Insufficient Bids

So the other day a couple of my novices were playing in a novice game and one of them made an insufficient bid. The auction was something like the opponents opened the bidding 1♥ and my novice didn't pay any attention to the bid and bid 1♦. She was then told that the bid was insufficient and she had to bid 2♦.

This is untrue.

While it IS true that the bid was insufficient (and thus not allowed) and bidding 2♦ is an option for her it is also true that there are other options.

If this happens you should call the director. Remember the director is your friend and is there to help you understand the rules and the options available to you.

First of all your opponents are allowed to accept the bid. They can (if they want) allow you to still bid 1♦ even if it is an illegal bid. Obviously they would only do this if they feel it is beneficial to them or perhaps feel sorry for you. If you feel they have any feelings whatsoever then look extra innocent and more confused than you usually do. Perhaps the sad puppy face. You might get away with it. In any case that is the first option available. But don't expect most people to accept this bid. They won't.

The next thing you can do is to make your bid sufficient. That means you are allowed to bid 2♦. If you choose to bid 2♦ then there are no more problems on the hand and the director can walk away.

You do NOT however have to choose that option. The last option available to you is to make another bid. If you choose to make ANY other bid (including "Pass") then Partner is now banned from bidding for the rest of the auction. However you still get to bid as much as you want. Partner is not allowed to do anything but Pass.

Now when I first heard that I immediately thought "What a great way to stop Partner from bidding! I can now go crazy knowing Partner can't get excited and bid too much!" However there is something in the rules that state you can't do this. If the opponents feel that you did this deliberately in order to make a bid and ban Partner they can ask for recourse. Sadly the insufficient bid is not allowed to give you an advantage.

But here is another case of when you should call the director. Do NOT assume the opponents know what they are talking about. Sometimes they don't. Even when they do most players only give you the one option. They feel like you should know the others. Why should you? You shouldn't. They also shouldn't tell you what to do but they do. No one wants to bother the director. The director should be called and will explain your options to you in such a way you will understand them.

The other day I was watching a VERY good pair. An insufficient bid was made by one of their opponents (2♦) and one of the good players said "You need to bid 3♦". Now I know he knows there are other options. He does. I also know he would not say that in order to deliberately mislead his opponents or force them to bid something they don't want to bid. He wants to get a good board because he is good -- not because he swindled them. But the good players forget that not everyone knows all their options. They are just trying to get on with the game with the least amount of problems. The less experienced players don't even know the options so they can't be trusted at all. Call the director. Remember too with the invention of the computer, directors these days are just bored out of their minds. Unless they get a director call what do they have to do? The computer does everything! It types in the names, it calculates the scores. By calling the director you keep them active and entertained. It is a win-win situation.

Eight Ever, Nine Never

Before reading this post make sure you know what a finesse is. Click here if you don't.

Grab a deck of cards and play along.

"Eight Ever, Nine Never" is a catchy slogan that people in bridge use to remember whether or not to finesse an opponent for a missing Queen.

Let's look at this holding.

Dummy:
♠AJT62

Declarer:
♠K943

I have nine cards in the ♠ suit and I am missing the Q♠. I don't want to lose any tricks in this suit. What is my best way of doing this?

I order to figure out the best way I should probably go over all my options.

Option 1:

I assume that my LHO has the Q♠.

	Dummy ♠AJT62
LHO ♠Q??		RHO ♠???
	Declarer ♠K943

I start by playing the K♠ from my hand and then playing a low ♠ towards Dummy's J♠.

Option 2:

I assume that my RHO has the Q♠.

	Dummy ♠AJT62
LHO ♠???		RHO ♠Q??
	Declarer ♠K943

I start by playing the A♠ from Dummy and then playing a low ♠ towards my 9♠.

Option 3:

I assume that either opponent has the doubleton Q♠. That means they only have 2 cards in the ♠ suit and one of them is the Q♠.

	Dummy ♠AJT62
LHO ♠Q? or ♠??		RHO ♠?? or ♠Q?
	Declarer ♠K943

It doesn't really matter how I play the suit here. I can start by playing the A♠ from Dummy and then playing a low ♠ towards my K♠ or I can play the K♠ and then a low ♠ towards my A♠.

Hmmm. It's quite a bit easier to decide what to do if you only have one choice. I have three choices. Which is best?

This is where the "Eight Ever, Nine Never" rule helps me remember. Basically this says if I have EIGHT cards in the suit I should EVER (or always) finesse for the Queen. If I have NINE cards in the suit I should NEVER finesse for the Queen. By not finessing that means I play out my high cards and hope the missing Queen drops underneath one of them.

So in this example:
Dummy:
♠AJT62

Declarer:
♠K943

I play the A♠ and K♠ and hope that the Q♠ drops underneath one of them. I don't even care which one because I am pretty easy going when opponents drop their high cards underneath mine.

How about another example?

What is the best way to avoid any losers in this suit?

Dummy:
♠AJ62

Declarer:
♠K943

Again I need to find the Q♠. This time I don't have as many choices.

Option 1

I can assume my LHO has the Q♠.

	Dummy ♠AJ62
LHO ♠Q??		RHO ♠??
	Declarer ♠K943

With this holding I will play the K♠ first and then a low ♠ towards my J♠ in Dummy.

Option 2:

	Dummy ♠AJ62
LHO ♠Q? or ???		RHO ♠??? or Q?
	Declarer ♠K943

Play the A♠ and the K♠ and hope the Q♠ drops underneath one of them.

Before I had an Option that my RHO has the Q♠. That would not help me here unless it is a doubleton Q and I am already taking that one into account.

So what is the best way for me to play this suit?

Remember "Eight Ever, Nine Never"?

Here I have EIGHT cards in the suit. That means it is best for me to always finesse for the Queen. I assume the holding is Option 1.

So in this example:

Dummy:
♠AJ62

Declarer:
♠K943

I play the K♠ and a low ♠ towards the J♠ in Dummy. I hope my LHO has three ♠ to the Q♠.

Question: Does this always work? Will my finesses always win?
Answer: No. That would make life too easy and predictable. Where's the fun in that? It is just your BEST percentage play.

Question: Should I always do this?
Answer: No, of course not. Again that would be too easy. There are quite a few factors to take into account. Sometimes it is safe to let in one opponent but not the other. Then you might finesse the Queen into them. Maybe one opponent bid and you think they should have the Queen to justify their bidding. Sometimes one opponent does something to let you know they have quite a few cards in another suit which means they are probably short in your suit. Maybe you can't finesse because the suit might block. These kinds of complex thinking are probably for a little later on in your bridge career. For this stage always using "Eight Ever, Nine Never" is probably the best way to go.

Test your knowledge:

I strongly urge you to grab a deck of cards and play along when you do these examples. It will really help you learn and a few of these are quite tricky. If you try to play them out you might change your original answer to a better one.

Will you or will you not finesse for the Queen in these examples?

First state if you will finesse for the Queen or play for the Queen to drop under your high cards. Then say what card you will play first and then what card you will play second.

Example 1

Dummy:
♠KJ82

Declarer:
♠A943



Example 2

Dummy:
♠AKJ82

Declarer:
♠T943



Example 3

Dummy:
♠AJ8762

Declarer:
♠K43



Example 4

Dummy:
♠AJ862

Declarer:
♠K43



Example 5

Dummy:
♠JT862

Declarer:
♠AK43



Example 6

Dummy:
♠AJ86

Declarer:
♠K43



Example 7

Dummy:
♠JT862

Declarer:
♠AK743



Example 8

Dummy:
♠AJ8

Declarer:
♠K43



Example 9

Dummy:
♠AJ82

Declarer:
♠KT43



Example 10

Dummy:
♠JT7652

Declarer:
♠AK3



Example 11

Dummy:
♠KJ8

Declarer:
♠A43



Example 12

Dummy:
♠AKJ82

Declarer:
♠743



Example 13

Dummy:
♠97842

Declarer:
♠AKJ63



Example 14

Dummy:
♠JT94

Declarer:
♠AK63



Example 15

Dummy:
♠J542

Declarer:
♠AK63

Acting on Unauthorized Information

A bidding situation.

Your hand:
♠A962
♥KQ82
♦J73
♣K5

You open the bidding 1♦, your LHO passes and partner bids 2NT. You play this as 11 or 12 HCP. Your RHO passes. What is your bid?

Pass would be the correct bid. You have nothing more than your opening bid and your partner is not showing an opening hand. If they had an opening hand they wouldn't make a bid you can pass.

No problems, correct?

Now let's say the following takes place. After your partner's 2NT bid your RHO turns to you and asks you how many points 2NT shows. "11 or 12 points" you proudly answer (you are very excited you actually remembered that!)

Partner shakes their head. "No, no. This shows 13-15 points." Oooops! Correcting your partner's explanations is something you need to do AFTER the bidding is over OR (if you are defending) AFTER the hand is over.

But no one notices the infraction (or they choose not to complain) and it is now your bid.

Again your hand is:
♠A962
♥KQ82
♦J73
♣K5

And the bidding has gone 1♦ by you, 2NT by partner whom we now know has 13-15 HCP. What is your bid?

Well, if you bid anything other than what you did originally you are acting on unauthorized information. The authorized information was the 2NT bid by partner showing 11 or 12 points. From that information you have a pass. The unauthorized information was partner telling everyone they have an opening hand and thus you need to bid game. You have to IGNORE that information. This can be very difficult sometimes.

There are all sorts of ways partner can communicate to you:
They frown or look puzzled when you make your explanation.
They give a little gasp and cover their mouth with their hand.
They say "I made a mistake."
They look suspiciously guilty.
They sigh and shake their head.

You have to IGNORE all these signals. The only information you can act on legally is the information communicated in the auction. In this case the bid. 2NT in your system shows 11 or 12. That's all you are allowed to act upon.

Now what happens if partner is right and YOU forgot. You were thinking it showed 11 or 12 but then when partner said 13 to 15 you suddenly remembered that you had, in fact, agreed to that. 2NT IS a forcing bid so you should now be allowed to raise to 3NT.

Sorry, not allowed. Nothing in that auction reminded you, partner reminded you. If you bid now you are acting on unauthorized information which is not allowed in bridge.

What about this situation? Partner bid 2NT. You thought it was 11 or 12. RHO passes. You think. Then you suddenly remember that it was 13 to 15. Are you allowed to bid now?

Of course you are! No one tipped you off. You remembered by yourself. You are good to raise to 3NT.

Let's say the opponents ask and you explain that the bid shows 11 or 12 points. Partner remains poker faced and does nothing. The opponents pass. You decide to think. Now you remember. At this point you can say "I changed my mind. I think the bid shows 13 to 15 points." At this point I let them take back their bid if they want and make a new bid. They probably won't want to in this auction. But again in this situation nothing tipped you off. Partner didn't make a peep. You are free to change your mind and raise partner to game.

Here's what should have happened in this situation:

The 2NT bidder should NOT have said anything. Once the bidding was over but before the opening lead they should now say "My partner made a mistake. My bid shows 13 to 15 points."

What happens if the 2NT bidder made the mistake? The bid is supposed to show 11 or 12 but they have 13 to 15?

If the bid is supposed to show 11 or 12 the 2NT bidder does not have to say anything. When they put their dummy down they will probably say something like "I forgot and I have 14 points, sorry partner" but there is no need to alert the opponents before the opening lead is made.

What happens if you are not sure who made the mistake?

I always think it is good to tell the opponents as soon as the bidding is over and either you or your partner are declarer. It's the fairest thing to do and it's probably not going to give them any sort of advantage.

If you and your partner are defending things are different -- now you can tip partner off that someone has messed up. You now have to wait until the hand is over and then talk to declarer. They can now call the director if they feel they were damaged.

More Suit Combinations

Before reading this post make sure you know what a finesse is. Click here if you don't.

Try playing along at home. Deal out the cards and play it out yourself! That is the best way to learn.

I need to take 3 tricks in this suit. How do I do it?

Dummy:
♠AJ2

Declarer:
♠K43

Hmmm. I have 2 tricks for sure. The A♠ and the K♠. If only that J♠ was the Q♠! But it isn't and I need to score a trick with the J♠. That's my only shot for taking 3 tricks.

I have a couple of chances here. I can play the A♠ and the K♠ and hope that the Q♠ drops underneath one of them. This would mean that one of the opponents only had 2 ♠ and one of them was the Q♠. Not very likely. My other chance is to finesse the J♠. Yes, finesses are not only for Kings and Queens. Other cards can get finessed also.

In order to figure out what way to finesse I now have to think a little bit. Who do I want to have the Q♠? Does it matter? How will I play the suit?

So let's think about this. If I give the Queen to my RHO I can play the J♠ and then my RHO will have to play their Q♠. Then I can win with my K♠. I've found the Queen!

While this is true that I have found the Q♠, it is also true that this did not help me at all. I now have this left:

Dummy:
♠A2

Declarer:
♠43

There is no way my 4♠ will ever be good. This did not work at all.

Okay, let's switch that to my LHO having the Q♠. Now I can play my J♠ from Dummy and play low.

Oh wait. That doesn't work either. My LHO just wins the Q♠.

Try dealing out the cards and figuring this out yourself. Give one opponent three cards and the other opponent four cards. Either one can have the Queen. Then play the suit out so that you get three tricks. If it doesn't work giving the Queen to one opponent, give it to the other opponent. If at any point you play your J♠ and the next player to play has the Q♠ they will cover your J♠ with their Q♠.

So in the end you need to tell me which opponent you gave the Queen to (RHO or LHO) and how you played the suit. That means which card did you play first and then what did you do.

Suit Combinations

Before reading this post make sure you know what a finesse is. Click here and here if you don't.

Try playing along at home. Deal out the cards and play it out yourself! That is the best way to learn.

I need to take 2 tricks in this suit. How do I do it?

Dummy:
♠A32

Declarer:
♠Q54

Hmmm. I have 1 trick for sure. The A♠. If only that Q♠ was the K♠! But it isn't and I need to score a trick with the Q♠. That's my only shot for taking 2 tricks.

Try dealing out the cards and figuring this out yourself. Give one opponent three cards and the other opponent three cards. Either one can have the King. Then play the suit out so that you get two tricks. If it doesn't work when you give the King to one opponent, give it to the other opponent. If at any point you play your Q♠ and the next player to play has the K♠ they will cover your Q♠ with their K♠.

When you have figured it out read further.

How about I try finessing the Q♠? Finesses are good.

I'm going to give the K♠ to my RHO.

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠J96		RHO ♠KT8
	Declarer ♠Q54

So I play the Q♠ from my hand and then when my LHO plays low I play low. But now my RHO wins my Q♠ with their K♠. That didn't work.

Since that didn't work, I'm going to give the K♠ to my LHO.

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠KT8		RHO ♠J96
	Declarer ♠Q54

So I play the Q♠ from my hand and then my LHO plays the K♠. I now have to win the A♠. Hmmm. That didn't work either.

But I gave the K♠ to both opponents and neither time did I win a trick with my Q♠. That means that it doesn't matter who has the K♠. I will never win a trick with the Q♠!

That can't be right. Hmmmm. Maybe the problem is not which opponent has the K♠ but whether or not I should start by playing my Q♠ first. Maybe that's the problem.

Okay, I know from finessing I need to have the K♠ sitting underneath the A♠. That means that the K♠ needs to be with my LHO. So let's try that.

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠KT8		RHO ♠J96
	Declarer ♠Q54

Instead of playing the Q♠ I will play a low ♠ from my hand towards the A♠ in Dummy. That won. Now I play a low ♠ towards the Q♠ in my hand. That lost since I have the K♠ to my LHO.

I'm trying this again. I WILL conquer this suit combination!!! This time I will give the K♠ to my RHO.

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠J96		RHO ♠KT8
	Declarer ♠Q54

I will play a low ♠ from my hand towards the A♠ in Dummy. That won. Now I play a low ♠ towards the Q♠ in my hand. Oh, oh. I can see that my RHO has a problem right now. Since they have the K♠ they are in big trouble! What will they do? If they play a low ♠ I will win my Q♠. If they play their K♠ I will play a low ♠ and then will win my Q♠ later on! It doesn't matter what they decide to do I will win two tricks! I figured it out!

The solution is to start by cashing the A♠ in Dummy and then play a low card towards the Q♠ in my hand and hope that my RHO holds the K♠.

This is a little confusing though. I do remember from before with the finesse I wanted the high cards sitting underneath my high cards. So if the Ace was in Dummy I needed the King to be with my LHO. Then when they played their King I could win their King with my Ace. Now this seems reversed. I want the King to be sitting after the Ace. So if the Ace is in Dummy I want the King to be with my RHO. Not quite sure why. There must be some sort of reason...

While looking at this post on finesses I noticed one thing. I had better cards in my hand. This time I had the Q54 and last time I had the QJT. Maybe that makes a difference.

Let's investigate.

So I have this holding:

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠K54		RHO ♠876
	Declarer ♠QJT

In this situation when I lead the Q♠ from my hand and LHO covers with the K♠ my Jack and Ten are good. It really helps me to have the King sitting underneath my Ace because now I can promote my Jack and Ten if LHO holds the King. Promoting means just what you think it does. Once the Queen, King and Ace are gone the Jack gets to be the boss. It will now be the highest card out there. The Ten will be the next best card.

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠KJT		RHO ♠876
	Declarer ♠Q54

In this situation when I lead the Q♠ from my hand and LHO covers with the K♠ this does not help me at all. It does NOT promote any of my other high cards because I have no other high cards.

So in this situation I can't hope for the King to be sitting overtop of my Queen. That does me no good at all. I need the Queen to be sitting in a place where they play AFTER the opponent with the King. So my opponent has to decide to play (or not to play) their King first. That way if they decide to play their King I play low and my Queen becomes good. If they decide not to play their King I play my Queen and win.

Maybe the best way to think about how to play the suit is to think of what will happen if you play your high card (in both these cases the Queen) and the next player to play covers that card with a higher one (in both these cases the King.)

If helps you if they cover your honour with their honour then play the suit that way. If it does NOT help you at all when they cover you'd better play the suit the other way.

Summary:
When you have this holding:

Dummy:
♠A32

Declarer:
♠Q54

and need to take 2 tricks in this suit start by playing the Ace and then a low card towards the Queen.

More Finessing

Before reading this post make sure you know what a finesse is. Click here if you don't.

More on finessing:

Dummy
A43

Declarer:
QJT

Here Declarer has 2 tricks no matter what in this suit -- the Ace and eventually the Queen.

What happens if Declarer wants 3 tricks in this suit? Remember the finesse? They might also get an extra trick if the King is in a favourable location for Declarer.

Where does the King need to be?

The King needs to be on Declarer's left hand side.

Go grab a deck of cards and play along!

	Dummy A43
LHO K52		RHO 986
	Declarer QJT

Even with the King in the proper location Declarer still has to play well. They need to be in their hand (not Dummy) in order to take three tricks.

While in their hand they play the Queen. If LHO plays low (which they probably will) Declarer can now play low from Dummy. This will win the trick since RHO does not have the King which is the only card that can beat the Queen. Now Declarer can do this again with the Jack. If LHO plays the King on Declarer's Queen that is not a problem. Dummy can play the Ace and the Jack and the Ten in Declarer's hand are good.

What happens if Declarer plays the suit from Dummy?

You can see that no matter what card Declarer plays from Dummy the King will win a trick. If Declarer plays the Ace to start with, LHO can play their 2 and the King will win on the next trick. If Dummy plays the 4 to start with LHO will win the King right away.

What happens if the cards are laid out like this:

	Dummy A43
LHO 986		RHO K52
	Declarer QJT

In this situation there is no way to get more than 2 tricks. There is nothing you can do so it can't hurt to play the Queen and then low from Dummy. If it wins -- great! If it loses you still get two tricks and you were never going to get 3.

Examples to test your knowledge:

Grab a deck of cards and play along. Figure out the answer then play it out in real life to see if it works.

On this example you are missing the Queen. You can place her wherever you want. You are on lead and can lead a card from Dummy or from your hand. What is the best way to get three tricks from this holding?

Dummy:
AK2

Declarer:
JT9

How do you play this combination for THREE tricks.



On this example you are missing the King as well as 5 low cards in the suit. You can place those cards wherever you want. You are on lead and can lead a card from Dummy or from your hand. What is the best way to get four tricks from this holding? Once in Dummy there is no way back to your hand.

Dummy:
AQJ2

Declarer:
T98

How do you play this combination for FOUR tricks.

3NT -- Developing Extra Winners

In a NT contract we need to count our winners. These are winners you get right away -- without losing a trick.

How many winners do we have in this suit:

Dummy
♠A98

Declarer
♠K52

We have two winners in this suit. The Ace and King.

How many winners do we have in this suit:

Dummy
♠AQ

Declarer
♠KJ

We have two winners in that suit. Even though it appears like we have more winners -- we do have the top 4 honours in the suit! -- we don't. When we play the A♠ from Dummy we must play the J♠ from our hand. When we play the Q♠ from Dummy we must play the K♠ from our hand. We only have two tricks in this suit even though we have the top 4 cards.

How many winners do we have in this suit:

Dummy
♠QJ82

Declarer
♠K7

We don't have any winners in this suit. Right away I cannot win any ♠ tricks.

How many winners do we have in this suit:

Dummy
♠AQT5

Declarer
♠KJ

We have four winners in this suit.

To get extra tricks sometimes we have to lose a trick in order to gain a trick -- or even 2 or 3 tricks. Take this suit:

Dummy
♠KQJT

Declarer
♠76

Remember, in this suit we don't have any winners at all. Right away we cannot take any tricks. BUT if we give the opponents their A♠ we will set up 3 winners for ourselves.

Let's put this new found knowledge into action!

Contract 3NT. Opening lead T♠.

Dummy
♠K3
♥532
♦AK52
♣Q987

Declarer
♠AQJ
♥KQJT
♦QJ8
♣T52

In NT we count our winners. We look at each of the suits and determine how many tricks we can take in that suit immediately.

♠3 winners
♥0 winners
♦4 winners
♣0 winners

Wait! Why don't you have any ♥ winners, Heidi?

In NT we count the winners we will take RIGHT AWAY. Right away I can't take any ♥ tricks. If I play a ♥ the opponents can win their A♥. I can't guarantee I will take any ♥ right off the top. But don't worry about that ♥ suit. We will not forget about it!

So back to my winners. I have 7 winners. I need at least 9 winners. How can I get more tricks?

Yes, back to that ♥ suit we were chatting about. IF I give the opponents their A♥ I will set up 3 extra tricks for myself. I give them the A♥ but then my K♥, Q♥ and J♥ are all good. So now I will have my 7 winners PLUS the 3 extra ♥ winners that I developed by losing that ♥ trick.

Am I worried about letting the opponents in with their A♥?

No. I'm not at all worried. I have control of all the suits but the ♣ suit. If the opponents play the ♣ suit they will at most take 3 tricks. And that would be very unlucky if they managed to do that considering I have the Q fourth in Dummy.

So I will win the opening lead and IMMEDIATELY play a ♥. I lose my losers right away. I don't want to play off all my winners and then play a ♥. If I do that I don't have control of all the suits and the opponents might be able to take more tricks than I want them to. So I lose my losers first while I still have control of all the suits.

So I will win the ♠ lead and play ♥ right away. If the opponents don't win their A♥ I will play another heart. If they don't win their A♥ I will play another ♥. If they still don't win their A♥ I've gotten my 3 ♥ tricks so now I'm going to abandon that suit and run my other winners! But most of the time the opponents will win their A♥ right away. Now I will win the return (or lose a few ♣ first and then win the return) and run my winners. Remember to play high cards from the short side in the ♦ suit!

Declarer Play -- Try the Finesse?

Read the High Card from the Short Side and the Finesse posts first if you haven't already.

The bidding was: My partner (who is now Dummy) opened the bidding 1♦. My RHO overcalled 1♠. I chose to respond 1NT. My LHO passed and my partner bid 3♦. (3♦ here should show about 16-18 HCP and 6♦.) My RHO passed and I bid 3NT which ended the auction.

Contract 3NT. Opening lead 7♠.

Dummy
♠98
♥AQ5
♦AQJT93
♣A9

Declarer
♠A32
♥J74
♦K7
♣J8763

In NT we count our winners. We look at each of the suits and determine how many tricks we can take in that suit immediately.

♠1 winner
♥1 winner
♦6 winners
♣1 winner

This adds up to 9 winners. I am in 3NT. No problems there. Any way to get more winners? How about a ♥ finesse? I could try to play the J♥ from my hand towards the AQ♥ in Dummy. If LHO has the K♥ I will get an extra trick.

Any problems with that? Seems like an easy way to make an overtrick.

So I win my A♠ and play the J♥. My LHO plays small and I play small. My RHO wins the K♥ and starts playing ♠ after ♠ after ♠. They ended up with 6 tricks and I am down in my contract. Which is a little confusing considering I had 9 tricks at the beginning. What went wrong?

Well once I won the A♠ I need to recognize the fact that I am in BIG trouble with the ♠ suit. If the opponents get in (either one!) they will take ALL their ♠ winners. So I CAN'T let them in. Luckily I have 9 tricks right away so I can make my contract. In this case I do NOT want to finesse the ♥. It's just not worth taking a chance of going down in my contract in order to make one extra trick.

So back to the beginning. I will win the A♠ and now take my 9 tricks right away. I will remember to play the high cards from the short side of the suit in ♦. So I will play the K♦ from my hand first. Then I'll play the 7♦ towards all the ♦ in Dummy. Then take my 2 other Aces. 3NT bid and made.

Declarer Play Choices -- Is the Finesse your Best Choice?

Before reading this post make sure you understand what a finesse is (click here) and also how to throw losers on winners (click here).

It really helps to understand how to play a hand if you actually play it out. Grab a deck of cards and play along rather than just reading about it. See if you can figure out how to make this contract on your own first.

The contract is 6♥. The opening lead is the 8♦.

Dummy
♠AQ5
♥Q865
♦A53
♣K83

Declarer
♠JT
♥AKJ94
♦KQJ6
♣QJ

What do we do first? We count our losers in a trump contract. How do we do that?

First we take one hand and only one hand. We will look at Declarer's hand since it has more trump in it. Then we look at how many tricks we will lose in each of the suits. Then we figure out how we could get rid of any possible losers.

♠1 loser -- In our hand we have the JT. We have 2 losers at the most but the Ace in Dummy will take care of one of our losers. That still leaves 1 loser.
♥0 losers. We shouldn't lose a trump trick.
♦0 losers. We have the Ace in Dummy to take care of the 6♦.
♣1 loser We will have to lose to the Ace in this suit.

♠1
♥0
♦0
♣1

In this contract we have 2 potential losers.

How are we going to get rid of at least 1 of those losers?

Well we could get rid of our ♠ loser by taking a ♠ finesse. If we play the J♠ out of our hand and then play low (if our LHO plays low) we will win the trick if LHO has the K♠. That's about a 50-50 chance of not losing a trick. That's one way of not going down in our contract. Take out trump, lose to the A♣ and try the ♠ finesse. If our LHO holds the K♠ we will make the contract.

On the other hand, if our RHO holds the K♠ we will go down in our contract. Sadness.

Sometimes the finesse is the only way to make our contract and we are stuck with a 50-50 shot. But sometimes there are better ways to make our contract that we don't see right away. Here there is a guaranteed way to make this contract. Can you see how?

We can throw the ♠ loser on a winner! That is a 100% guaranteed way to make the contract.

To throw losers away on winners there needs to be unequal length in the suit. Here there is unequal length in the ♣ suit and also unequal length in the ♦ suit. Which suit do you throw away your losing ♠ on?

It has to be the ♣. You can throw away a losing ♠ on the ♦ suit but unfortunately it is the losing ♠ from Dummy. You are not interested in throwing away a loser in Dummy. You need to throw away the ♠ loser in your hand. For that you need a suit longer in Dummy than in your hand. The ♣ suit is the only one that works.

So our plan is to win the ♦ and take out trump. At this point I don't really care where I win the ♦ so I will win it in Dummy. (That little thoughtless action may come back to haunt me later!) Now we come down to this:

♠AQ5
♥
♦53
♣K83

Declarer
♠JT
♥A
♦KQJ
♣QJ

Notice how there was a really bad trump break. One opponent held FOUR of the little suckers! That's okay though. I didn't panic. There was no need for me to keep any trump in Dummy so I took out all their trump ending in my hand. What next?

Now I need to knock out the opponents Ace of ♣. I play the Q♣ (high cards from the short side) and my LHO opponent wins the A♣ and then plays a low ♠. So now I have this:

♠AQ5
♥
♦53
♣K8

Declarer
♠JT
♥A
♦KQJ
♣J

I win my A♠ and then play a low ♣ to the J♣ in my hand. We have this position left:

♠Q5
♥
♦53
♣K

Declarer
♠J
♥A
♦KQJ
♣

So now I am in my hand. My K♣ is all set for me to throw away my losing ♠ on it. BUT I am in my hand. My winner is in Dummy. How do I get back to Dummy?

Well the answer is I can't. I messed up. What I would give to turn back the clock and win the opening lead in my hand with the K♦. That way I would still have the A♦ in Dummy for an entry.

Let's try that again. On the opening lead I will play a low ♦ from Dummy and win the ♦ in my hand. Then I'll take out trump and lose to the A♣. The opponents will return a ♠ and I can win my A♠ and play a low ♣ to my hand. Now I have this position left:

♠Q5
♥
♦A5
♣K

Declarer
♠J
♥A
♦QJ6
♣

Perfect! Now I can play a low ♦ to the A♦ in Dummy. Play the K♣ and throw away my losing ♠. Now the QJ♦ and the trump in my hand are all winners! Contract made!

That was a tough one. Quite a bit to think about there. You also notice how easy it is to mess that one up? Play the wrong ♦ at trick 1 and you can easily go down in that one.

How should you know to retain the A♦ in Dummy for 7 or 8 tricks later in the future? You shouldn't really. That's pretty advanced thinking. But at trick one you should think to yourself. "Hmmmm. It doesn't seem like it's all that important where I win the first trick. I don't need to be in Dummy to take any sort of finesse right away. So since it really doesn't matter where I win the first trick let's think. If I win the trick in Dummy I have NO MORE Dummy entries in the ♦ suit. So if I play a ♦ I will be forced to win in my hand no matter what. Zero options. However, if I win the ♦ trick in my hand I will still have 2 more entries in my hand to win a ♦. This means that later on in the hand if I play a ♦ I can choose whether or not to win it in Dummy or whether or not to win it in my hand. Choices are good. So win the ♦ in your hand because it is better to keep communication with BOTH hands in a suit. That way you don't have to figure out what you are going to play 7 or 8 tricks later. 7 or 8 tricks later you can decide and you will still have choices about where to win.

Declarer Play - Throwing Losers on Winners

The contract is 4♥. The opening lead is the K♠.

Dummy
♠T65
♥8432
♦A43
♣AKQ

Declarer
♠842
♥AKQ765
♦J8
♣J2

What do we do first? We count our losers in a trump contract. How do we do that?

First we take one hand and only one hand. We will look at Declarer's hand since it has more trump in it. Then we look at how many tricks we will lose in each of the suits. Then we figure out how we could get rid of any possible losers.

♠3 losers -- In our hand we have the 842. We don't have any high cards in Dummy. We will lose 3 tricks.
♥0 losers. We shouldn't lose a trump trick.
♦1 loser. We have the J8 in our hand. We have the Ace in Dummy to take care of the 8♦ but we have to lose the J♦.
♣0 losers. We have two small ♣ in our hand but the AK in Dummy will take care of them. We won't lose a trick in this suit.

♠3
♥0
♦1
♣0

Here we have 4 losers. It looks like we are going to lose all our ♠ losers right away. Sure enough, if you play low from Dummy at trick 1 the opponents play 3 rounds of ♠ and then play the K♦.

We have this left:

Dummy
♠
♥8432
♦A43
♣AKQ

Declarer
♠
♥AKQ765
♦J8
♣J2

Right now we have to win the A♦ if we want to make our contract. We have lost 3 tricks and if we play a small ♦ we will lose that one also. So now we have this:

Dummy
♠
♥8432
♦43
♣AKQ

Declarer
♠
♥AKQ765
♦J
♣J2

Now we have to figure out how to get rid of our ♦ loser. Any ideas?

It's tough to see what to do here. Let's take out trump (that can't be wrong) and look at what's left.

Dummy
♠
♥2
♦43
♣AKQ

Declarer
♠
♥765
♦J
♣J2

We still have that losing ♦ trick. What can we do about it?

How about playing the AK♣ from Dummy. You are over in Dummy and play the Q♣. What card will you play from your hand?

That's right. The losing ♦! That's how you get rid of that loser -- you throw it on a winner from Dummy!

(This one my students find tough to explain what they will do but they get it right when they play out the hand.)

Always try to be on the looking for unequal lengths in suits other than trump. That way you might be able to set up a winner with the long suit in order to throw away a loser.

Let's look at some examples:

Here trump is ♥. You have taken out the opponents trump. The ♣ in your hand is a loser. You cannot lose any more tricks. What will you do?

Dummy
♠
♥
♦AQ42
♣

Declarer
♠
♥A
♦K8
♣2

Answer: Play the ♦ and throw away the losing ♣ on the ♦.

Be careful here! You need to play the HIGH cards from the SHORT side first. Play the K♦ (low from Dummy) and then the 8♦ back to the A♦ in Dummy. Now you can play your Q♦ and throw away your losing ♣.

Another example:

Dummy
♠AKJ6
♥QJ83
♦AK4
♣K2

Declarer
♠Q2
♥AK74
♦Q87
♣AJ93

The contract is 7♥ and the lead is the 6♥.

What do you do? Count your losers. We will look at Declarer's hand.

♠0 losers -- Since we have the AK in Dummy we won't lose a trick here.
♥0 losers. We shouldn't lose a trump trick.
♦0 losers. We have the AK in Dummy to take care of our low cards in this suit.
♣2 losers. The K can take care of one of our little ♣ but we can lose 2 tricks in this suit.

We have to figure out how to avoid any ♣ losers. Is there a way?

We can try the ♣ finesse. If that works then maybe we will not have a ♣ loser.

That's one way. Is there a better way?

The finesse is not guaranteed. We might lose to the Q♣. We'd rather have a sure thing. We can guarantee this contract by throwing away our ♣ on our winners in Dummy. But which winners? The ♦ winners? Or the ♠ winners?

Here it MUST be the ♠ winners. You cannot throw away any losers on the ♦ winners because you have to follow suit to all the ♦. When you play ♦ winners from Dummy you must play losing ♦ from your hand. You have the same number of ♦ in Dummy as you do in your hand. Therefore you will NOT be able to throw away losers on that suit.

But look at the ♠ suit. You have 4 ♠ in Dummy but only 2 ♠ in your hand. When you play the ♠ suit after 2 rounds you no longer have any ♠ left so you can throw away whatever cards you want. Throw away your losing ♣ now.

What could go wrong?

Well don't forget to take out the opponents trump. If the opponents have trump they can trump your high cards. Take away all their little trump so they can't do that.

Another thing that could go wrong is the ♠ suit gets blocked. Remember to play the HIGH card from the SHORT side first. So play the Q♠ from your hand (the 6 from Dummy) and then the 2♠ over to the J♠ in Dummy. Now you will be in Dummy to play the AK♠ and throw away your losing ♣.

Declarer Play - 6 Spades

Try reading my post on the Finesse first here: http://heidisbridgeblog.blogspot.ca/2016/03/the-finesse.html

The contract is 6♠. The opening lead is the 8♦.

Dummy
♠KT65
♥AQ
♦J43
♣QJ73

Declarer
♠AQJ8
♥J4
♦KQ2
♣AK62

What do we do first? We count our losers in a trump contract. How do we do that?

First we take one hand and only one hand. (You normally take the hand with longer trump but in this example both hands have the same number of trump.) Then we look at how many tricks we will lose in each of the suits. Then we figure out how we could get rid of any possible losers.

♠0 losers -- In our hand we have the AQJ8. In Dummy we have the King. We shouldn't lose a trump trick.
♥1 loser. We have the J and the 4 in our hand. The Ace in Dummy will take care of the 4 but we do have a loser in this suit.
♦1 loser. We have the KQ2 in our hand. In Dummy we have the J43. We will have to lose to the Opponents Ace but we shouldn't lose any more tricks.
♣0 losers. We have the AK62 in our hand. The QJ in Dummy will take care of the 62. We won't lose a trick in this suit.

♠0
♥1
♦1
♣0

Here we have 2 losers. Since we are in a small slam we are only allowed to lose 1 trick. It looks like we are going to lose that one right away. Sure enough, if you play low from Dummy at trick 1 RHO will win their Ace♦ and return another ♦. Luckily LHO does not trump that.

But now we have to figure out how to get rid of our ♥ loser. Any ideas?

How about the finesse?

If the K♥ is with our LHO we can play a low ♥ towards the AQ in Dummy. If LHO plays a small ♥ we will be able to win with the Q♥ if we play it.

So basically we are hoping for this:

	Dummy ♥AQ
LHO ♥K5		RHO ♥63
	Declarer ♥J4

Now ny students wonder how I know the K♥ is on my left. The answer is I don't. I have no idea. But I am stuck. That is the only way to score 2 tricks from this suit and I need 2 tricks.

What happens if the K♥ is on our right? Well, we go down in our slam. Not the first slam I've been down in. Not the last slam I'll be down in. I'll probably be down in better slams. I will certainly be down in worse slams. Life goes on. This is not the end of the world. We are not bad bridge players because we go down in a slam. We are just gutsy. As Shakespeare wrote "Tis better to bid a slam and go down than to have never bid a slam at all."

What my students want to do is to play a low card to the A♥. If I do this I am just delaying the inevitable. The only chance this will win is if my RHO opponent has a singleton K♥. That's the only way. If they have the K♥ and another low ♥ they will simple play a low card on the A♥. Then their K♥ will score a trick later.

So I am taking a chance that the Q♥ will win because that is my best chance for 2 ♥ tricks. Remember that between my two opponents there are 9 ♥. What are the odds that my RHO has only 1 ♥ and it's the K? It's about a 1 in 180 chance. It's about a 1 in 20 chance they have a singleton and only 1 out of every 9 times it will be the K. Very unlikely.

But I DO have about a 50-50 chance that the K♥ is with my LHO. Half the time LHO will have the K♥. Half the time my RHO will have the K♥. Which chance are you willing to bet on?

So take out trump and get back to your hand. Then try the ♥ finesse.

The Finesse

What is a finesse?

Finessing is a card play technique that allows you to win tricks with lower ranking cards if the higher ranking cards that will normally win are placed appropriately.

Let's see this in action.

Dummy
AK

Declarer:
32

Here Declarer has 2 tricks no matter what in this suit -- the Ace and the King.

Now let's say Declarer is missing the King but has the Queen instead:

Dummy
AQ

Declarer:
32

Here Declarer has at least 1 trick in this suit -- the Ace. They might also get an extra trick if the King is in a favourable location for Declarer.

Where does the King need to be?

The King needs to be on Declarer's left hand side.

Go grab a deck of cards and play along!

	Dummy AQ
LHO K5		RHO 64
	Declarer 32

Even with the King in the proper location Declarer still has to play well. They need to be in their hand (not Dummy) in order to take two tricks.

When in their hand they play the 2 towards the AQ in Dummy. If LHO plays low (which they probably will) Declarer can now insert the Queen. This will win the trick since RHO does not have the King which is the only card that can beat the Queen. Now Declarer has scored 2 tricks with this holding.

What happens if Declarer plays the suit from Dummy?

You can see that no matter what card Declarer plays from Dummy the King will win a trick. If Declarer plays the Ace to start with, LHO can play their 5 and the King will win on the next trick. If Declarer plays the Queen to start with LHO will win the King right away.

What happens if the cards are laid out like this:

	Dummy AQ
LHO 53		RHO K5
	Declarer 32

In this situation there is no way to get more than 1 trick. There is nothing you can do so it can't hurt to play a low card towards Dummy's Q. If it wins -- great! If it loses you still get one trick and you were never going to get 2.

Examples to test your knowledge

Grab a deck of cards and play along. Figure out the answer then play it out in real life to see if it works.

On this example you are missing the Ace and also the Queen, Jack and Ten. You can place those cards wherever you want. You are on lead and can lead a card from Dummy or from your hand. What is the best way to get one trick from this holding?

Dummy:
K2

Declarer:
43

How do you play this combination for ONE trick.



On this example you are missing the King as well as 5 low cards in the suit. You can place those cards wherever you want. You are on lead and can lead a card from Dummy or from your hand. What is the best way to get three tricks from this holding? You have only three cards left in each of your hands so once in Dummy there is no way back to your hand.

Dummy:
AQT

Declarer:
J73

How do you play this combination for THREE tricks.



On this example you are missing the Queen as well as 5 low cards in the suit. You can place those cards wherever you want. You are on lead and can lead a card from Dummy or from your hand. What is the best way to get four tricks from this holding? You have only three cards left in your hand so once in Dummy there is no way back to your hand.

Dummy:
AKJ3

Declarer:
T98

How do you play this combination for FOUR tricks.