Part 5
With short suits, such as K x, Q x; or even with King or Queen alone, the honour is a good lead if Dummy has no court cards in the suit. The Queen is rather a better lead than the King, the only danger being that second hand holds fourchette.
With Q J x, or J 10 x, one of the high cards should be played. With Q 10 x, Dummy having Ace or King, the Queen should be led.
With K 10 x, Dummy having Jack, the suit should not be led.
With such combinations as K x x x, Dummy having Q x, the suit should not be led.
When you have a suit which is both long and strong, such as A K x x x, and Dummy has no honour in the suit, it is a common artifice to underplay, by beginning with the smallest, if playing against no-trumps and you have a card of re-entry. This should not be done unless you have the general strength to justify such a finesse.
If you open a long suit, Dummy having only small cards, and your partner wins with Q, J, or 10, and does not return it, he has evidently a finesse in the suit and wants it led again.
_=End Games.=_ In the end game there are several variations which are made possible by the fact that the cards on your right are exposed.
With A J x, Dummy having Q x x, the small card should be led.
With Q x, and an odd card, Dummy having K x x of the first suit; it is better to play the odd card; but if for any reason this should not be done, lead the Q, hoping to find A 10 with your partner.
The state of the score must be a constant guide in all end games. For instance: You hold Q 10 x, Dummy having J 9 x. If you want only one trick, play the Queen; but if you want two, play the small card.
_=SECOND HAND PLAY.=_ The easiest position to play as second hand, is, of course, with the Dummy on your left, because Dummy’s cards will show what is best to be done. If a small card is led, you having King, put it on if Dummy has not the Ace; unless you want partner to get the lead. If Dummy has only two cards of the suit, neither of them the Ace, always play your King.
When the declarer leads a suit it is often important to count how many he and your partner can possibly hold. For instance: You have four, K x x x; Dummy has four, A J 10 x, and declarer leads the Queen. It is useless to play your King; for either the Queen is a singleton, and the declarer cannot continue the suit, which will compel Dummy to lead it to you eventually; or, the third round will be trumped, perhaps by your partner. If you have only two small cards with the King, put it on the Queen. You cannot save it, but you may establish your partner’s 9.
In the last three tricks, if you find yourself with a doubtful card, and the best and a small card of a suit which the declarer leads through you, win the trick and lead the doubtful card, for if the declarer held the best of that suit he would have led it first, to be sure of a trick.
_=Dummy on the Right.=_ When Dummy leads through you, your skill in avoiding any traps the declarer may be setting for you will depend on your knowledge of how he manages his hand, and your ability to infer what he holds.
As a general principle, it may be assumed that any high card led by Dummy forms part of a combination, the unseen part of which is in the declarer’s hand. If Dummy leads a Queen from Q x x, you holding A J x, it is almost a certainty that the declarer holds the King. If you have A K x, the dealer must have J 10 and several others. If you have K x x, the declarer probably holds Ace, or a long suit headed by J 10.
When Dummy leads strengthening cards, they must be to give the declarer a finesse. If he leads a small card from small cards, some high-card combination must be in the declarer’s hand. In such cases it is useless for you to finesse. If you have any sequence superior to the card led, cover with the lowest. There should be no false-carding in this, because your partner is the only one that can be deceived.
With A K and others, play the King, whatever Dummy leads.
With A Q and others, Dummy having nothing higher than the 9, play the Ace.
With K Q 10, play the Queen on a small card led, unless Dummy has the Jack.
With A J 10 x, play Ace if Dummy has no honour in the suit. But if Dummy leads the 9, cover with the 10; if it loses, you lie tenace over the declarer.
With A J x, play the Jack on a 9 led. This prevents the finesse of the 9, and retains command of the suit. If Dummy has both K and Q, play your Ace. It is useless to play the Bath coup, for the declarer knows your cards, and your partner only is deceived.
With K x x, if Dummy has not the Ace, do not play the King, no matter what is led.
With Q x x, unless Dummy has both A and K, do not play the Queen. If your partner has the Jack guarded, one of you must make a trick. If Dummy has A J, and leads J, put on the Queen; it may make the 9 or 10 good in your partner’s hand.
With A x x, Dummy leading Jack, play the Ace.
With any fourchette, cover the card led.
If Dummy remains with one or two small cards of a suit that has been led, and you have the best, play it on the second round. Dummy’s play is evidently for the ruff, and if the declarer has not the second best, your partner has.
If you have King, and only one or two small cards, Dummy leading Queen from Q 10 x x, play your King. You cannot save yourself; but you may make the 9 good in partner’s hand. If you have three or more small cards, do not play the King, for either partner or the declarer must be short in the suit. So if Dummy leads Jack from J 10 and others, play the King with a short suit. If partner has Queen you establish it; if not, you cannot make a trick in the suit.
With short suits it is usually best to cover an honour with an honour; but with several small cards, such as K x x x, Dummy leading a singleton Queen, you should pass.
With K 10 x, Dummy having J and others, play honour on honour; small card on small card, whichever Dummy leads.
It is often important for the second hand to cover with what is called an _=imperfect fourchette=_. A true fourchette is the card immediately above and below the one led; such as K J over the Q, or Q 10 over the J. An imperfect fourchette is the card above the one led, and another next but one below it; such as K 10 over a Q led, or Q 9 over a J led. Covering forces the opponents to play two honours to win one trick, and will often make an intermediate card good in your partner’s hand.
_=THIRD HAND PLAY.=_ In addition to the methods of _=echoing=_ on the partner’s leads of high cards in the suit first opened, third hand must be ready to adapt himself and his play to any change of suit and will require constant practice in putting himself in his partner’s place, asking himself what the object is in leading certain cards through Dummy’s hand. The inferences from the conventional leads should be sufficiently familiar to need no further explanation; but even good players occasionally overlook indications that partner holds certain cards. For instance: A leads a small card; Y, Dummy, holds Q x x, and plays Q. You play the King and win the trick. This marks not only the Ace, but the _=Jack=_ in partner’s hand; because the declarer would not play a twice guarded Queen from Dummy’s hand if he had the Jack guarded himself.
False cards should be avoided by the third hand as much as possible. The declarer will give your partner enough to puzzle over without your adding to the confusion. There are some exceptions in trumps. For instance: You have K Q x; Dummy has A J x x, and your partner leads. Unless Dummy plays Ace, you should put on the King, and change the suit.
If you hold Ace and others in a plain suit, partner leading Jack, pass it if Dummy has no honour. Perhaps by winning the second round you can give the invited force. With any other honours than the Ace, pass a partner’s Jack led.
If partner leads you a suit of which he knows, or should know, you have not the best, he must have a good finesse in the suit which he does not lead, and you should take the first opportunity to lead that suit to him.
In returning partner’s suits, some modification may be suggested by the condition of Dummy’s hand. For instance: With K x x; Dummy having A Q J x; if you win, third hand, on Dummy’s finesse, you may be sure your partner’s lead was a weak suit. If Dummy is weak in the two other plain suits, your partner may have a good finesse in one or both of them.
When your partner wins the first round of an adverse suit, and immediately returns it, he is inviting a force.
_=Dummy on the Left.=_ When the player is third hand with Dummy on his left, his chief care will be to divine his partner’s object in leading certain cards up to Dummy.
The general principles of inference are the same as in the preceding case, and cards may often be inferred in the same manner from the evident intention of partner. For instance: You hold K x x; partner leads J, declarer covering with Queen. A glance at Dummy’s cards shows him to have 10 x x; so your partner may be credited with A 9. You have x x; your partner leading Q, covered by declarer with K, and Dummy having J x x. You may credit your partner with A 10. You have x x; your partner leads Q and declarer wins with Ace; Dummy holding 10 x x. Your partner must have J 9 and others, and the declarer has the King.
There are several cases in which you should not allow Dummy to win the trick. If you have only one card of a suit in which your partner leads Ace then Queen, and Dummy has the King twice guarded, trump at once, if you can to prevent Dummy from getting into the lead. Your partner leads Queen; you holding A 10 x, and Dummy having K x x. Let the King make on the first round.
If your partner leads a small card up to strength in Dummy’s hand, he is either inviting a force, or trying to establish a long suit. Under such circumstances, if you have the Ace, play it, and lead a second round of the suit immediately, which will settle the question.
If you have Q J 10 of a suit in which partner leads King, play the Jack, so that he will count you for Q or no more, and will not go on with the Ace.
_=IN GENERAL.=_ Both the adversaries of Dummy should adopt the usual tactics for unblocking, etc., especially in no-trumpers, and in some cases Dummy’s exposed cards will make the matter more simple. For instance: You hold A Q alone, of a suit which partner leads. If you are the pone, and Dummy has not the King, play Ace and return the Queen.
_=FOURTH HAND.=_ There is only one difference from the usual methods in playing fourth hand, and that is in indicating sequences by winning with the best and returning the lowest to show the intermediate cards. For instance: Fourth player, holding K Q J x, wins with King and returns the Jack. Or with A K Q, wins with Ace and returns the Queen. The reason for this is that the declarer gains nothing by the information, for he knows from the first what cards are out against him; but the information may be valuable to your partner, the second hand. If it is not the intention to return the suit at once, the lowest of the sequence should be played.
_=PLAYING TO THE SCORE.=_ This is a most important element, and there is no surer indication of a careless or weak player than his inattention to the score.
One cannot be too early impressed with the importance of saving the game before trying to win it; although great risks may be taken to win a game that cannot be lost that hand.
Never risk a sure contract in the hope of making more; unless the two will win the game, and the odd trick will not win it. Never risk a trick that will save the game in the hope of winning more, and always set a contract while you can.
_=DISCARDING.=_ This is one of the still unsettled questions of bridge tactics, some believing in discarding the weak suit always; others the strong suit always, and others one or the other according to the declaration. Against a trump declaration almost every one agrees that it is best to discard the best suit, so that if your partner gets in before you do, he may have something to guide him as to what your best chance is for any more tricks.
Against no-trumpers, the majority of players hug every possible trick in their long suit and discard their weak suits, on the ground that it is folly to throw away cards that might win tricks. While this is true, it is also true that in discarding their weak suit they too often enable the declarer to win tricks that they might have stopped. For this reason, many players _=discard the suit they are not afraid of=_; that is, their best protected suit, and keep what protection they have in the weak suits, even if it is nothing but three to a Jack or ten. Unfortunately, no one has yet been able to advance any argument sufficiently convincing for either system to demonstrate that it is better than the other. Some of the best teachers of the game advocate the discard from strength against no-trumps; others teach the weak discard.
_=ENCOURAGING DISCARDS.=_ In order to distinguish between discards from weakness and those from strength, many players use what is called an encouraging card. This is anything higher than a six, if they have protection in the suit, or want it led. A player with an established suit, and A 8 2 of another suit, for instance, would discard the 8, to encourage his partner to lead that suit and put him in. In case there is no card higher than the six, the _=reverse discard=_ is used. With A 4 2, the play would be the 4 and then the 2. Some use this reverse or encouraging card to induce the partner to continue the suit he is leading, but the practice is confusing.
_=THE DECLARER’S PLAY.=_ The chief difference between the play of the Dummy and partner, and that of their adversaries, is that there is no occasion for the former to play on the probability of partner’s holding certain cards, because a glance will show whether he holds them or not. There is no hoping that he may have certain cards of re-entry, or strength in trumps, or that he will be able to stop an adverse suit, or anything of that sort, for the facts are exposed from the first. Instead of adapting his play to the slowly ascertained conditions of partner’s hand, the declarer should have it mapped out and determined upon before he plays a card. He may see two courses open to him; to draw the trumps and make a long suit, or to secure such discards as will give him a good cross-ruff. A rapid estimate of the probable results of each line of play, a glance at the score, and his mind should be made up. Several examples of this foresight will be found in the example hands.
Another point of difference is, that the declarer should play false cards whenever possible. He has not a partner who, if he plays the King, might jump to the conclusion that he can trump a suit, or has not the Queen. The more thoroughly the adversaries are confused, the greater the advantage to the declarer, especially in the end game.
_=With a Trump.=_ When the winning declaration is a suit for trumps, the declarer’s first consideration upon getting into the lead must be whether or not to lead trumps. As a rule, the trumps should be led at once, so as to exhaust the adversaries; but there are exceptional cases, the principal ones being:--
Do not lead trumps from the strong trump hand if it would be to your advantage to put the other hand in the lead with a plain suit, so as to let the trump lead come from the weaker hand to the stronger, as when a finesse in trumps is desirable.
Do not lead trumps if you have no good plain suit, and can make more tricks by playing for a cross-ruff.
Do not lead trumps if the weaker hand can trump some of your losing cards first. It often happens that a _=losing trump=_ can be used to win a trick before trumps are led.
_=At No-trump.=_ The declarer’s first care in a no-trumper must be to select the suit that he will play for. Four simple rules cover this choice:--
1. Always lead from the weak hand to the strong if the suit is not already established.
2. Play for the suit in which you have the greatest number of cards between the two hands, because it will probably yield the greatest number of tricks.
3. If two suits are equal in number, play for the one in which you have the greatest number of cards massed in one hand. That is, if you have two suits of eight cards each, select the one that has six of those cards in one hand, in preference to the suit with four in each hand.
4. Everything else being equal, play for the suit which is shown in the Dummy, so as to conceal from the adversaries as long as possible the strength in your own hand.
A suit is said to be _=established=_ when you can win every remaining trick in it, no matter who leads it. As it is very important that the hand which is longer in the suit should be able to lead it without interruption when it is established, good players make it a rule always to _=play the high cards from the shorter hand=_ first, so as to get out of the way. With Q 10 and three others in one hand, K J and one other in the other hand, the play is the K and J from the short hand, keeping the Q 10 in the long hand.
If there is any choice, that suit should be selected which contains the longest sequence, or the sequence with the fewest breaks. It should be noticed that the sequence need not be in one hand; for it is almost as valuable if divided, and it is especially advantageous to have the higher cards concealed in the declarer’s hand. Its continuity is the chief point. For instance: Declarer and Dummy hold between them one suit of K J 9 7 5 4 3, and another of Q J 10 9 8 7 5. The latter should be selected, because two leads must establish it.
In establishing a long suit it is very important to note the fall of the missing cards in the sequences. In the first of the two combinations just given, the declarer should be as careful to watch for the fall of the 8 and 6 as for the A Q and 10.
_=Leading.=_ It is quite unnecessary to follow any system of leads, further than to distinguish between the combinations from which high or low cards are led. But it is important to remember that although a high-card combination may be divided, it should be played as if in one hand. For instance: The declarer holds Q J x x x of a suit; Dummy having A x x. By leading Q or J, Dummy is enabled to finesse, as if he held A Q J. The declarer holds K J x x x; Dummy having Q x x. The play is to force the Ace, as if the combination of K Q J x x were in one hand.
Many opportunities arise for leading the Ace first from a short suit, in order to secure a ruff on the second or third round.
_=Second Hand Play.=_ If any card is led by the adversaries which the fourth hand cannot win, the second hand should cover it if possible; for unless he does so, his weakness will be exposed, and the suit will be continued. This is especially true of cases in which the second hand holds single honours, such as Jack and others, or Queen and others. Even the King should be played second hand in such cases, unless it is so well guarded that the Ace must fall before the King can be forced out.
If the fourth hand can win the card led, it is seldom necessary to cover second hand. For instance: If the Jack of trumps is led, the dealer holding Q 9 7 4, and Dummy having A 6 3 2; there is no need to play the Queen. If the King is in third hand, such play would establish the Ten. If the King is with the leader, it or the Ten must make. If Dummy were second hand with the same cards, Jack being led, he should not play the Ace, for third hand must play the King to shut out the Queen.
With A Q 9, partner having K and others, it is best to play A on J led.
If the dealer has Ace and several others of a suit led, Dummy having only two small cards, a force may be certainly secured by passing the first round. If Dummy has the Ace, and passes second hand, the dealer failing to win the trick, the adversaries will of course see that the play is made in order to force the dealer on the third round.
If Dummy is weak in trumps, and has only one card of a suit in which the dealer has Ace and others, the Ace should be played, and Dummy forced, unless there is a better game.
It is a disadvantage to play in second hand from suits in which each has a guarded honour. If the dealer has Q x x, and Dummy has J x, they must make a trick in that suit if they play a small card second hand, and avoid leading the suit. The same is true of the adversaries; but they must play on the chance that the partner has the honour, whereas the dealer knows it.
_=Finessing.=_ This is a very important part of the strategy of the game for the dealer. The adversaries of the dealer never finesse in bridge; but the dealer himself relies upon finessing for any extra tricks he may want.
A finesse is any attempt to win a trick with a card which is not the best you hold, nor in sequence with it. Suppose you have Ace and Queen in the hand which is longer in the suit and lead from the shorter hand a small card. If you play the Queen, that is a finesse, because you hope to take a trick with it, although the King is against you.
It is usually bad play to finesse when there are nine cards of the suit between the two hands, dealer’s and Dummy’s, because there is a good chance that the card you wish to finesse against may fall.
When it will be necessary to take two finesses in the same suit, the lead must come twice from the weaker hand. Suppose the dealer holds A Q J and others. If the first finesse of the Jack wins, he should put Dummy in again, so as to take a second finesse of the Queen. Suppose the dealer holds A J 10, and finesses the ten the first time. If it falls to the Queen, he should get Dummy in again, so as to take the second finesse with the Jack. The idea is to take advantage of the fact that the odds are against both King and Queen being in one hand. If they are both on the right, one of them will be played on the small card led from Dummy, and then the dealer can win it with the Ace and force out the other high card with his Jack, which will have become one of the second and third-best of the suit.
_=Re-entry Cards.=_ After a suit has been _=cleared=_, or established, it will be necessary to get into the lead with it. For this purpose the dealer must be careful to preserve a re-entry card in the hand which is longer in the suit. Suppose that Dummy’s long suit is clubs, but that the Ace is against him, and that his only winning card outside is the Ace of diamonds. If diamonds are led, and the dealer has the Queen, he must let the lead come up to his hand so as to keep Dummy’s Ace of diamonds for a re-entry to bring the clubs into play after the Ace has been forced out and the suit established. Many of the prettiest plays in bridge are in the management of re-entry cards.
_=Underplay.=_ When the dealer is afraid of a suit which is opened against him, and has only one winning card in it, such as the Ace, he should hold up that card until the third hand has no more of the suit to lead to his partner. The original leader will then have to get in himself, because his partner cannot help him; but if the dealer gave up the Ace on the first trick, it would not matter which partner got into the lead, they would return to the suit first opened.