WATCHING THE DISCARDS IN ORDER TO LOCATE FINESSES
The amount of information to be gained from the adversary’s discards is apt to be underestimated. Careful notice of the discards, particularly in a “no-trump” hand, will often help you to locate honours and to determine where a finesse should be taken; moreover, it will simplify the end play, show you chances to throw the lead, and give you opportunities to force the opponents to lead up to your hand.
If the king of your long suit is against you and on the wrong side, it will probably make, but this is not true of the queen. If you hold in the two hands ace king, jack or ace king jack, ten of a suit, unless you can place the queen, you are compelled to guess where to take the finesse. If, however, you can advantageously lead another suit try to force the adversaries to discard, one will undoubtedly protect the queen of your suit, and the other, not knowing perhaps that you are trying to gain information, will probably discard from his weak suit; the discard thus enabling you to finesse successfully.
This information can often be similarly obtained in a trump hand by leading an extra round of trumps. If, however, you are forced to lead the suit without any knowledge of the situation, lead a card which will tempt your adversary to cover; for instance, holding ace x x in dummy with king jack ten in your own hand, lead the jack. If the jack is not covered, it is often good play to take the first trick with the ace, and, on returning the lead, to play the ten. As the jack was not covered you infer that the queen is held by the other adversary.
If you have no finesse in your suit, it often pays to give the adversaries a chance to make a finesse possible for you. For instance, with A x x in dummy and K 10 9 in your own hand, unless both queen and jack are unguarded, or unless you can tempt them to play badly, the adversaries must make one trick in the suit. The play is to lead the ten, for if it is covered, either with jack or queen, you have the advantage of a finesse on your return of the suit.
SECOND HAND PLAYS
Showing the play of the different combinations between dealer and dummy. In each case a small card is led and the second hand is the hand that is led through:
MANAGEMENT OF TRUMPS BY THE DEALER
The surest test of a player’s skill is the ability he displays in handling trumps. Habits that are wrong in theory are frequently formed, and errors in judgment are common in the trump management. The difficulties are as numerous as the combinations are varied. Only general rules can be given, and the constantly changing situations must be met by the skill and originality of the player.
WHEN TO LEAD TRUMPS
One of the first points for the dealer’s consideration is the advisability of the trump lead. As he usually holds the balance of trump strength in the combined hands, generally speaking the dealer should lead trumps.
A common excuse for avoiding the trump lead is that the hands contain no long suit; if this is true, why not try to establish your trump suit? If you hold five trumps in one hand, the chances are that three rounds will leave you with two long trumps and the adversaries powerless to “ruff” any high card you may hold; by refusing to lead trumps you may enable the opponents to “overruff” your strong hand and make their trumps separately. It may be to your advantage to have the other suits led by the adversaries and your trump lead will often force them to do this.
At times you will have the choice of two ways of playing the hand. One, to trump losing cards in your weak hand; the other to exhaust trumps and discard your losing cards on the commanding cards of a long suit. If your trumps are strong and your long suit established, the trump lead is preferable. With an established suit and high trumps against you, postpone the trump lead until you have allowed your weak hand to “ruff” the losing cards.
However, with five trumps in the strong and four in the weak hand, as you will probably exhaust trumps in two rounds, it is safer to lead the trumps first. You can then “ruff” in your weak hand without danger of being “overruffed.”
If you hold seven or more trumps in the combined hands, do not make the fact that your strong hand has been forced an excuse for not leading trumps. If you are protected in the adversaries’ suit and can lead the trumps advantageously from the weak to the strong hand, always lead them.
To lead trumps with this number is the rule, not the exception, but occasionally when they cannot be led from the weak hand it is better to make as many trumps as possible by “ruffing.”
WHEN NOT TO LEAD TRUMPS
Perhaps the simplest rule that can be given is, do not lead trumps when there is a short side suit in the weak trump hand. You will obviously gain by trumping losing cards in the weak hand.
As it often requires two rounds to exhaust the short suit in the weak hand, try not to show your intention too clearly, or the adversaries will circumvent your scheme of “ruffing” by a trump lead. Remember, also, that you cannot obtain the “ruff” unless you hold, or can make, an entry card in your strong hand.
When your combined hands contain fewer than seven trumps, the balance of strength is with the adversaries, and, in this case, unless your trumps or side suits are exceptionally strong, avoid the trump lead.
With but six trumps and an established suit against you, it would be dangerous to lead trumps. One adversary must hold at least four trumps, and it may be that all the remaining trumps are in one hand. The trump lead would only help the adversaries to make their suit.
When the commanding trump is against you, endeavour to discard your losing suit cards from one hand on winning ones in the other before you give up the lead.
UNBLOCKING THE TRUMP SUIT
As dealer, be careful to lead your trumps in such a manner that you will not find it impossible to continue the lead. The simplest method of unblocking the trump suit is to lead or play the high trumps from the shorter hand.
Occasionally to avoid blocking the suit, it will be necessary to “ruff” with a high instead of a lower trump. For instance, with ace and ten of trumps in dummy and king, queen, jack, nine and eight in your own hand, if you “ruff” with dummy’s ten, you will block the trump suit; even a temporary discontinuance of the trump lead may result in loss.
When you lead the queen toward the ace, holding the ace, jack, ten, nine, seven in one hand and queen, eight, four in the other, you must provide for the possible necessity for leading three times through the king by playing the nine of trumps on the queen lead. A careless play of the seven may make it impossible to capture the adversary’s king.
NOT FORCING YOUR STRONG TRUMP HAND
The greatest weakness and the most expensive fault in the beginner’s game is his predilection for trumping in the strong trump hand. When trumps are hopelessly against you, it may be necessary to make what you can by ruffing, but with the advantage of the make, you are seldom compelled to play a defensive game. When you needlessly force your strong hand to trump, you reduce your power to exhaust the adversaries’ trumps, to establish your suit, and to be left with the last trump—which is, par excellence, the dealer’s game.
To trump in the weak hand is always advisable, nor can any objection be raised to a “cross-ruff,” but force your strong hand only as a last resource.
If you hold the losing one of two remaining trumps, try to force the winning trump from the adversary’s hand; to force your own hand instead will materially prejudice your chance of making a suit.
LEADING TRUMPS TO PREVENT A RUFF
When it is apparent that one adversary can “ruff” a suit, or when a “cross-ruff” is imminent, it is important that you guard against such a contingency by at least two rounds of trumps. Of course, if you hold the commanding trump, this presents no difficulties; but, when the winning trump is with the adversary, you should try to tempt him to hold it up second in hand by refraining from a high card lead. For instance, with queen and seven of trumps in one hand and king jack ten nine eight in the other, lead the seven instead of the queen.
If your trumps are in sequence you can often obtain two rounds by leading the lowest of your sequence rather than the highest card.
WHEN TO DRAW THE REMAINING TRUMPS
When you are left with but one remaining trump, and that the commanding one, usually lead it to draw the losing trumps.
When there are but two other remaining trumps, trust that your trump lead will find them divided. If you have reason to know that both are in one hand, one must of course make; but lead the commanding trump, so that but one can make.
With the best trump in your hand and one against you, it is only in critical situations that you should refrain from drawing the losing trump. For instance, when the adversaries hold an established suit and the commanding card of your suit, it is a better play to clear your suit and then refuse a force until the adversary who holds the remaining trump cannot lead his partner’s suit. Take care, however, to accept the force at the right time, for a delay in trumping may allow the adversary to discard a losing card of your suit.
DISCONTINUING THE LEAD OF TRUMPS
There are many positions difficult to define when it is advisable to discontinue the trump lead. An obvious case is when the commanding trump is against you and the lead would entail your loss of two trumps for one card, which the adversary must make in any case. The best play is to force the adversary to “ruff” with the high trump, for then your trumps may make separately.
When you hold but two trumps with two against you, be careful about taking the third round of trumps when your adversaries hold an established suit; if the trumps are divided no doubt the lead will save a trick; but you risk finding both trumps in one hand, in which case the adversary will draw or force your remaining trump and make his suit. The trump lead cannot win more than one trick and it may lose several.
With three remaining trumps, if your suit is established, the third round should always be taken. Should you find after one or two rounds that the trumps are banked in one hand against you, it is, as a rule, better to force the opponent’s hand than to continue the trump lead. This gives you the long trump, which is no inconsiderable advantage.
The adversaries’ high trumps are sometimes placed after one round, so that it may be advisable to discontinue the trump lead temporarily until you can lead to better advantage from the weaker hand.
When you hold the commanding card of each side suit and do not wish the lead of your long suit to be interrupted, it is good play to lead the losing trump. If, however, you are not in a position to win any card the adversary may lead, it is better play to force the commanding trump.
WHEN TO TRUMP
If the adversary attempts to force your strong hand, it is usually advisable to accept the force. Only in rare cases does it pay to allow the opponent to continue the lead of his established suit.
At times you can afford to give the adversary one trick, knowing that, on the next lead, your weak hand can take the “ruff.”
With two trumps against you it is often good play to discard rather than to “ruff” with the commanding trump. But to gain by your play, you should hold a certain entry card in the suit that the adversary must lead.
With one trump against you, do not use your one remaining trump until the leader’s partner is exhausted in the leader’s suit.
If the adversary leads a suit which you can trump in either hand, the “ruff” should invariably be taken in the weak hand, and a discard made in the strong one.
You are sometimes in a position to know that if you trump, your adversary will overtrump. When the best card is led, it is usually good play to trump immediately and if possible with a card which will not unguard an honour in your own hand, but will force a high card from the opponent. If a suit is led, of which you hold the commanding card in the opposite hand, your best defence is to take a discard, which will prevent the adversary from making a high card later in the hand. If you can make no advantageous discard, your best play is to trump, especially if the trumps in your combined hands are in sequence, for, if the adversary wins the trick, his high trump will probably make in any case.
OVERTRUMPING
It is only the experienced player who can resist the temptation to overtrump. The beginner jumps at every trick without realising that he can often gain by waiting. Overtrump when your hand is weak and your trumps low; but, if overtrumping takes out your only high card in the trump suit, especially if it is the commanding trump, it is nearly always better to discard. Your winning trump is bound to make, and it is better play to throw away a suit that you can ruff later with one of your small trumps.
Frequently by overtrumping you make it easy for the adversary to draw your remaining trumps, which, had you not weakened your hand, he would be powerless to do. For instance, where you hold the best and the fourth best trump, with the second and third best in your adversary’s hand, should you overtrump, your adversary will, of course, be in a position to catch your smaller trump, while by refusing the trick you retain the extra trump and are enabled to draw the adversary’s last trump.
RE-ENTRY CARDS
It is of little use to establish a suit unless it is possible to get the lead in the hand that contains it; therefore, the reservation of a re-entry card in the hand that has the long suit is of great importance. A preferable re-entry is, of course, the last trump or trumps.
Arranging the trump lead so that the last round will be taken in the desired hand is often a necessary precaution.
After the adversaries’ trumps are exhausted, you may be compelled to place the lead in the opposite hand by an extra round of trumps, and often it is necessary to trump with a high card, saving the low trump to lead to the opposite hand.
It not infrequently happens that in order to get the lead in the opposite hand, you are forced to trump your own commanding card.
FORCING DISCARDS
Should you find as dealer that you have a losing card and a number of winning trumps, always lead the trumps to give the adversaries a chance to make an error in discarding.
If the adversary holds the ace, dummy the king, and you a singleton of a suit, your hand otherwise consisting of long trumps and established cards, by first leading the singleton you may tempt the second hand adversary to hold up the ace; while if you lead the established cards, the adversaries can count your hand and will make no such mistake.
Whenever you hold but six or seven cards of a suit in the combined hands, endeavour to make your adversaries discard before you indicate any strength. You will find that many times the discards will necessarily benefit your hand.
With two or three remaining trumps in your hand, you should lead at least two rounds of trumps before opening the suit of which you have but six cards. An example of the situation is given below:
In this case hearts are trumps. The dealer is left with the two remaining trumps, and holds in his combined hands but six clubs. Should the clubs be led before the trump suit, the adversaries would be left with the commanding club. The dealer should play his two trumps to force discards from his opponents’ hands before he opens the club suit.
With four or five long trumps, when but one other suit has been opened, you will almost invariably gain tricks by forcing the adversaries to discard. Any error they may make in selecting the suit to protect may enable you to take tricks with cards that would otherwise be valueless.
THROWING THE LEAD
The disadvantage of the lead is at times most apparent, and you can often gain by forcing your adversary to lead a suit which you cannot well afford to open.
When there are tricks that the adversaries must win, try to make this necessity a benefit to your hand.
Occasions for throwing the lead arise most frequently in the end play; there are the nice situations where you gain the advantage of position by leading a losing trump or suit card.
However, situations where it is advisable to throw the lead are so frequent and varied in occurrence throughout the entire play that the subject can only be treated in a general way. Perhaps covered by one suggestion; when you cannot lead a suit advantageously, try to force the adversary to lead it to you.
THE DEALER’S PLAY OF A “NO-TRUMP” DECLARATION
As soon as the hand has been opened, make a comprehensive examination to determine the possibilities of your combined hands. Are you strong enough to win the game? Can you win the odd trick? Shall you be able to save the game?
With no other possibility in the hand, make a determined effort to save the game. If you are weak in one suit and hold the command of the suit that is opened, your danger may lie in allowing the adversaries to retain the lead.
When you hold an established suit, you cannot but gain by forcing the opponents to discard; they may unguard honours in their weaker suits or give you information that will locate high cards.
Do not forget that your strength is in your long suit, and that you are often dependent on your other high cards to establish this suit. To the mind of the novice, the loss of the lead is a calamity, and he will often lead all his high cards, leaving the command of his own suit, as well as of the others, with the adversaries.
Remember that it requires no skill to make aces and kings, and that your goal in a “no-trump” hand must be the establishment of the small cards of your long suit.
With fair possibilities in the hand, ascertain before you play a card from dummy, first: which is your longest suit; second, how can it be most advantageously led; and, third, in which hand there is the greater need of an entry card.
CHOICE OF SUITS
There is no rule so necessary to good play as that of retaining the control of the shorter suits and playing to establish the longest suit in the combined hands. Do not let the fact that your long suit contains but a few high cards discourage you—the lead can entail but small loss as the commanding cards would probably make in any case.
When, as frequently happens, your combined hands contain two suits of equal length, make a careful selection of the suit to be played for.
When the ace of one suit and the king or the queen of the other are against you, play for the suit of which the adversary holds the ace. The ace must win, while the fuller information that comes later in the hand may enable you to catch the king or queen by a finesse. Then you can better afford to discard from a suit headed by the ace than from a suit in which an honour must be protected. Moreover, you deprive the adversary of a sure re-entry card.
With two suits of equal length, be careful not to play for one in a hand that contains no re-entry card.
When you hold two suits of equal length, it is usually wise to play for the suit that is exposed on the table and conceal the strength in your own hand. In other words, don’t give the adversaries unnecessary information.
In choosing between two suits select the one that will gain you the greater number of tricks. For instance, when you hold two eight-card suits, one divided five and three and the other four and four, there are clearly more tricks to be made in the former.
Be cautious about playing for a suit of no more than seven cards, for you will often find the remaining cards most unequally divided. When you hold but six cards in the combined hands the balance of strength is with the adversaries, one of whom must hold at least four cards. Try to force your opponents to discard before you indicate strength in six- or seven-card suits.
With two entire suits against you, you cannot afford to lose the lead. Make what tricks you need to save the game and pin your hope on successful finesses.
With but one suit against you, do not fear to establish your long suit. It is not so dangerous to give up the lead when you hold a protection in the suit led originally. The adversary, not knowing your weakness, will probably return the original lead.
KEEPING THE COMMANDING CARD
OF THE ADVERSARIES’ SUIT
As a general rule, do not part with the command of the adversaries’ suit until one adversary is exhausted in the suit, and therefore unable to return his partner’s lead; unless the original leader has a sure card of entry you may be able to prevent this player from getting into the lead. Usually do not refuse to take a trick with a king or queen when the higher card or cards have not been played. The adversaries may lead through and capture a single guarded honour.
If you find that there is another entire suit against you, it pays to take the first lead and make what tricks you can in the two remaining suits. Even in some rare cases, the play of a well-guarded king in dummy is the one chance to make or save the game.
Sometimes the cards of your long suit will be so unfortunately placed that the continued lead would establish it for the adversaries. In this situation, keep the command of that suit, and make a bid for better luck in establishing another.
Unless there is no possibility of losing the game, do not hesitate to take the first lead whenever you are assured of a sufficient number of tricks to win the game.
Often by taking the first trick you promote the value of another card in your own hand or in dummy. In other words, you temporarily give up the control, with the knowledge that you will eventually hold the master card of the opponents’ suit.
In these cases, by taking an honour led or played, the dealer can eventually stop the adversaries’ suit.
At times, if you take the first trick, the suit will be protected, provided it is not led by your right-hand adversary.
In these two cases, if an honour is led, the first trick should be passed. If a low card is led and an honour played, the first trick should be taken. Otherwise the opponent may immediately lead through your hand.
Holding the king, queen, and a small card of the adversaries’ suit, you are assured of at least one trick, with the possibility of two, but remember, if you take the first trick, your hand may be led through; it is often safer to win the third round than the first.
Should you win the first trick in any one of these cases, endeavour to prevent your right-hand adversary from obtaining the lead.
When the adversaries can take two tricks in your long suit, it is better to win the first and third than the first and second tricks in their suit.
In this case a low card is led, and you can win the first trick with the queen. By doing this you are forced to take the first and second rounds. If you take the first trick with the ace, your queen will be sacrificed to the king, but your jack controls the third round.
Unless there is another suit against you, it is safer to win the second and third tricks of the adversaries’ suit than the first and third.
Should you wait to win the second trick with the ace, there is a chance that your right-hand adversary will be exhausted in the suit, and unless the original leader has two cards of re-entry his suit cannot be made.
RE-ENTRY CARDS
Clear your long suit before you take out your card of re-entry is a simple rule that is often violated. When you have made the “no-trump” declaration, any possible re-entry in the dummy hand should be used to bring in a suit or to lead a suit advantageously from the weak hand. In fact, much of the success of a “no-trump” hand depends on the dealers’ skill in saving and making re-entries in the weaker hand.
A re-entry may be an ace or a three. It may be the master card of your long suit or a guarded honour in the adversaries’ suit.
When you can win the original lead in either hand, consider well the question of re-entries before you touch one of dummy’s cards.
Save all possible re-entry cards, remembering that often in order to gain any material advantage from a finesse you must be in a position to lead twice from the weak hand.
For instance, holding any one of the following combinations:
In order to make an entry card in the suit led originally, it may occasionally be necessary to overtake a card played by the dummy.
When your long suit is blocked, try to establish an entry card before you make the situation clear to the opponents. Otherwise they will not allow you to enter and make your suit.
If you hold four cards of a suit in each hand, it may be possible to obtain the lead twice in one hand. For instance, holding
If you lead the deuce and play the king, you have deprived dummy of the only entry card in the suit. If, however, you lead the eight, dummy’s seven will probably be the master card on the fourth round. Such a re-entry is often of great assistance in opening the next suit.
When you hold a nine-card suit divided five and four, it may be necessary to use both the third and fourth rounds of the suits as re-entries to lead another suit advantageously. This is a chance for good play that is often overlooked in the pleasure of making a long suit.
When dummy’s re-entry is a guarded king or queen, and you have no means of knowing the position of the ace, try to establish this re-entry by sacrificing a high card from your own hand.
In both of the examples given above, the dealer to make a re-entry card for the dummy should sacrifice a high card from his hand.
UNBLOCKING
There is frequent necessity in the dealer’s play for ridding one hand of high cards in order not to interrupt the lead of smaller cards from the other hand. It is well to look ahead and prepare for this contingency, for often in the middle of a hand you will quite unexpectedly find that unblocking will enable you to make small cards that the adversaries have made good by reckless discarding.
When you hold more cards of a suit in one hand than in the other, you can invariably prevent blocking, if you lead or play the high cards from the shorter hand. At times a suit may be unblocked by discarding the winning card or cards from one hand, but the first rule covers the majority of cases where there is necessity for unblocking.
In both of the above examples the dealer, holding nine cards of a suit in the combined hands, hopes to catch the queen by leading the ace and king. Blocking in these cases can be avoided by retaining the lowest card in the dummy hand.
When you hold but one re-entry card, be careful not to take a finesse, which will block your suit.
In the above examples dummy is supposed to hold one re-entry card in another suit. Should the dealer make an unsuccessful finesse, the adversary will at once take out the re-entry card, and the suit, being blocked, cannot be made.
OVERTAKING
It not infrequently happens on the initial opening of a hand that you have the option of winning the trick either in your own hand or in dummy; if you find that your cards of the suit led are all of equal value it is essential that you consider the advisability of overtaking a trick that you have already won.
With no re-entry in a hand, overtaking is often the only means of making a suit.
In the above examples, if the dealer holds no re-entry card, he must overtake one of dummy’s high cards in order to make the suit.
The adversary will often attempt to block the dealer’s lead by holding up the winning card until one of the dealer’s hands is exhausted in the suit. Whenever this is the apparent object of the adversary, you can still continue and establish your suit by overtaking the last card from the shorter hand.
In the above examples, if the dealer holds but one re-entry card he must overtake the second lead. Otherwise, if the adversary holds up the ace, the dealer must use his re-entry card to establish the suit, which he can then never make.
Overtaking is not confined to the dealer’s play, and it is much more difficult for the adversaries to determine when to resort to this strategy. As a rule, when the dealer is apparently holding up the winning card, and when the cards of your suit are of equal value, it is safer to overtake your partner’s card than to risk his being unable to continue the lead.
“DUCKING”
When a hand contains no re-entry card, the successful play of the long suit may depend on a refusal to win the first trick; at times both the first and second tricks in the suit must be passed.
When you wish to make a long suit in a hand containing no re-entry card, do not play the commanding card of the suit until you are reasonably sure that the remainder of the cards will fall. Use care not to exhaust the shorter of the two hands before the suit is established.
The situation is more clearly shown by the following examples:
The dealer should refuse to win the first round of the suit. With no card of re-entry, should he lead the ace and king, the command would be left with the adversaries and the suit would not be made.
The dealer must allow the adversaries to win the first and second tricks; otherwise the suit cannot be made.
The dealer should lead the queen toward the ace, but should the second in hand adversary cover with the king the dealer must pass the trick; otherwise the third round will be blocked by the nine or ten.
The dealer should pass the first trick and not attempt the queen finesse until the second round. One trick, it is true, may be lost, but the play may win four tricks.
One or two leads of a suit may show a distribution of the cards which must give the adversary one trick. When this is the case, be careful to lose that trick while you have still another card of the suit to lead to the opposite hand.
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The dealer finds at the first lead that the second in hand adversary has no card of the suit. The jack is, therefore, three times protected in the opposite hand and the dealer should pass the first trick.
With nine cards of a suit in the combined hands headed by ace and king, all the remaining cards will probably fall on two leads, but when the suit is divided, six and three, with no card of re-entry in the long hand, it is safer to make sure of five tricks by passing the first round.
Even when there is a re-entry card in the hand containing the long suit, if the adversaries must make a trick in the suit it is better play to lose the first trick. The re-entry may be an important card to retain.
When you hold a guarded honour in the suit led originally, or with a once-guarded king in an unopened suit, place the lead so that these honours will be lead up to. This can often be done by “ducking” or passing a trick.
“OVERTAKING AND UNBLOCKING”
The double necessity arises only on rare occasions. When the dummy contains no re-entry and the adversary opens a suit in which dummy has length, arrange the play of your own cards so as not to block the dummy’s suit.
Should the first trick be won with the eight, the dealer cannot overtake the ten without loss. The ten should, therefore, be played and the lead continued with the queen. If the adversary covers, the trick must be passed. The eight should then be led through the jack.
“OVERTAKING AND DUCKING”
Occasionally the initial opening will prove to be the dummy’s long suit. To make this suit without a card of re-entry in dummy it may be necessary for the dealer not only to overtake dummy’s trick in order to lead the suit through the original leader’s hand, but also to allow the adversary to win the second trick, if an attempt is made to force dummy’s high card.
The dealer should in both cases overtake dummy’s trick in order to continue the lead from the weaker hand. The original leader will probably attempt, by playing a high card, to force the ace; in which case the dealer must pass the second trick. The dummy will then hold a tenace over the remaining honour, and the dealer can make four tricks in the suit.