Bridge for Beginners Lesson 4 Defensive Play

Homework from Week 3  Hand 1.  Contract Game in NT.  Lead Q  Lead  Q  Q2 AKQ  AK43  AT83  AKJ  52  976

Homework from Week 3  Hand 2.  Contract Part Score in.  Contract Part Score in .  Lead A  Lead  A  A3 AK42  9752  J86   QJ  AQT93

Homework from Week 3  Hand 3.  Contract Game in.  Lead Q  Lead  Q  - AKJ962  K75  QJ73  K853 Q85  AQ2  T94

Homework from Week 3  Hand 4.  Contract Game in.  Contract Game in .  Lead K  AQJ96 A543  A5  T6  KT5 62  K942  A532

Defensive Play  You play defence twice as often as you play as Declarer  More difficult as you cannot see partner’s hand  One time we are in control is the first card played  We must find the best opening lead  We must try to communicate using the cards in our hands only!

Opening leads  Objectives:  To make or establish defensive tricks  To tell partner about your hand  To avoid giving away cheap tricks  Different in Suit Contracts from NT Contracts

Lead against Suit Contracts  First decide which suit to lead  Usually not the trump suit  Lead from a Good Suit  Or a Short Suit  A good suit would be one headed by an honour sequence

Good Suits  Top of an honour sequence  AKxx  KQxx  QJTx or QJ9x  JT9x or JT8x  T98x  AK  This type of lead is made expecting to set up defensive tricks  Lead A  Lead K  Lead Q  Lead J  Lead T  Lead K

Singleton  A singleton (1 card in a suit) is a good lead  If partner wins it and leads another you can get a ruff  If you can then get back to partner you may get a second ruff  If partner makes a very unpromising lead of a suit that you have 4 or more of, take it if you can and lead it back  Remember that declarer’s cunning plan will be to draw trumps

Doubleton  Not usually a good lead  Rarely successful  Declarer usually gets in and draws trumps before you can get your ruff  But it may be your only reasonable lead  Exception is Ax  Lead the A then x hoping partner can win and play a 3 rd card for a ruff  Kx often gives away a cheap trick if you lead K first  Always lead high-low from a doubleton

No Strong Lead  Look for safest lead  From a suit headed by an honour lead 4 th down  Or 3 rd down with only 3  From a suit not headed by an honour lead MUD(Middle;Up;Down)  Examples of these shortly

Leads to avoid  Never lead from the following against a suit contract:  AQx(x)  KJx(x)  Kx  Qx  Jx  All give cheap tricks  Try not to lead from the following against a suit contract:  Axx(x)  Kxx(x) KKKK QQQQ

Leads against NT contracts  Lead Longest suit  With 2 equal length lead the stronger  Top of honour sequence  4 th down from suit headed by honour  MUD  AK43  A5  T6  A9543  A  T6  QJT76 A543  A5  T6   A75  T6

Standard Leads  AKxx  KQxx  QJTx  JT9x  Axxx  Kxxxx  Txxx  AQJx  KJTx  KT9x  xxxx  xxx  Ax  xx  AKxx  KQxx  QJTx  JT9x  Axxx  Kxxxx  Txxx  AQJx  KJTx  KT9x  xxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx AxAxAxAx xxxxxxxx

Playing to Partner’s Lead  If partner leads a low card  And you can beat the card from dummy  Play your highest card  Unless it includes an honour sequence  Play the bottom of the honour sequence  Playing an honour denies the honour below  If you win the trick play back partner’s suit  Unless you have an outstanding suit of your own

Playing to Partner’s Lead  If partner leads a high card  Tell Partner if you like the suit led  If you do play the highest card you can afford  If not the lowest card  Partner leads A. Which card do you play?  T43  A5  T65  984 KJT43  A5  T65   AK5  T65  Against NT  Against suit 3 T 3 9

Telling partner if you like the suit  This method is called HELD  High – Encouraging  >6  Low – Discouraging  <6

Summary  Opening Lead is the crucial defensive play  Try to make it tell  Remember to signal when you can  It also applies to subsequent leads of different suits  Communication is the art of good defence  We shall return to it many times in the courses