Declarer plays ♣Q from dummy.
Will you cover with the ♣K?

Correct Answer: No

Don't cover the ♣Q, but do cover the ♣J if declarer plays it next. With length, always cover the last touching honor.

If you cover the ♣Q directly, declarer can win with the ♣A, and then finesse to the ♣9, to make all the tricks. If you don't cover, the ♣Q will win, and when declarer tries the ♣J next, you should then cover and promote partner's ♣10.

Hand 6b

You're sitting East.
Declarer plays ♣Q from dummy.
Will you cover with the ♣K?

With doubleton, always cover.

If you don't cover, declarer will play low ♣ on the next trick, and your ♣K will drop to declarer's ♣A meaning they'll make 4 tricks.
Covering the ♣Q will also promote a trick for partner.

Hand 7

You're sitting East.
Declarer plays ♣J from dummy.
Will you cover with the ♣Q?

Let's see why:

If you cover, declarer will win and play a low club to dummy's ♣10, making 3 tricks in that suit.
They only give one trick to the ♣K in West, and claim the remaining Club tricks. If you wait with your ♣Q, partner will win the ♣K and later on, when you cover the ♣10 with your ♣Q, your ♣9 will be promoted.
So, with length, always cover the last touching honor.

Hand 8

You're sitting East.
Declarer plays ♣J from dummy.
Will you cover with the ♣Q?

With doubleton, always cover.

If you cover, you promote partner's ♣9. If not, declarer can then play low club, making 4 tricks.

Hand 9

You're sitting West.
Declarer opens the bidding with 2NT and dummy raises to 3NT with 5 points as shown below.
When Declarer wins in hand, they play the ♣4.
What will you play?

Play low. Let's see why:

If you play an honor, declarer will let you win the trick and later play the 2nd club to finesse your remaining honor and thus make 4 tricks in this suit.

If you play low, declarer will win cheap with the ♣9. Remember that dummy only has 5 points; ♣A and ♣J. So, they can only cash 1 more trick as declarer doesn't have another entry to dummy once you win with your honor.

Hand 10

You're sitting West.
Declarer plays the ♣4.
What will you play?

You need to play high.

Declarer isn't playing a low card from ♣Q4. So, they either have ♣Qx4 (to always make 5 tricks), or more likely, they have only ♣x4.

Play the ♣K and the suit is dead because your partner's ♣Q will block dummy. It's also possible that declarer will allow you to hold the trick; hoping you play the ♣K from ♣KQx as in the previous example, and then try to finesse to the ♣J, losing to your partner's ♣Q, meaning they don't make any tricks in clubs as they don't have an entry to dummy.

If you play low, declarer will play the ♣9, and if partner wins the ♣Q, declarer can take 4 tricks in the suit, by finessing to the ♣10.