Introduction to planning the play ================================= Planning the play as declarer consists of 2 steps: 1) Decide how many tricks you would win between your hand and the dummy. We will rerefer to this number of tricks as the "goal" 2) Decide on a sequence of plays that will give you the best chance of achieving your goal. The "declarer's" objective is to achieve his trick-winning goal The defender' objective is to prevent declarer from achieving his goal The dummy's objective is to sit still and root for his partner, the declarer The number of tricks that represents declarer's goal is determined in the bidding. What does the bidding decide: 1) Who the declarer, dummy and opening leader will be 2) What the declarer's trick winning goal will be 3) What the trump suit will be (or no trump) Planning the play: 1) Identify the number of tricks you would like to win as declarer, your goal 2) Decide on a sequence of plays that will give you the best chance of achieving your goal. The three sub-steps for "no trumps" deals: 2a) Count the number of immediate winners between the declarer and the dummy 2b) Figure out how many extra winners must be established to achieve the goal 2c) Come up with the best plan you can for establishing enough extra winners The three sub-steps when there is a trump suit: 2a) Count the number of losers in the declarer's hand 2b) Figure out how many of these losers must be eliminated to achieve the goal 2c) Come up with the best plan you can for eliminating enough losers. So think winners for NT and losers for trumps. Example deal 1 - Planning the play at NT -------------- NORTH Goal is to win 10 tricks in NT S:432 Lead S6. 2a) immediate winners are 8. 2b) We H:AQJ need 2 extra winners. Sp has no chance of D:5432 more tricks. It is the weak spot. If W has C:432 HK we can finesse twice for 2 extra tricks. -------------- If E has K, then promotion will lead us to WEST |||||||||||||| EAST 1 extra trick. Not bad, its a start. Are there S:Q9865 |||||||||||||| S:J108 other suits worth looking at. Look at whole H:109 |||||||||||||| H:K8765 deal. For C, there are no problems. For D D:A765 |||||||||||||| D:1098 once A is gone, 2 extra winners will be C:76 |||||||||||||| C:98 established by promotion. D suit is 100% -------------- certain to provide us the 2 extra winners SOUTH (D) that we need. So the plan should be to S:AK attack D and not take H finesse. So take SK H:432 and play DK. W takes DA and plays another D:KQJ S. Now you take your C and D and low H. Do C:AKQJ10 you finesse? Take the A since that gets us to the goal of 10 tricks. Do not risk achieving your goal for the sake of tricks beyond your goal. It is fine to think about additional tricks after the goal has been achieved. When a deal is played at NT, it is generally a good strategy for a defender to choose his opening lead from his longest and strongest suit. It is a good strategy to lead from your longest and strongest suit against NT, with length taking priority over strength. Unless your longest and strongest suit is headed by touching high cards, it is considered good strategy to select, as your lead, the fourth best card in the suit. At NT, if your longest and strongest suit is headed by 3 touching high cards, lead one of these cards. Otherwise, lead the fourth best card of your longest and strongest suit Example deal 2 - Counting losers at NT NORTH Goal is to make 9 tricks S:32 Lead is S6. We have 7 immediate winners H:AQJ So we need 2 extra winners. We can take D:10432 H finesse or D promoted. 2D can be made, C:5432 but it can be blocked. So we need to ask -------------- "What could go wrong?". If we give DA, WEST |||||||||||||| EAST E-W will get 4 S tricks since we do not S:KQ965 |||||||||||||| S:J1084 have a stopper. So we can get only 8 tricks. H:109 |||||||||||||| H:K8765 So we need to finesse in H. Now we lose this D:A765 |||||||||||||| D:98 and now we get only 7 tricks. But this is C:76 |||||||||||||| C:98 still the best chance. If W has the K, then -------------- we can get 9 tricks. SOUTH (D) S:A7 H:432 D:KQJ C:AKQJ10 Declarer should never risk his goal for the sake of an overtrick. Declarer should be willing to risk extra undertricks to achieve his goal. The number of stoppers that declarer and dummy hold in the defender's long suit will often have great impact on how declarer plans the play. Consider how many times you can afford to lose the lead when planning the play. The number of stoppers you hold in the defenders' long suit will help you figure this out. Example deal 3 - Planning the play with a trump suit --------------- NORTH C is trump: Goal is to win 9 tricks S:32 SK is led (!!). Goal is 9 tricks. Now H:AQJ we need the immediate losers. There is one D:10432 loser in S, one loser in DA and 1 loser C:5432 in H. No losers need to be eliminated. -------------- We have 3 losers and we can afford to lose WEST |||||||||||||| EAST 4. Sounds easy. What could go wrong? The S:KQ9765|||||||||||||| S:J1084 only thing that could go wrong is a ruff, H:109 |||||||||||||| H:Q8765 so take out trumps immediately. Then give D:A765 |||||||||||||| D:98 up DA and a S. If another S is led, you C:76 |||||||||||||| C:98 get ruff/discard and do not have to give -------------- HK. SOUTH (D) S:A7 H:432 D:KQJ C:AQKJ10 Only 2 touching high cards are required to lead a high card when there is a trump suit. When the defenders lead a suit in which both declarer and dummy are void, and declarer and dummy have at least 1 trump, the declarer is presented with a ruff and discard. This is usually a bad defender strategy. It allows declarer to discard a loser from one hand while ruffing in the other hand. Example deal 4 - Suit establishment and entries -------------- NORTH 4H by S: Lead DK S:54 W-E take 3 D and exits with S6. You need H:A32 to now plan. You need 10 tricks, so you D:765 cannot lose any more tricks. So you have C:AK654 to take SA. You have 2 S losers. Only hope -------------- is to establish C. So take CAK and ruff WEST |||||||||||||| EAST a C. With some luck C is split 3-3, so S:QJ10 |||||||||||||| S:K9876 2 C are now established. Now how do we H:876 |||||||||||||| H:54 get to them. HA is the only entry. We D:KQJ10 |||||||||||||| D:A98 have 8 H between N-S. So other other 5 C:QJ10 |||||||||||||| C:987 have to be 3-2. So take HKQ and then go -------------- to HA and then discard S32 on the good SOUTH (D) C. S:A32 H:KQJ109 D:432 C:32 It took some luck to achieve our goal, but it also took a good plan to take advantage of that luck. Example deal 5 - The hold up play --------------- NORTH 3NT by S: Lead SK S:54 We have 8 immediate winners. We need H:AK5 to establish only one extra winner. D:432 D is the only suit that can be C:65432 established. Promotion can be used. -------------- We can take SA and play DK to drive WEST |||||||||||||| EAST out the DA. What could go wrong? S:KQJ109|||||||||||||| S:876 E-W then get 4S and you are down 1. H:QJ10 |||||||||||||| H:9876 If S is distributed 4-4, you are OK. D:J109 |||||||||||||| D:A8765 But if it is 5-3 you have a problem. C:98 |||||||||||||| C:7 So you should duck SKQ and take the -------------- A in third round. Then E does not SOUTH (D) have any S to lead back after DA. S:A32 If W has DA, we cannot do much. H:432 D:KQ C:AKQJ10 54 ------------- | N | KQJ109| W E|876 | S | ------------- A32 W led SK. 1. As a result of "holding up" the A until the third round, E became void in S. W then needed an entry in another suit in order to cash his 2 remaining winners. 2. The hold up play is an attack on the opponent's entries. Both declarer and defenders can use this technique to their advantage. 3. On this deal the hold up play was like an investment. We intentionally lost the first 2 S tricks in order to avoid losing 4 S tricks later Example deal 6 - The dangerous opponent -------------- NORTH 3NT by S: lead SQ S:A54 We have 6 immediate winners. So we need H:32 to establish 3 more. This is giving a clue D:QJ2 to a hold up play. Lets see the other C:A10987 cards. We can take finesse in both D and -------------- C. Which one should we do? If finesse WEST |||||||||||||| EAST loses in D, W gets an entry for his S. S:QJ1098|||||||||||||| S:K76 If C finesse loses to E, then he cannot H:J109 |||||||||||||| H:87654 lead back S. So duck 2 rounds and take SA D:K43 |||||||||||||| D:65 in third round. Suppose we decide to take C:43 |||||||||||||| C:K65 D finesse, we should discard C2. Since we -------------- are taking C finesse, we should discard SOUTH (D) D7 instead. Now come to hand with a H and S:32 lead CQ. Then lead CJ and E surprises you H:AKQ with CK. This is hold up play by defender. D:QJ2 So when E leads a D, should we finesse? C:A10987 No. We have achieved our goal. The D finesse can lose only to West, the hand long in S. The C finesse can lose only to E, whose S can be exhausted with a hold up play. On this deal W is known as the dangerous opponent. E is the safe opponent. W is dangerous as he can defeat the goal if he gains the lead. Safe E is no thread. Identifying the dangerous opponent and finding ways to keep him off lead is known as avoidance play. Example deal 7 - When not to hold up -------------- NORTH 3NT by S: Lead SQ S:A54 Here if we duck, E-W could switch to H and H:32 you would be down. So you need to take SA. D:QJ2 Now that we in dummy, we should take the D C:A10987 finesse. To do C finesse we need to come to -------------- hand with HA or DA. DQ is taken by W with DK. WEST |||||||||||||| EAST W takes the S, and we discard the H losers. S:QJ109 |||||||||||||| S:K876 Then we take the HA. We still 2 extra winners H:QJ108 |||||||||||||| H:K954 So now C finesse is our only chance. D:K43 |||||||||||||| D:65 C:K4 |||||||||||||| C:654 -------------- SOUTH (D) S:32 H:A76 D:A10987 C:QJ2 Before automatically executing the hold up play, make sure that the defenders will not make matters worse by switching their attack to another suit The hold up play is a duck (or ducks) in the suit that the opponents lead. The purpose of this play is to disrupt the opponents' entries in the suit that was led. Both the declarer and the defenders can make use of the hold up play. Sometimes the K and Q is help up (like the A). It is not always right to execute a hold up play when holding the A in the suit led. Make sure that the defenders cannot harm you in another suit before holding up. On some deals one of the defenders is dangerous and one is safe. If the dangerous defender gains the lead he will be able to defeat the goal. The safe defender is no threat. Sometimes the declarer can arrange to keep the dangerous defender off lead, losing the lead to the safe defender instead. Such plays are known as avoidance plays. Example deal 8 - Avoidance with a trump suit -------------- NORTH 4S by S: Lead DK S:A1032 Focus on losers. We have 9 trumps. E is H:65 danger opponent for H. S has 2 losers in D. D:54 One loser in D only if we can ruff. And C:AKQJ10 1-2 losers in H, depending on HA. When -------------- dummy has a long suit with enough winners WEST |||||||||||||| EAST for our goal, it is a good time to consider S:5 |||||||||||||| S:Q64 drawing trumps. So win DA, Take SAK. So H:AQJ10 |||||||||||||| H:9874 SQ is a loser. But then E-W can win 4 D:Q8 |||||||||||||| D:J10976 tricks with 2 H and a D. So play a C. C:87654 |||||||||||||| C:9 E ruffs the second C and plays H and we -------------- are down. 9 never failed, W had the A, SOUTH (D) C was not favorable. What bad luck? S:KJ987 We never asked "What could go wrong?" E H:K32 had to gain a lead? D:A32 C:32 So what should we do? We should duck the DK, take DQ return, Go to SA in dummy and a low S to hand. When E follows, We should play the SJ and finesse, ignoring the "9 never" rule. We should finesse because this play guarantees the goal, even if W can win SQ. We can lose trick to W, but not to E. We ducked W's K to ensure that E does not have an entry in D. We finessed E for SQ, ensuring that E could never gain lead in S. A 2-way finesse contains a built in avoidance play. Finesse the dangerous opponent for the missing Q. Either the finesse will win or the safe opponent will gain the lead. We have seen several examples of this sort of reasoning: 1) Declarer figures out a division of the defenders' cards that present a danger 2) Declarer assumes that such a division of the defenders' cards actually exists 3) Declarer tries to find a way to achieve his goal against this division Always think "What could go wrong?" When suits divide evenly and all the finesses win, the goal is often easy to achieve. Always assume you will not be so lucky and plan the play accordingly The technique of identifying a threatening division of the defenders cards and then finding a sequence of plays that can still achieve the goal is known as taking a "safety play". Our safety play would have been unnecessary had we received the slightest bit of luck. The best declarers attempt to minimize the luck they will need to achieve their goal Example deal 9 - Combining your chances in 2 suits -------------- NORTH 5NT by S: Lead SJ S:Q3 Goal is 11 tricks. We have 10 sure tricks. H:AQJ10 So we need to establish 1 extra winner. D:J43 So we need to play SQ now. There is no C:K432 chance of it winning later. Lets see the D. -------------- Leading the DJ from dummy is a pseudo-fin, WEST |||||||||||||| EAST it will not help since we do not have the 10 S:J10984|||||||||||||| S:K765 So the only hope is for Q to drop on AK. Not H:9876 |||||||||||||| H:K54 very likely since there are 7 D out. Whereas D:Q10 |||||||||||||| D:98765 H finesse has a 50% chance. So you need to C:76 |||||||||||||| C:5 combine the chances. If we start with H -------------- finesse and it loses, E-W will run with the SOUTH (D) S. We cannot lose the lead by trying D, S:A2 but we can by trying D. We want to try both H:32 but we cannot lose the lead. We should D:AK2 try both. You might as well hold up on SK C:AQJ1098 since it does not matter. Too many S are out. The odds of the DQ dropping on this deal were not great, but it was worth a try. We always could have fallen back on the H finesse had the DQ failed to drop. Declarer should plan to combine his chances for extra winners in as many suits as he can. The more chances (even if some are small), the better the odds of achieving the goal. The H finesse represented our primary chance of achieving the goal, but by trying D before H, we gave ourselves an extra chance to succeed. Run the C first, to reduce the risk. Run the sure tricks ==================== 1) if there is a risk of the defenders may gain the lead when the declarer tries to establish extra winners, running a long suit first may reduce the potential for extra undertricks 2) Running a long suit may cause the defenders to make discards that help declarer. The defenders cannot see all the cards and may err or they may run out of safe discards. Waiting to run solid suit ========================= 1) Sometimes declarer will need the long solid suit to provide the entries required to establish and cash extra winners in another suit 2) When the long solid suit is blocked, the whole suit cannot be run at once. First declarer must unblock the suit, then he must find an entry to the long hand in another suit 3) Sometimes it will be you, not the defenders, who has difficulty finding good discards. Always consider what you will discard from the short hand before running a long suit In general, Run your solid suits early at NT, unless you have a good reason not to. Example deal 10 - Finding an extra chance NORTH 7D by S: Lead HJ S:32 Goal is to win 13 tricks. 2 Losers are SQ and H:543 H2. So you have to eliminate both losers. D:A5432 We can always ruff the last H. We cannot C:432 ruff SQ. Finesse can be tried, but there -------------- has to be some other ideas? If H is 3-3, WEST |||||||||||||| EAST then H2 is not loser but it can be winner. S:K987 |||||||||||||| S:J10654 Then a S can be discarded from dummy and H:J109 |||||||||||||| H:876 Q can be ruffed. What could go wrong? D:87 |||||||||||||| D:6 Defender can ruff. We can draw trumps, so C:Q1085 |||||||||||||| C:J976 this is not a big deal. We need an entry -------------- to dummy for a finesse just in case H SOUTH (D) is not a winner. Always look for extra S:AQ chances to achieve the goal. H:AKQ2 D:KQJ109 C:AK Review ======= Some important lessons about planning the play as declarer are 1) Planning the play is centered around trying to achieve the goal. Overtricks and extra undertricks are not as important as achieving the goal. 2) At NT, planning the play focuses on winners. Declarer counts his immediate winners and then figures out how many extra winners he needs to establish 3) When there is a trump suit, declarer focuses on losers. Declarer counts his losers and then figures out how many of those losers will have to be eliminated. 4) Then the hard part. Declarer figures out the best way to establish enough extra winners (at NT) or to eliminate enough losers (at trumps) to achieve the goal. The various techniques that we have learned are: 1) Promotion 2) Finesses 3) Suit establishment (setting up small cards in long suits) 4) Discarding losers on extra winners in dummy 5) Ruffing losers in dummy Normally plan the play at trick 1. 1) The defenders are going to win the first several tricks while declarer and dummy both follow suit with small cards. The plan can be delayed until there is a real decision to be made 2) Some deals are too complex to plan all the way through. The declarer can sometimes survive by using general principles on the first few tricks and planning fully later. What could go wrong? ------------------- 1) The defenders might win tricks with ruffs. Draw all the defenders trumps as quickly as possible. 2) The defenders might be able to overruff and win a critical trick. Always ruff with the highest trump that you can afford. 3) The defenders lead a long suit at NT and declarer has just 1 stopper. The hold up play may be used to disrupt the defenders entries in the long suit 4) There may not be enough entries to successfully carry out the plan. Consider how many entries to both the declarer and dummy hands will be required. 5) The defenders threaten to defeat the goal if a finesse loses. Look for an extra chance in another suit, falling back on the finesse should it fail 6) The goal will be threatened only on a particular division of the E-W cards. Assume that division actually exists and try to find a safety play to ensure the goal Bridge Master deal 1 -------------------- NORTH 3NT by S: Lead S5 S:43 Goal is 9 tricks. You have 8 sure winners. H:543 So only one more has to be established. D:5432 H can produce a winner if we finesse the A. C:AJ109 C has a 2 way finesse. Even if Q loses, -------------- one C can be gotten by promotion. E is WEST |||||||||||||| EAST dangerous opponent. So 2 way finesse should S:10765 |||||||||||||| S:QJ98 be taken via E. So take SK, low to CA and H:AJ109 |||||||||||||| H:Q876 then C9 and low. W takes CQ. D:876 |||||||||||||| D:109 C:Q5 |||||||||||||| C:876 -------------- SOUTH (D) S:AK2 H:K2 D:AKQJ C:K432 Key lesson: When you can afford to lose a 2-way finesse for a Q, finesse through the dangerous opponent so that only the safe opponent can possibly win the lead. Bridge Master deal 2 -------------------- NORTH 4H by S: Lead CQ S:54 ---------------- H:72 You have 4 losers, 2S, HA and a D. One of D:76543 these has to be eliminated. So take CK. C:5432 Play SAK. Now you can ruff S. We should -------------- ruff with the 7, since goal is 10 tricks. WEST |||||||||||||| EAST E can overruff with HA which is a loser in S:Q10987|||||||||||||| S:J6 any case. Take out trumps and get the H:65 |||||||||||||| H:A43 10 tricks. D:KJ |||||||||||||| D:AQ1098 C:QJ109 |||||||||||||| C:876 -------------- SOUTH (D) S:AK32 H:KQJ1098 D:2 C:AK Key Lesson: Always ruff losers with the highest trump that you can afford. It is usually no big deal if the defenders are able to overruff with a trump trick they were always going to win Bridge Master deal 3 -------------------- NORTH 6NT by S: Lead HQ S:54 Goal is to make 12 tricks. You have 10 sure H:54 winners. Dummy's C is the place to find D:432 the extra winners. If the remaining 5 C C:AKQ654 are divided 3-2, you will get all 13 tricks. -------------- What happens when it is 4-1. Suppose you WEST |||||||||||||| EAST take HK, and a low C to A and then the K. S:876 |||||||||||||| S:QJ109 W shows out. Then you can get the Q and H:QJ109 |||||||||||||| H:876 have to give a C. No other entry exists. D:98765 |||||||||||||| D:J10 Therefore, do safety play and play low C:7 |||||||||||||| C:J1098 from dummy on first C. Then you have another -------------- C to go back to dummy for cashing the C. SOUTH (D) S:AK32 H:AK32 D:AKQ C:32 There are 2 key lessons: When a particular division of the cards endangers the goal, focus your attention on finding a "safety play" that will guard against that division Consider using a first round duck to retain an entry to a long suit in the dummy. Bridge Master deal 4 -------------------- NORTH 6C by S: Lead D10 S:432 It looks like 8 ever should apply. Finessing H:AKQ E for CQ would be correct play, if 13 tricks D:QJ54 were to be made. Since goal is to make only C:654 12 tricks, a C finesse is a risk. If C -------------- finesse loses, W might be able to give a WEST |||||||||||||| EAST ruff to E. Here on CAK, Q will drop and you S:KJ5 |||||||||||||| S:Q109876 are home free. But if E has Q1097, some H:8765 |||||||||||||| H:J109 more work will need to be done. Take CAK. D:10987 |||||||||||||| D:6 Then E has Q10 and you have CJ32. You C:Q8 |||||||||||||| C:1097 cannot play C since E will get both C. -------------- Therefore you need to go to dummy with a H. SOUTH (D) (D would be fine as well). Lead a C towards S:A J in an unusual finesse against the Q. Then H:432 only 1 C is lost. D:AK32 C:AKJ32 Key lesson: If you can afford to lose 1 trump trick, but cannot afford to lose a ruff, it is often right to refuse to take a finesse in the trump suit. 8 ever applies when you cannot afford any losers. Bridge Master deal 5 -------------------- NORTH 3NT by S: Lead SK S:43 You have 6 immediate winners. D can give H:AQ4 you 3 by promotion. Several dangers loom. D:AKJ1098 If you take SA and E gets a lead, a S C:K6 lead is bad. This can be avoided by ducking -------------- the SA at trick 1. W cannot continue S. WEST |||||||||||||| EAST So W switches to HJ. Another danger with S:KQ1098|||||||||||||| S:765 with the finesse. Then E can knock out H:J1065 |||||||||||||| H:K987 either H or S stopper. So take the HA D:6 |||||||||||||| D:Q75 directly. Now W is the dangerous opponent. C:987 |||||||||||||| C:QJ10 E is safe since he can't capture the Q. -------------- 9 never is the normal rule. We can afford to SOUTH (D) lose a D. So first take the K to avoid S:AJ2 singleton DQ. Come to hand with CA (not SA H:32 since that is only stopper). Then lead a D D:432 and duck. If W has Q, finesse will work. C:A5432 Otherwise E will win. Then D is established. This hold up play where both AJ is held and the K is led has its own name. This play is called the "Bath coup", after the city in England where it was first reported. Key lesson: Any avoidance finesse through the dangerous opponent can be used to keep that player off lead. 9 never only applies when you cannot afford to lose a trick in that suit Bridge Master deal 6 -------------------- NORTH 7S by S: Lead DK S:A32 You have to win DA. So D2 is a loser. H:AKQ5 Dummy's H or C can provide a discard. So D:543 you need to combine the chances. Trumps C:QJ10 should be taken out but SA should be left -------------- in dummy as an entry. Now unblock the CA. WEST |||||||||||||| EAST Now run the H, just in case H5 becomes a S:4 |||||||||||||| S:65 winner. Now you see H is not going to win. H:J1098 |||||||||||||| H:76 So CQJ is the only chance, and hope E has D:QJ10 |||||||||||||| D:9876 the CK. So play CQ and if E plays a low C:543 |||||||||||||| C:K9876 discard D2. If he plays K, S will ruff. -------------- Now SA entry can be used to enter the SOUTH (D) dummy and CJ played, discarding the D2. S:KQJ10987 H:432 D:A2 C:A Several lessons to be learnt here: The K was trapped similar to a finesse. Since A was not there, but we could ruff, it is called a "ruffing finesse". If you cannot afford to lose the lead, try to combine your chances. Test other suits before you fall back on playing a suit that requires a finesse.