Bridge for Beginners Lesson 3 Declarer Play

Homework from Week 2 1Chris Game in 10 2Bill Part score in 11 2Bill Part score in  11 3Bill Game in NT 8 4Ann Part score in 8 4Ann Part score in  8 5Chris Part score in 6 5Chris Part score in  6 6Ann Game in 11 6Ann Game in  11 7Del Game in NT 9 8Chris Part score in 9 8Chris Part score in  9 9Del Game in 12 9Del Game in  12 10Bill Part score in NT 7 11Ann Game in 9 12Chris Part score in 9 12Chris Part score in  9 A&B C&D

Declarer Play  You have the basics to play MiniBridge  This week we will try to improve your play  Each Hand  You declare your points  Dummy’s hand goes down  Declarer decides the contract  The lead is made  All you have to do is make the contract

Declarer Play  Before you start to play  Stop  Think  Be a Baldrick  Prepare a Cunning Plan

The Cunning Plan  Contract is game in  Contract is game in  How many top tricks are there?  AT5 KQ65  JT6  KQ3  Q6 AJ432  K975  A4  1in ’s; 4 in ’s; 0 in ’s; 3 in ’s  1in  ’s; 4 in ’s; 0 in  ’s; 3 in  ’s  8 top tricks  How many more are needed? 2222  Where will they come from?  1 more is certain in ’s  Establish the 10 th in ’s  Establish the 10 th in  ’s

The Cunning Plan  Contract is part score in  Contract is part score in   How many top tricks are there?  T5 K5  JT642  K532  KQ62 A432  KQ75  4  0 in ’s; 2 in ’s; 0 in ’s; 0 in ’s  0 in  ’s; 2 in ’s; 0 in  ’s; 0 in  ’s  2 top tricks  How many more are needed? 5555  Where will they come from?  4 more are certain in ’s  4 more are certain in  ’s  Establish the 7 th in ’s  Establish the 7 th in  ’s  Draw Trumps  Lead low from dummy to KQ  Lead low from dummy to  KQ

Establishing Extra Tricks  Long suits are often the answer  Especially in NT  Look at these holdings  No top tricks  If you drive out the A you must make 4 tricks KK JJ TT 44 QQ 99 55 22 33

Establishing Extra Tricks  That hand had all the top cards except A  How about this holding?  1 top trick  8 cards in the suit  If the rest split 3/2 you can make 3 tricks  4/1 you still make 2 tricks  Play 2 rounds of low cards to see how they split  Then cash A and any remaining winners AA 77 55 44 88 66 33 22

Establishing long suits  With 8+ cards in a suit  You can establish extra tricks  So concentrate on that suit  Even if it is very weak you will still establish winners  Length before Strength

The Finesse  Another method for establishing extra tricks  When you are missing an honour  If you play A then Q you will make the A but nearly always lose the Q  Lead 3 to the Q  If K is onside it makes; if offside it loses  A 50% chance AA QQ 55 44 88 66 33

The Finesse  It works even better with 2 lower honours  Now you can Finesse twice  Lead 3 to the J  If K is onside it makes; if offside it loses  If it makes cross to the other hand in another suit  Lead 6 to the Q  Making 3 tricks and a 4 th if they split 3/3 AA QQ JJ 44 88 66 33

The Finesse  The Finesse is a very useful technique  But it only makes 50% of the time  And it seems worse than that!  Establishing a long suit is a surer option  If you can take a finesse in a long suit your chances are much improved

Suit Contracts  The Key issue in Suit Contracts  Is retaining trump control  The defence will have a number of trumps  You must seek to make them of little use to the defence  As declarer you do this by playing enough rounds of trumps as needed to use up all of the defence’s trumps  This is called  Drawing Trumps

Drawing Trumps  There are some occasions when you do not draw trumps first  But any trick played in a non trump suit before trumps are drawn MUST be a calculated risk  Of which more later in the course  Not because you forgot to draw them!!  For now the Golden Rule is  Draw Trumps As Soon As You Get In  Make sure you count how many have gone!

Getting Blocked  A sure way of not getting the contract  Look at these holdings:  Almost certain 5 tricks  Unless you take 2 top honours in the long hand first  Then the K takes the third and you are stuck in the short hand  Be very careful to avoid getting blocked  By cashing top honours from the short hand first AA QQ JJ 44 88 66 22 KK

Summary  There is lots to learn about Declarer play  But however much you learn  The Cunning Plan is the key  So stop and think after the opening lead before you play the hand  How many tricks do you need?  How many can you see?  Where can you establish any more?