MAKE A PLAN

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1. Count your losers. If a 5-3 or 6-2 fit count losers in the longer trump hand only. If too many losers, can you?

• Develop winners in a long suit
• Ruff if one hand is short in a suit and the other is long
• Throw off a loser on a winner (or another loser)
• Will missing honors fall? If not, finess to trap opponents honors
• Need to take a finesse but do not know in which direction - play other suits first and lose an unavoidable losing trick to let opponents lead that suit

2. Count winners - are there enough outright winners? Do you need to watch your entries?

3. Distinguish between different types of losers:

• unavoidable losers
• Other fast losers
• Slow losers that may be avoidable 
• Possible losers than may depend on placement of adverse honours (finesse)

Plan accordingly as the order you take action is important 

4. Decide which suits to attack and in which order

      A) If you have enough natural winners to make the contract:

• lead trumps first 
• If one trump is left and it is a winner, do not draw it
• If one trump is left and it is a loser and you know it is in RHO hand, do not draw it - if you could lose 2 trumps
• Collect all trumps if you need to make all your winners in outside suits (even if you lose a trick)

      B) You do not have enough natural winners

• Postpone leading trumps
• If you need to use the short hands trumps to ruff, do this this before collecting all trumps
• Do you need to cross ruff with all your trumps? (not enough winners)

5. After you have made use of trumps, attack your longest side suit, count cards until you have only winners left

6. Use shorter suits with top tricks as entries, if not needed cash these last

PLAN 1 (RUFF)

If you can play trumps first before you set up a ruff do BUT in some cases you cannot e.g. if trumps are unevenly divided (5-3, 6-2, 5-4). 

Every ruff in the short hand is an extra trick so do not play trumps too early if the short hands trumps are needed for ruffing (ie ruff first).

When you want to ruff a loser in the short hand set it up first, before defenders can remove dummy’s trumps. 

Make sure you have enough entries back into the hand from which you want to ruff from

If 4-3 in a side suit and you need to ruff the last card you may need to lose the lead up to 3 times and will need one more trump in the short hand than the number of times you have to lose the lead.

If 4-4 in trumps once you have cleared trumps - can you use the extra trumps to ruff?

Maintain entries to the hand with the extra card for this to work (ruff in hand with less trumps).

PLAN 1b

Crossruff can give you extra entries to make extra tricks. Best done if you hold all the higher trumps.

If you have winners in a different side suit. Cache these first.

PLAN 2 (EXTRA TRICK)

Can you set up an extra trick by ruffing out dummy’s long suit? Must have enough entries to set up the suit and cash the winners once established.

If you have too many fast losers can you cache an established suit quickly to throw off a loser? Before you do this you may need to make as many clearance plays as you can in trumps without giving up the lead.

You also need to have an entry to the hand with the long suit (usually dummy).

Sometimes it is better to discard a loser on a losing trick if the opposition is forced to use a trump to win 

Playing a long uneven off suit - cache high cards but first chance start ruffing. Hold onto rest of high cards until opponents are out of trumps.

Plan 2 depends on having entries to get back into dummy and that it is not unusual to refrain from drawing all of opponents trumps.

DUCKING A LEAD

Allows you to cut communication between opposing players BUT only do so if you know where the cards are (know opponent’s agreements with leads and discards)

RUFF & SLUFF

You need an extra trick and best chances is a finesse in a unplayed suit but not certain which way to finesse. So to set this up:

• Clear trumps but keep a trump in each hand
• Eliminate other suits
• Give the opponents the lead with an inevitable loser

That way opponents have a choice of leading the suit or leading a suit that you are out of so that you can ruff in one hand and throw off in the other.

Also called strip & end-play.

Use this when you have:

• lots of trumps
• Short suits that are easy to eliminate 
• One or more suits that you want defence to lead first
• An exit card.

PLAN 3

Finesse - only use if it is the only way to make your tricks.

Note: Only lead a high card for a finesse when you have a sequence of honour cards and don't mind if the opponent's cover the honour.

Without a sequence of honour cards, don't lead an honour card for a finesse... Lead low towards the honour you hope to make.

PLAN 1 & 2 TOGETHER 

You have decided to set up an extra trick in a long suit (to throw off a loser) by:

• taking winners
• ruffing all except last trick

To do this you need:

• enough entries to the hand with the long suit
• 1 more card than opponents 

Clear trumps first or use trumps as entries if you can

GUILLEMARD’s MANEUVER

Leave one small trump out while cashing out a side suit that may contain a possible loser. Thus allows you to trump the loser (or discard if not needed) 

A suit of Qxx opposite Jxx will always give you a trick if lead by opponents - so can you use a strip and end play?

COMBINE DUCK & CLEARANCE PLAY

Use when have a 4-4 (or 5-3) trump fit of low quality headed by Ace. By ducking first then taking second trick with Ace you limit trump clearance to 2 rounds and so still have a trump in dummy.

DUMMY REVERSAL

When you ruff so many times on the long hand the long hand becomes shorter than the short hand. This requires dummy to draw trumps so:

• dummy to have high quality cards
• You need dummy to have entries to draw ruffs and another entry to draw trumps at the end

NOTE it is better to ruff high so do not get overruffed 

ALSO:  

Don’t try to cross ruff with sure winners in another suit.

If you want to ruff with winners in the suit you are ruffing in, ruff first if you can.

1 Count your winners as soon as dummy goes down

2. Not enough top winners? You can:

• develop long suit winners
• Will missing honors fall? If not, finess to trap opponents honors

3. Decide the suit that offers most potential tricks and lead it first

• decide which hand to lead from - usually use honor first from the shorter hand so the suit is unblocked
• manage entries to your weaker hand
• count opponents cards as you lead the long suit so you know when the small cards are winners

4. Cash winners in the short suit last

NOTE: Be cautious  leading the suit the opponents chose as opening lead.

When declarer in a NT contract, you can determine how many tricks to duck by subtracting the number of cards that you and your dummy hold in the suit led from 7. Then duck that many times.

Hence if spades are led and you have a total of six spades between both hands, subtract that from 7-6 = 1 so hold up only one round and take the second spade trick. 

On the other hand, if you have five spades between you, hold up twice and take the third trick, etc.

1. An even number of cards against you are more likely to break unevenly
2. An uneven number of cards (5) are more like to break 3-2 than 4-1

1. Ace in dummy, play low
2. Ace in hand, other honor in dummy, play low, if they play honor, take it with the Ace
3. One honor in each hand, play low in dummy
4. AJx in hand, Qx in dummy, play low in dummy. If RHO plays high, play the Ace (With equivalent cards in dummy play second hand low)
5. J95 in dummy, A7 in hand - play Ace

• Be careful of first suit lead by opposition
• Check to see which hand you want to lead from for second trick
• Eight ever, nine never to finesse a Q
• If the only trump out is the best do not draw it
• Play honors in shorter holding first

• Singleton
• Top of a doubleton (7-2, J-5)
• Top of touching honors (Q-J-6)
• With no sequence lead lowest (J-7-6-3, K-8-5)
• If you raised partners suit , partner knows you have 3 cards, lead top of nothing (8-6-3)
• internal sequence (K-9-8-2)
• internal broken sequence (K-9-7)

• it is artificial
• 1C/1D and you have AK
• Leading trumps as dummy has only 2

• Fourth highest of best suit (rule of 11)
• Lead partners bid suit
• Top of 3 card sequence (or more) - solid sequence, broken sequence, internal sequence
• With no sequence lead low
• Can lead away from an Ace

• Lead partners bid suit 
• Top of 2 card sequence (solid sequence, broken sequence, internal sequence)
• Top of doubleton (top of nothing) Never lead an A or K unless have AK or it is your partners suit
• Fourth highest of best suit (rule of 11)
• Never lead away from Ace

• Lead non bid suit
• All suits bid - lead declarers second bid suit (weaker??)
• Look at bidding, lead through strength (ie dummies first bid suit)
• Never lead an Ace as opening lead (unless you have the King, or unless it is your bid suit with partner) and avoid it later if you can
• Never lead away from an ace in trumps unless can see Kx in dummy on your RHS.
• Any time - watch to see if opponent is out of a suit and may still have trumps, lead that suit
• If partner ignores bid suit and leads another suit to your ace, lead back their suit (they may have a singleton)
• Once open a suit, stick to it, changing lead gives openers a trick 

• Count points - guess partners point range, could partner have them?
• Watch how declarer plays to work out declarers hand

• The lead of the queen denies the king. In a suit contract it almost always denies the Ace as well.
• If partner overcalled and then doesn't lead the suit, it is most likely he holds the Ace without the King. Partner needs you to lead the suit.
• With a doubleton, lead 'high-low' then partner will know you can ruff the third round.
• Always try to remember the bidding, it can give you useful clues during the play.

• Lead higher of touching cards but play lower if it has been lead to you
• Try to pick partners long suit
• Watch for partners signals - attitude, count, suit preference, honour signals

• Do not lead a suit if opponents need to finesse that suit
• If partner leads a A signalling AK in a suit and you have a doubleton or Qxx give signals to keep partner in the suit (high-low, low-high) unless dummy has a doubleton and you do not have the card to overtrump
• First discard -play suit you want partner to lead
• McKenny Ruff - Play higher card to show lead a higher suit. Play lower card to day lead a lower suit 
• MUD - 3 rag cards, play middle up down
• Watch first discard - partner may signal their suit
• Signal your odd or even (even - high/low, odd - low/high)
• Lead Directive Double (Pinch Bid) - DBL after an opponents artificial suit. One that is usually taken out (eg if opponents are slam bidding, Stayman, transfers)

 High to encourage, low to discourage 

• If you have 3 middling cards, play low to discourage. Partner should lead another suit and you lead the first suit when get a chance. Play highest card that you have left to clear path for partner to continue playing the suit.
• A lead of a middle card shows no particular interest in that suit

Low I like, high I don’t like

• Play low if have King to partners Ace

• Second player plays low (if can)
• Cover an honor with an honor
• Do not cover touching honors
• Lead through strength and up to weakness
• Leading a new suit can give away a trick