{"id":2526,"date":"2011-05-26T21:58:29","date_gmt":"2011-05-27T05:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/?p=2526"},"modified":"2013-01-08T20:47:49","modified_gmt":"2013-01-09T04:47:49","slug":"polling-you-66-bridge-defense-attitude-and-signals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/?p=2526","title":{"rendered":"Polling You 66, Bridge Defense, Attitude and Signals – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

——–<\/p>\n

As we previously discussed, being a good defender requires a variety of tactics to take all your tricks.\u00a0\u00a0 Top favorites include: making the right lead, third hand play, signaling on opponents leads, considering inferences, etc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Click here to view Part 1 of the video commentary<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Free Membership – Click here to view Part 2, hand #1 of our video commentary<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Premium\/ULTRA: Click here to view Part 3, hand 3 of our video commentary<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In this session, some of the common themes we will use include:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Uppercuts \u2013 On a good day, occasionally when both the opponent (declarer or dummy) are void in a suit and our partner sitting behind the void player are also void, our partner has the option to either over-ruff or not when opponent plays high.\u00a0 However, when the opponent plays a high honor, in some situations partner\u2019s intermediate honor might be promoted.\u00a0\u00a0 Or perhaps when partner ruffs (declarer sluffs) or partner over-ruffs, our partner may be able to return a favorable lead back to us (finesse or ruff in another suit).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unblocking \u2013 Just like when we are declarer and need to be careful leaving an entry to the other hand (promotion, future finesse play, ruff\/cross-ruff, etc.), as defenders we should also be on the lookout to unblock partner\u2019s suit.\u00a0\u00a0 Unblocking clues include the situation when partner leads the top of a sequence suit, Ace from Ace-King (or vice-versa for those who lead King from Ace-King), or an earlier suit preference signal by partner when you have few cards in the given suit.\u00a0 Incidentally, when we return a shorter suit requested by partner (or not), we typically show count in the suit.\u00a0 So with a doubleton we return the high card and with three we begin with a low card.\u00a0\u00a0 One notable exception is when we have a bust hand and should consider leading a Jack from a three card holding since we will no longer have an opportunity to gain the lead. Hopefully partner has \u201ccounted out the hand\u201d in High Card Points and realize we may not have a doubleton, understanding we are trying to help partner pin an honor by our Left Hand Opponent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Communication \u2013 Effective communication is paramount to mounting an effective defense.\u00a0 Once we realize the importance of teamwork to gain the maximum number of tricks, we\u2019re all ears (okay, eyes) watching partner\u2019s signals.\u00a0 Leads, attitude signals, length count signals, suit preference signals all provide important clues on how to play the hand.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inferences \u2013 What is partner doing during play?\u00a0 How about the declarer?\u00a0 What happened during the bidding phase?\u00a0 Did the opponents hesitate and if so, what inference should we make from the change in tempo?\u00a0 How about our hand \u2013 how does that contribute to the evidence of what\u2019s going on during play?\u00a0\u00a0 What have we learned when we saw the dummy?\u00a0\u00a0 After viewing the dummy and looking at our hand, what inferences can we make about partner and the declarer\u2019s hand?\u00a0 Inquiring minds are very busy pondering these and other questions on the opening lead, once the dummy comes down, third hand play, how the declarer plays the hand and more.<\/strong>
\n\u00a0<\/strong>
\n<\/p>\n

Polling You 66, Hand 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n
Board 3<\/em><\/strong>
\nSouth Deals
\nE-W Vul<\/td>\n		\u2660 9 8 7
\n\u2665<\/span> 9 8 7
\n\u2666<\/span> K J 9
\n\u2663 K Q J 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2660 J 6 4
\n\u2665<\/span> A K J 2
\n\u2666<\/span> 8 7 2
\n\u2663 9 8 3<\/td>\n		\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
N<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
W<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\nE<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
S<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\u2660 5 2
\n\u2665<\/span> Q 6 5
\n\u2666<\/span> A Q 10 6
\n\u2663 6 5 4 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\u2660 A K Q 10 3
\n\u2665<\/span> 10 4 3
\n\u2666<\/span> 5 4 3
\n\u2663 A 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n
West<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n1 \u2660<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pass<\/td>\n2 \u2660<\/td>\nAll pass<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Trick<\/em><\/td>\nWest<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1. W<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> A<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 7<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 5<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2. W<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 2<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 9<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 10<\/span><\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3. E<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> J<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 8<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 6<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4. W<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 7<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> J<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> Q<\/span><\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5. E<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> K<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 9<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> Q<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6. W<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 8<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> K<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> A<\/span><\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7. E<\/td>\n\u2663 3<\/td>\n\u2663 7<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 6<\/td>\n\u2660 Q<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8. S<\/td>\n\u2660 4<\/td>\n\u2660 7<\/td>\n\u2660 2<\/td>\n\u2660 A<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9. S<\/td>\n\u2663 8<\/td>\n\u2663 J<\/span><\/td>\n\u2663 2<\/td>\n\u2663 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10. N<\/td>\n\u2660 J<\/span><\/td>\n\u2660 9<\/td>\n\u2660 5<\/td>\n\u2660 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11. W<\/td>\n\u2660 6<\/td>\n\u2660 8<\/td>\n\u2663 4<\/td>\n\u2660 10<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12. S<\/td>\n\u2663 9<\/td>\n\u2663 Q<\/td>\n\u2663 5<\/td>\n\u2660 K<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13. S<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 2<\/td>\n\u2663 K<\/td>\n\u2663 6<\/td>\n\u2663 A<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

South opens 1 Spade with a great Spade suit and 13 High Card Points.\u00a0 Partner North has 10 HCP with nice working honors in the minor suit. That along with 3 Spades, North\u2019s response is above a 2 Spade signoff but perhaps short of 3 Spades with an unfortunate 4-3-3-3 flat hand.\u00a0 Should North decide to go the high road and invite bidding 3 Spades, with a 7 Losing Trick Count hand (6 in red suits, 1 in Clubs), South will probably accept the game invitation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On lead, West safely begins with the Heart Ace to peak at the dummy and it\u2019s up to East to signal with attitude.\u00a0 Noting that East has complete tenaces to finesse the dummy\u2019s Diamond suit, even with the Heart Queen East should discourage suit continuation.\u00a0 Looking at the dummy, West should be able to deduce partner should be able to make use of a Diamond switch (based on West\u2019s 9 HCP and opponent\u2019s bidding, East must have points somewhere<\/em>). \u00a0\u00a0Note \u2013 it is important that in this situation, West begin with a LOW Diamond 2, which shows an ODD count (lead high from doubleton).\u00a0 Winning the finesse, West returns a Heart being fairly sure partner holds the King – good partners do not needlessly lead an unprotected Ace on trick 1.\u00a0 Back on lead, West continues the choreography returning another Diamond that once again East just overtakes (never win higher than necessary).\u00a0 East may now win with a high Diamond knowing South had 3 Diamonds (East 4, dummy 3, and partner began with a low Diamond indicating an odd number \u2013 3 or 5, not 5 since the suit was not a 5-4-3-1 split).\u00a0 Looking at the dummy\u2019s honorless Spade trump suit, East smartly plays a fourth Diamond leaving South in a predicament.\u00a0 South must play a high Spade and East sluffs.\u00a0 Winning the remaining Ace and King, West\u2019s Jack has been promoted.\u00a0 Had South ruffed low, West would uppercut declarer.\u00a0 After the dust clears, the declarer is dumbfounded to find they only make 5 tricks with 23 HCP and a great Spade suit.\u00a0 Ah, the joy of great defenders.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Happy Bridge Trails and Tales,<\/strong><\/p>\n

BridgeHands<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JavaScript needs to be enabled for polling to work. Online Surveys by Constant Contact.   ——– As we previously discussed, being a good defender requires a variety of tactics to take all your tricks.\u00a0\u00a0 Top favorites include: making the right lead, third hand play, signaling on opponents leads, considering inferences, etc. \u00a0Click here to view […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2526"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2528,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2526\/revisions\/2528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}