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Copyright © 2000 David Bird & Marc Smith

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Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Bird, David, 1946-
Planning in suit contracts

(Bridge technique; 6)
ISBN 978-1-55494-006-6

1. Contract bridge - Dummy play. I. Smith, Marc, 1960- . II Title.

III. Series: Bird, David, 1946-. Bridge technique; 6

GV1282.435 B572 2000 795. 41’.53 C00-931332-X

Cover design and Interior: Olena S. Sullivan

Editor: Ray Lee

1234567 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
 CONTENTS
Chapter 1 How to Plan a Trump Contract 5
When should I draw trumps? 7
Key points 9
Quiz 10
Chapter 2 Ruffing Losers 12
Drawing only some of the trumps 12
Should I ruff high? 14
Trading ruffs 18
Playing on a crossruff 20
Key points 23
Quiz 24
Chapter 3 Maneuvers in the Trump Suit 26
Surrendering a trump trick at the right moment 27
Key points 31
Quiz 32
Chapter 4 Establishing Suits 34
Establishing a side suit in your hand 38
Key points 42
Quiz 43

Chapter 5 Keeping the Dangerous Defender off Lead 45

Finesse or ruffing finesse? 48
Ducking to leave the safe hand on lead 49
Avoidance plays to preserve control 50
Key points 54
Quiz 55

Chapter 6 Ruffing in the Long Trump Hand 57

Key points 60
Quiz 61
Bridge Technique Series

Entry Management
Tricks with Trumps
Safety Plays
Eliminations and Throw-Ins
Deceptive Card Play
Planning in Suit Contracts
Planning the Play in Notrump
Defensive Signaling
Squeezes Made Simple
Reading the Cards
Planning in Defense
Tricks with Finesses
 C H A P T E R • 1

How to Plan a
Trump Contract
The first step in planning the play in any bridge contract is to assess how
many tricks you have for certain and therefore how many more you
need to establish. In a notrump contract, it is normal to count winning
tricks. If you are in 3NT you might say, ‘I have seven top tricks, so I
need to establish two more.’ You can use the same approach in trump
contracts, but it is usually easier to count ‘losing tricks’ instead. What
do we mean by that? It will be easiest to explain with the aid of a
sample deal.
♠ Q 10 5
♥AKQ3
♦AQ76
♣93
N
W E
S

♠AKJ76
♥ 10 8 2
♦85
♣AK6

Suppose you are in 7♠ and a trump is led. To count the possible

‘losing tricks’, you look at the hand with the longer trump holding, here
South. You then consider each suit in turn and determine how many
tricks you could possibly lose. Here there are no losers in spades or
hearts because in both suits you hold the ace, king and queen. In

Chapter 1 — How to Plan a Trump Contract • 5

 diamonds you hold the ace but not the king, so there is one potential
loser on the second round. (The third round is of no concern because
South has only two diamonds.) In clubs there is one potential loser, on
the third round. So, there are two possible losers and, to make the
grand, you must somehow reduce this number to zero. How would you
plan the play?
It is easy enough to avoid the club loser; you can ruff the third
round in dummy. There are two chances of avoiding the diamond loser.
You could finesse the ♦Q or possibly you could discard a diamond on
dummy’s heart suit. Since a finesse relies on good fortune, you will
naturally investigate the chance of a discard first.
Win the trump lead with dummy’s queen, East following. You
cannot draw the remaining trumps at this stage because you need to ruff
a club in dummy. Cash the two top clubs and ruff a club with the ten of
spades (avoiding the risk of an overruff). You then draw the remaining
trumps. The next move is to play the ace and king of hearts. If the jack
falls in two rounds, you can cross to the ♥10, then return to the diamond
ace to take a discard on the ♥Q. If the ♥J does not fall, you play another
top heart to see if the suit breaks 3-3. If that hope fails too, you return
to your hand by ruffing dummy’s last heart and take your final chance,
the diamond finesse.
The deal illustrates the three main ways in which you can avoid
possible losing tricks: finessing, ruffing, and discarding on winners in
dummy. In the main, the planning of a trump contract consists of
seeking the safest way to reduce your losers to the required number.
Before moving to the detailed techniques that you can employ
during the play, let’s make a plan for one more typical trump contract:

♠ 10 5
♥J4
♦AK762
♣AJ73
N
W E
S

♠7
♥ A K Q 10 8 3 2
♦85
♣K54

6 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 You reach 6♥ and the defenders kick off with two top spades. Plan
the play.
Looking at the losers in the long trump hand (South), you see that
you began with one loser in spades, already taken by the defense. You
have no trump losers, no diamond losers, and one potential club loser.
How can you dispose of the club loser?
One possibility is to finesse the ♣J. Again, you will not want to
rely on a 50% chance if you can establish a winner in dummy on which
to discard the club. This can be done unless the diamonds break 5-1.
After ruffing the second spade, draw one round of trumps with the ace.
Then cash the two top diamonds and ruff a diamond high. If diamonds
prove to be 4-2, cross to the jack of trumps and ruff another diamond
high. You can then draw the outstanding trump, if any, enter dummy
with the ♣A, and discard your third club on the thirteenth diamond.
If diamonds had broken 5-1, you would probably have suffered a
diamond ruff, going one down. However, this was still very much the
best line.

When should I draw trumps?

The general rule on drawing trumps is that you should do so immedi-
ately unless there is a good reason not to. These are the main reasons
why you might choose to delay drawing trumps:
You need to take some ruffs in the short-trump hand
You need to take a quick discard
You must set up a discard before the defenders can
establish a winner for themselves
You will need dummy’s trumps as entries to establish
a suit and/or enjoy the resultant winners
On the next deal your top priority is to establish a discard:
♠K95
♥QJ43
♦KQ76
♣Q3
♠ J 10 8 2 N ♠Q43
♥K7 W
S
E
♥62
♦ 10 4 2 ♦A983
♣ 10 8 7 4 ♠A76 ♣AJ65
♥ A 10 9 8 5
♦J5
♣K92

Chapter 1 — How to Plan a Trump Contract • 7

 West leads the ♠J against your contract of 4♥. If you win in the
dummy and run the ♥Q, you will soon regret it. West will win with the
king and knock out your remaining spade stopper. You will then lose a
trick in each suit, going one down.
The correct play is to win the spade lead in hand and play the ♦J
immediately. Let’s suppose that East holds up for one round, captures
the second diamond, and plays another spade. Because you won the
first round of spades with the ace, rather than the king, you will now be
conveniently in the dummy. You can discard your spade loser on the
♦Q, then take a trump finesse. You will eventually ruff the third round
of clubs in dummy, losing just two aces and the trump king.
On the next deal you delay drawing trumps because you want to use
dummy’s trump honors as entries:
♠KQ2
♥43
♦AK872
♣ 10 8 5
♠983 ♠4
♥Q962 N
♥ J 10 8 7 5
W E
♦J4 S
♦ Q 10 6 3
♣KQJ2 ♣643

♠ A J 10 7 6 5
♥AK
♦95
♣A97

West leads the ♣K against 6♠. The only way to dispose of a club
loser (or two) is to set up dummy’s diamond suit. If your first move is
to draw trumps, you will succeed only when trumps are 2-2 and
diamonds 3-3. A better idea is to cash the ace of trumps, then continue
with dummy’s top diamonds. Both defenders follow and you ruff a
diamond with the jack, West showing out. A trump to the king is
followed by a diamond ruff with the ten. You then play a trump to the
queen, drawing West’s last trump and reaching the long diamond trick.

8 • Planning in Suit Contracts

Key points
1. When planning the play in a trump contract, count the possible losers
in the hand with the long trumps. Look at each suit in turn and see
how many tricks you might possibly lose. Seek the safest line of
play that will reduce your losers to the required number.
2. The main ways to avoid losers are: finessing, ruffing and discarding.
3. In general, draw trumps immediately unless you have a good reason
not to. Possible reasons for delaying the drawing of trumps include:
you need to take ruffs in the short-trump hand; you will need
dummy’s trumps as entries; you need to discard some losers or to
establish a quick discard.

Chapter 1 — How to Plan a Trump Contract • 9

 QUIZ
To Answers

A. ♠K82
♥A4
♦AQ64
♣9753
N
♥J led W E
S

♠ A Q J 10 5
♥K83
♦93
♣AK6

You arrive in 6♠ and West leads the ♥J. How many losers can
you count in the South hand? How might these losers be reduced
to just one? How will you play the hand?
B. ♠K82
♥94
♦Q964
♣AK72
N
♣Q led W E
S

♠ A 10 7 6 5 3
♥A83
♦K3
♣86
West leads the ♣Q against your contract of 4♠. How many losers
can you count in the South hand? How can you reduce these
losers to just three? How will you play the hand?

10 • Planning in Suit Contracts

Answers
To Questions
A. There are no losers in trumps, one loser in hearts, one in diamonds
and one in clubs. That’s a total of three potential losers in the South
hand. You can avoid a heart loser by ruffing it in the dummy. You
can avoid a diamond loser by finessing the ♦Q successfully or by
throwing a diamond on a club winner in dummy.
You should win the heart lead with the ace. You then draw two
rounds of trumps with the ace and queen, cash the king of hearts, and
ruff a heart with the king. You return to your hand with the ace of
clubs and draw the outstanding trumps. Now play king and another
club, to see if the clubs are 3-3 (or if a doubleton Q-J, Q-10 or J-10
falls from East, allowing you to set up dummy’s nine). If the club
suit provides a third trick, you will discard your diamond loser on the
thirteenth club. If not, you will have to rely on the diamond finesse.
B. If trumps are not 2-2 you might lose one or two trump tricks. You
have two losers in hearts and one in diamonds. You can save one
loser by ruffing a heart in dummy. Suppose you win the club lead
and immediately play two rounds of trumps, discovering a 3-1 break.
You will go down. When you duck a heart, preparing for a ruff, the
defenders will remove dummy’s last trump. A better idea is to duck
a heart at Trick 2. You will win the return, draw two rounds of
trumps with the ace and king, then ruff your last heart. You will lose
one trump, one heart and one diamond.

Chapter 1 — How to Plan a Trump Contract • 11

 C H A P T E R • 2

Ruffing Losers
You may think there is little to be said on the subject of ruffing losers in
dummy. Think again! Several clever moves are possible, which will
reduce the risk of an overruff or of having one of your honor cards
ruffed.

Drawing only some of the trumps

We will look first at situations where you can improve your chances by
drawing only some of the enemy trumps. Look at this deal:
♠ Q 10 5
♥A63
♦ A 10 7 6
♣ 10 9 3
♠872 N
♠94
♥J975 W E ♥ 10 2
♦J4 S ♦KQ9832
♣AK62 ♣Q75
♠AKJ63
♥KQ84
♦5
♣J84

You reach 4♠ and the defenders cash three club tricks. How do you
plan to score the remaining tricks after East switches to a trump?
The sole concern is the fourth round of hearts. All will be well if
hearts break 3-3. There is also the possibility of ruffing the fourth round
when the same defender is short in both hearts and trumps.
How does the play go? You win the trump switch with dummy’s

12 • Planning in Suit Contracts

ten and draw a second round of trumps with the ace. With one trump
outstanding, you then cash the three top hearts. East shows out on the
third round, but he does not hold the last trump! You ruff your losing
heart, then return to the South hand with a high diamond ruff to draw
West’s remaining trump.
When you hold a side suit of K-x-x-x in hand, A-x-x in the dummy,
it may suit you to duck an early round before playing for a ruff. This
type of deal is common:
♠ A 10 5
♥753
♦ K 10 7 6
♣A82
♠98632 N ♠QJ4
♥J9 W E ♥ 10 6 2
♦Q983 S ♦J42
♣Q7 ♣ J 10 5 4
♠K7
♥AKQ84
♦A5
♣K963
You bid to the somewhat optimistic contract of 6♥ and West leads
the ♠8. Looking at the losers from the long trump (South) hand, you
see that there may be a trump loser if the suit breaks 4-1. There is
nothing you can do in that case, so dismiss the possibility from your
mind. There are also two potential losers in clubs. Unless the suit
breaks 3-3, you must attempt to ruff the fourth round.
What will happen if you draw two rounds of trumps, then play ace,
king and another club? Unless clubs are 3-3 you will go down. The
defender who wins the third club will either draw dummy’s last trump,
or give his partner a club ruff. You need to draw precisely two rounds
of trumps before playing the fourth club. To achieve this objective, you
must duck a club before touching the trump suit.
Win the spade lead with the king and duck a club. The defenders
have nothing constructive to return; let’s assume they play another
spade. You win with the ace, draw two rounds of trumps, and play the
ace and king of clubs. Luck is with you. West shows out on the third
round of clubs but cannot ruff. You ruff your fourth club in dummy and
return to the ♦A to draw the last trump.
When you have left one trump out, you must sometimes take steps

Chapter 2 — Ruffing Losers • 13

 to prevent the defender with the trump from ruffing one of your honor
cards. Look at the heart suit here:
♠AK3
♥875
♦ A 10 7 6
♣A92
♠98 ♠754
N
♥J9632 W E ♥ 10
♦KQJ4 S ♦9832
♣Q7 ♣ J 10 8 5 3
♠ Q J 10 6 2
♥AKQ4
♦5
♣K64

You reach 6♠ and West leads the ♦K, won in the dummy. You have
two potential losers, the fourth round of hearts and the third round of
clubs. Suppose you draw two rounds of trumps with the ace and queen,
then play hearts from the top. Not good enough! East will ruff a heart
honor with his last trump. You will be able to ruff your heart loser, but
the defenders will score a club trick for one down.
Let’s try again, this time aiming to prevent East from ruffing a heart
honor. After winning the diamond lead in dummy, play a heart to the
ace. Then draw two rounds of trumps with the queen and ace and lead
a second heart. If East ruffs now, he will (in effect) ruff your ♥4 rather
than an honor. You will then be able to throw a club on your third heart
winner and ruff a club in dummy for your twelfth trick.
Suppose East discards on the second round of hearts. You win with
the king and cross to the ♣A for yet another heart lead. Again East
cannot gain by ruffing thin air. Let’s assume that he discards once more.
You win the third round of hearts with the queen and ruff the ♥4 with
dummy’s king of trumps. You can then return to hand with a diamond
ruff to draw East’s trump. The only loser will be a club.

Should I ruff high?

A familiar dilemma is: should I ruff with a high trump or a low trump?
If you ruff with a high trump, you reduce the risk of an overruff. True,
but if the trumps break badly you may find that you have promoted a
lesser trump held by one of the defenders. Look at this deal:

14 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 ♠KJ7
♥875
♦ A 10 7 6 2
♣K2
♠9 N
♠ 10 8 5 4
♥ Q J 10 4 W E ♥AK6
♦K843 S ♦QJ9
♣J873 ♣ 10 9 5
♠AQ632
♥932
♦5
♣AQ64
You reach 4♠ and the defenders cash three rounds of hearts. How
would you continue the play after East switches to the ♦Q?
Unless trumps are 5-0, your only concern is the fourth round of
clubs. You should draw one round of trumps with the king (preventing
a later overruff with a singleton trump), then play the king and ace of
clubs. When you lead a third round of clubs, West follows with the
eight and you must decide whether to ruff with the jack or the seven.
If you ruff high, you will go down when trumps break 4-1. The
defender with four trumps will score a trump trick. If you ruff low, you
will go down when East started with a doubleton club and can overruff
dummy’s seven. As to which is the more likely, this is a question of
simple mathematics. The a priori chance of a 4-1 trump break is 28%.
The chance of East holding a doubleton club is much less, at around
15%. You are therefore playing with the odds if you ruff the third round
of clubs with the seven rather than the jack.
Would it have been better, then, to draw a second round of trumps
with the jack before attempting the ruff? No, because by retaining the
trump jack in dummy you could overruff West, should he hold a
doubleton club.
When you need to take two ruffs in a suit, and have only one master
trump to use for the purpose, it is normally right to take the first ruff
with a low trump.

Chapter 2 — Ruffing Losers • 15

 ♠K972
♥85
♦ A 10 7 6
♣K52
N
W E
S

♠A3
♥ A K 10 3
♦K5
♣ A Q J 10 6

Suppose you bid to a grand slam in clubs, West leading a trump.

How would you play the contract?
You win the trump lead in the South hand and must then dispose of
two heart losers. If you made the mistake of ruffing the third round of
hearts with the king, you would suffer a near certain overruff on the
fourth round of hearts. You must ruff the third round of hearts with the
five, hoping that East cannot overruff. The fourth round of hearts can
then be ruffed with a master trump.
The situation would be different if you were playing the more
modest contract of 6♣ on a trump lead. Ruffing the third round of
hearts with the five would then be an unnecessary risk; East might
overruff and return a trump. The safety play in a small slam is to ruff
the third round of hearts with the king. You will suffer an overruff there-
after, but will still make the slam.
Taking the first of two ruffs with a high trump can also be right
when you have a potential trump loser.

♠K9
♥A975
♦A4
♣ A 10 9 5 2
♠5 N ♠ 10 8 7 4
♥ Q J 10 6 4 W E ♥K83
♦QJ86 S ♦ 10 3
♣K76 ♣QJ83
♠AQJ632
♥2
♦K9752
♣4

16 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 West leads the ♥Q against your contract of 6♠. If you simply draw
trumps, you will need a 3-3 diamond break — not very good odds. It is
better to play for one or more diamond ruffs. Suppose you cash the top
diamonds successfully and ruff the third round of diamonds with the
nine. No good! East will overruff and return a trump, beating the slam.
You should ruff the third round of diamonds with the king. This
temporarily sets up two tricks for the defenders (a trump and a
diamond). No matter. You return to the South hand with a heart ruff
and ruff your last diamond with the nine. East overruffs with the ten of
spades but this kills his natural trump trick. You lose just the one trick.
Even when you are certain to be overruffed, it can still be good
business to ruff a loser. The defender may be overruffing with a natural
trump trick, as happens here:
♠A76
♥9752
♦ Q 10 4 2
♣K3
♠J4 N ♠ Q 10 8
♥KQ3 W E ♥ 10 8 6 4
♦J875 S ♦963
♣Q862 ♣J95
♠K9532
♥AJ
♦AK
♣ A 10 7 4
Anxious to preserve your reputation as an aggressive bidder, you
climb all the way to 6♠. You win the ♥K lead with the ace and cash the
two diamond honors in your hand. A club to the king allows you to
throw your heart loser on the ♦Q. Both defenders follow but the ♦J
does not appear.
At this stage, your prospects may not seem too bright. You have
two club losers and (at least) one trump loser — but don’t give up! Play
a club to the ace and ruff a club. Cash the ace of spades and return to
your hand with a heart ruff. You must now ruff your fourth club, even
though you fully expect one or other defender to be able to ruff higher
than dummy’s seven. East overruffs with the ten, but luck is with you.
Not only is he overruffing from a natural trump trick, his partner holds
the last diamond and no trump promotion is possible. No doubt you
will continue to overbid in the same way.

Chapter 2 — Ruffing Losers • 17

 Trading ruffs
Sometimes you can avoid a defensive overruff by swapping a ruff in one
suit for a ruff in a safer suit. It’s the sort of play you might never think
of making unless you had read about it. This is a typical deal:

♠763
♥75
♦A82
♣A9763
♠94 N ♠ 10 5 2
♥ Q J 10 8 6 3 W E ♥92
♦Q94 S ♦J753
♣Q2 ♣ J 10 8 5
♠AKQJ8
♥AK4
♦ K 10 6
♣K4

You reach 6♠ after West has opened with a weak two-bid in hearts.
West leads the ♥Q. How would you play the contract?
You would like to ruff your heart loser in dummy, but the bidding
has warned you that hearts are likely to be 6-2. You can attempt to
reduce the risk of an overruff by drawing two rounds of trump first.
However, something better is possible. Cash the ace of hearts, cross to
the diamond ace and lead a second heart to the king. (This precaution
might gain if West held seven hearts to his partner’s one.) Then play a
third round of hearts. Instead of ruffing (and, in fact, suffering an
overruff), discard a diamond from dummy. Nothing can now stop you
from ruffing a diamond for your twelfth trick.
The potential heart overruff on the last deal was telegraphed by
West’s opening bid. Sometimes you simply judge that one ruff will be
safer than another. That is what happens on the next hand.

18 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 ♠73
♥752
♦AJ932
♣973
♠ J 10 5 ♠Q964
N
♥Q8 W E
♥ J 10 4
♦ Q 10 7 4 S ♦K85
♣Q852 ♣KJ4
♠AK82
♥AK963
♦6
♣ A 10 6

West leads the ♠J against your 4♥ contract. You have two potential
spade losers, one loser in trumps (you hope it is only one!), and two
losers in clubs. The only chance of reducing this loser-count to three is
by taking two ruffs in the dummy. If you ruff both spades, you run the
risk that the fourth round will be overruffed by the defender holding a
doubleton trump. You will then lose two trump tricks as well as two
clubs. Is there a better line?
You must aim to ruff a club instead! Win the spade lead, cash the
other top spade and ruff a spade. Now duck a club. It will not assist the
defense for East to win and play a fourth round of spades. West can ruff
with the ♥8 but you will discard a club from dummy and subsequently
ruff a club. You will lose just one club trick and two trump tricks. If the
defenders return something else when you duck a club, you will play a
fourth round of spades yourself. Whichever defender holds the last
spade, you will be able to discard a club and subsequently ruff a club for
your tenth trick.

♠97432
♥Q52
♦A82
♣97
♠KQJ8 ♠ 10 6 5
N
♥ 10 7 W E
♥J94
♦ Q 10 7 4 S ♦J53
♣QJ2 ♣ 10 8 5 4
♠A
♥AK863
♦K96
♣AK63

Chapter 2 — Ruffing Losers • 19

 On the next deal declarer side-steps an attempted uppercut by
swapping one ruff for another.
Playing in 6♥, you win the spade lead with the ace. You cash two
clubs and ruff a club low. When you return to hand with a spade ruff
and lead another club, West ruffs with the seven of hearts. If you
overruff with the queen, you will make the contract only when West
started with three trumps. A better idea is to discard a diamond on this
trick. Whatever West returns, you will be able to ruff a diamond with a
low trump and score the remaining tricks.

Playing on a crossruff
In the hands we have seen so far, you have taken ruffs in the short trump
hand, preserving the length in the long hand in order to draw the
defenders’ trumps. Your aim was to score tricks with trumps that would
otherwise be unproductive. This makes sense. If the trumps in your
hand are A-K-Q-J-10, you do not need to ruff with them — they will
make tricks in their own right. However, it is sometimes necessary to
score all of your trumps separately. This form of play is called a
crossruff. Here is a basic example:

♠A432
♥ 10 8 7 3
♦8642
♣9
♠KJ86 ♠ Q 10 9 7
N
♥62 E
♥54
W
♦ K Q J 10 S ♦A5
♣J74 ♣ K Q 10 8 5
♠5
♥AKQJ9
♦973
♣A632

You reach 4♥. The defenders cash three diamond winners and
switch to a trump. How would you play the contract?
You have to do something with your three club losers, and luckily
you still have three high trumps in dummy with which to ruff them. Win
West’s trump switch, cash the ♣A, and ruff a club. Now, how can you
get back to your hand to ruff another club? You cannot cross in trumps,

20 • Planning in Suit Contracts

since you would then be left with no trump in dummy for the fourth
round of clubs.
The answer is to ruff spades. Play the ♠A and ruff a spade. Ruff
a second club in dummy, then take a second spade ruff, a third club ruff,
and a third spade ruff. You will be left with just the ace of trumps at
Trick 13.
The fact that the trumps in your hand were completely solid was
irrelevant. Provided the defenders could not overruff, you could have
been ruffing with low trumps just as easily as with high ones. The point
is that you needed to score eight trump tricks in total. The defenders
played one round of trumps, forcing you to use two of your trumps on
one trick. That left you with seven trumps, each of which had to
produce a trick.
That wasn’t too tough. Let’s change the hand slightly and increase
the stakes:
♠A7432
♥ 10 8 7 3
♦AK2
♣9
♠KQJ986 ♠ 10
N
♥— W E
♥6542
♦ Q 10 8 5 4 S ♦J9
♣J4 ♣ K Q 10 8 7 5
♠5
♥AKQJ9
♦763
♣A632
This time you climb to 6♥ and West leads the ♠K. What now?
If your first inclination is to draw trumps, go back and count your
losers again. You have one diamond loser and three clubs. You can do
little to avoid losing the third round of diamonds, and must therefore
dispose of all three club losers by ruffing them in dummy.
Let’s see how the play might go. We win with the ♠A, play a club
to the ace and ruff and club. Cross to hand with a trump, and ruff
another club. Ruff a spade in hand (on which East discards a diamond)
and ruff the last club. Now, how can we get back to hand to draw
trumps? That’s looks easy enough — ruff a spade to hand. All that
remains is to draw trumps. Oops! West shows out on the first round.
East started with four trumps, which is one more than we now have in
the South hand. We can cash our remaining trumps, but when we then

Chapter 2 — Ruffing Losers • 21

 play a diamond to the ace, East ruffs and cashes two club winners.
What went wrong? We scored the two black-suit aces and the eight
trump tricks we needed. However, we didn’t make a single diamond
trick, despite the fact that East started with two cards in the suit. We
failed to follow this vital rule:
When embarking on a crossruff, cash your side-suit winners first,
before the defenders can make damaging discards.
Let’s go back to beginning. Having won the ♠A, the first move
should be to cash dummy’s top diamonds. With those tricks safely in
the bag, set about the crossruff — ♣A, club ruff, spade ruff, club ruff,
spade ruff, club ruff, spade ruff. You are left with two high trumps and
a diamond loser. Twelve tricks.
There is one last pitfall to be avoided when you are considering a
crossruff. Look at this deal.

♠A7432
♥8
♦982
♣AQ86
♠QJ86 N
♠K9
♥ Q 10 9 3 2 W E ♥KJ5
♦ Q 10 7 5 S ♦KJ64
♣— ♣ 10 5 4 2
♠ 10 5
♥A764
♦A3
♣KJ973
You bid to an ambitious contract of 5♣ and West leads the ♦5.
How do you plan to make eleven tricks?
There are very few winners outside the trump suit — an early clue
that playing on a crossruff is indicated. Before you can crossruff,
though, you will have to give up a spade trick. If you make the mistake
of cashing even one round of trumps before relinquishing the lead, East
will be able to play a second round of trumps when he gets in with the
king of spades. There will then be no way to come to eleven tricks.
So, win the opening lead with the ♦A, cash the ♥A and ruff a heart
in dummy. Next, play the ♠A and give up a spade. East can win, cash
his diamond winner, and switch to a trump, but you will be able to score
your remaining trumps separately. Three side-suit aces, five trump
winners in your hand, and three heart ruffs in dummy. That adds up to
eleven.

22 • Planning in Suit Contracts

Key Points
1. When you hold a side suit such as K-x-x in dummy and A-Q-x-x in
hand, consider ruffing the fourth round with dummy’s last trump
even when there is a higher trump outstanding. The defender short
in your side suit may not hold the missing trump.
2. Ruffing with a high trump may ensure that you do not get overruffed,
but beware of promoting a trump trick for the defenders.
3. Ruffing a loser may be right, even when you know that a defender
will be able to overruff. He may do so at the expense of his natural
trump trick.
4. When you suspect that an overruff is imminent, seek to transfer the
ruff into a safer suit. By discarding a loser, rather than ruffing, you
may subsequently be able to take a ruff in the other suit.
5. When planning a crossruff, be sure to cash your side-suit winners
before the defenders can discard from those suits.

Chapter 2 — Ruffing Losers • 23

 QUIZ
To Answers

A. ♠AJ7
♥85
♦Q754
♣9653
N
♦3 led E
W
S

♠ K Q 10 6 3
♥K73
♦AJ
♣AK4

Against your contract of 4♠, West leads the ♦3 and your jack
wins. How do you play?

B. ♠AQ
♥A53
♦K4
♣J96532
N
♠8 led W E
S

♠63
♥ K Q J 10 8
♦A7653
♣A

Against your contract of 6♥, West leads the ♠8. How do you
play?

24 • Planning in Suit Contracts

Answers
To Questions

A. You have an unavoidable club loser, and must avoid also losing three
heart tricks. It is tempting to enter dummy with a high trump, to lead
a heart towards your king. However, if the king of hearts loses and
West returns a trump, you will almost certainly go down. When you
concede the second round of hearts, the defenders will remove
dummy’s last trump, leaving you with a third heart loser. A better
approach is to play a low heart from your hand at Trick 2. Whatever
happens, the defense will then be unable to prevent you ruffing the
third round of hearts in dummy.
B. You will have to set up your diamond suit by ruffing in dummy. That
will be easy enough if the suit divides 3-3, but what if East holds only
a doubleton diamond? Surely he will be able to overruff. A better
plan is to trade one of those diamond ruffs for a spade ruff. You may
wonder how you can ruff a spade when you have a doubleton in each
hand, but observe what happens. Win the ♠A at Trick 1, play the
king and ace of diamonds, then lead a third round, discarding the ♠Q
from dummy. As you feared, East discards on this trick. West exits
with a club to your ace and you ruff a spade in dummy. You re-enter
your hand with a trump honor and ruff the fourth round of diamonds
with dummy’s ♥A. You can now ruff a club, draw the outstanding
trumps, and score your twelfth trick with the thirteenth diamond.

Chapter 2 — Ruffing Losers • 25

 C H A P T E R • 3

Maneuvers in the
Trump Suit

Even within the trump suit itself, there is plenty of scope for good play
and bad play. Suppose that you have drawn two rounds of trumps and
there is one master trump outstanding. In general, it would be pointless
to play a third round of the suit. You would expend two small trumps,
which might have been used for ruffing. An exception arises when
dummy has a suit ready to run and the defender’s master trump could be
used to interrupt this.

♠J85
♥A6
♦64
♣AKJ862
♠K76 ♠ Q 10 4 3 2
N
♥J E
♥ Q 10 5
W
♦ J 10 9 7 5 S ♦Q832
♣ 10 9 5 4 ♣7
♠A9
♥K987432
♦AK
♣Q3

You arrive in 6♥ and West leads the ♦J. You win with the ace and
draw two rounds of trumps with the ace and king, finding that you have
a loser in the suit. What next?

26 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 If you play two rounds of clubs, aiming to throw your spade loser
on the third round, you will receive a nasty shock. East will ruff the
second club and you will be cut off from dummy. One down!
There is a simple remedy. You must concede a third round of
trumps to East before playing on clubs. You can then win his return and
play three rounds of clubs without fear of interruption.
Suppose instead that West finds the deadly spade lead. Now you
must cash two rounds of trumps and play directly on clubs. The
defenders will then reap the reward for West’s inspired opening lead.
Partner can explain to your teammates why you didn’t bid the cold
seven clubs!

Surrendering a trump trick at the right moment

When you will have to lose a trump trick, or may have to if the suit
breaks badly, it is often important to do so at the right moment — when
the defenders can do the least damage. Suppose this is the layout:
♠84
♥ A 10 5 4
♦AKQ742
♣5
♠ Q 10 5 ♠J7
N
♥J863 E
♥KQ92
W
♦86 S ♦ 10 9 3
♣ J 10 9 4 ♣KQ73
♠AK9632
♥7
♦J5
♣A862
West leads the ♣J against 6♠ (yes, 6♦ would have been better) and
you win with the ace. You have a certain trump loser and you should
surrender it immediately, playing a low trump from both hands.
Dummy’s second trump will then protect you against a club contin-
uation. You can win any return by the defenders, draw the outstanding
trumps, then run dummy’s diamond suit to discard your club losers.
Now suppose that your trumps had been a healthier ♠AKQ632.
It would still have been right to duck a trump at Trick 2! By doing
so, you would guard against a 4-1 trump break. If instead you cashed
two rounds, discovering the bad break, you would have no protection in

Chapter 3 - Maneuvers in the Trump Suit • 27

 clubs when the defenders took their trump trick.
The play on the next hand is similar, although the reason for
making it is different.

♠Q4
♥64
♦ K J 10 3
♣ K 10 8 6 2
♠AK863 ♠ J 10 7 5 2
N
♥Q873 E
♥5
W
♦96 S ♦A742
♣93 ♣QJ5
♠9
♥ A K J 10 9 2
♦Q85
♣A74

You play in 4♥ after both defenders have bid spades. West

launches the defense with two top spades, forcing you to ruff. Suppose
you continue with the ace and king of trumps at this stage. You will be
in trouble. You have two cards to knock out (the ♥Q and the ♦A). If
you play a third round of hearts, West will win and force you again. You
can draw West’s last trump but will then be out of trumps. You will have
no protection against further spade leads when you knock out the ♦A.
A similar fate awaits you if you knock out the ace of diamonds first.
You can afford a trump loser on this hand and should surrender it
at a moment when the defenders can do no damage. In this case, the
potential damage they can do is to force the long-trump hand.
Let’s see what happens if you lead the jack of trumps at Trick 2. If
West wins with the queen he cannot force the South hand — a spade
continuation can be ruffed in the dummy. You will win West’s return,
draw trumps, and knock out the ace of diamonds. Control was never in
doubt.
Nor does West fare any better by refusing to win the trump queen.
You will draw two more rounds of trumps (retaining two trumps to
West’s one) and knock out the diamond ace. The club loser will be
thrown on the fourth round of diamonds.
When you have a potential queen finesse in the trump suit, should
you take it? The answer will often depend on a tactical view of the
whole hand. Declarer played carelessly on this deal:

28 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 ♠A72
♥A5
♦KJ43
♣Q872
♠KQJ96 ♠ 10 8 4 3
N
♥Q972 E
♥63
W
♦96 S ♦ 10 8 2
♣A5 ♣ 10 9 6 4
♠5
♥ K J 10 8 4
♦AQ75
♣KJ3
South played in 4♥ after West had overcalled in spades. Declarer
won the spade lead, then played ace and another trump, finessing the
jack. West won with the queen and played another spade, reducing
declarer to two trumps — the same number as himself. The contract
could no longer be made. If declarer drew West’s trumps he would have
no protection against a spade continuation when the ace of clubs was
knocked out. Nor would he fare any better by playing on clubs first.
(West would force declarer again in spades, leaving him with one trump
to West’s two.)
What went wrong? Declarer could afford to lose two trump tricks
and the ace of clubs. He should have cashed the ace and king of trumps
and then played on clubs. West would be welcome to win and return a
spade. After ruffing, declarer would simply play his winners in the
minor suits, letting the defenders score two trump tricks. Game made!
How would you play the trump suit here?

♠A752
♥K7
♦KQ5
♣A872
♠ Q 10 6 ♠93
N
♥J32 W E
♥ Q 10 8 5
♦976 S ♦J842
♣ Q J 10 5 ♣964
♠KJ84
♥A964
♦ A 10 3
♣K3

Chapter 3 - Maneuvers in the Trump Suit • 29

 You reach 6♠ and West leads the club queen, won with the king.
Suppose you look only at the trump suit, crossing to the ace of trumps
then finessing the jack. You will go one down! West will win with the
queen and return another trump. Twist and turn as you may, you will
score only eleven tricks.
What’s the winning alternative? You have seven side-suit winners
and can bump this total to twelve by drawing two rounds of trumps with
the ace and king, then taking two ruffs in each hand. West may
choose his moment to score the queen of trumps, but that will be
your only loser.
By spurning the trump finesse, you give up some chances of
making the contract if East holds ♥Q1093. In exchange, you guarantee
the contract whenever the trumps break 3-2.
On the next deal, too, declarer is anxious to prevent the opponents
from drawing a third round of trumps.
♠A95
♥ 10 7 5 2
♦K985
♣83
♠ Q J 10 2 ♠874
N
♥KJ6 E
♥Q9
W
♦76 S ♦ Q J 10 4 2
♣QJ52 ♣974
♠K63
♥A843
♦A3
♣ A K 10 6
West leads the ♠Q against your heart game. How would you tackle
the play?
Suppose you win the spade lead and play ace and another trump.
That’s no good. West will win and draw a third round of trumps,
leaving you a trick short. What if you try to ruff two clubs before
drawing any trumps? The first ruff gets by all right and West follows
suit when you lead a fourth round. If you ruff, East will overruff from
a doubleton trump and there will still be two trump losers to come. Nor
will you succeed by discarding a spade from dummy, preparing to ‘trade
ruffs’. East will discard a spade too and will be able to overruff in that
suit as well.

30 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 It’s true that you can succeed by ruffing two diamonds in your
hand, but that’s simply because West happens to overruff from the long
trump holding. There is no need to rely on luck like that, because the
contract is virtually cold provided the trumps break 3-2.
See what happens if you duck a round of trumps at Trick 2. You
win the return, draw a second round of trumps with the ace, then set
about taking your ruffs. You couldn’t care less if you are overruffed
with the master trump at some stage — you are budgeting for two trump
losers anyway.

Key Points
1. If you have a certain trump loser, arrange to concede it at the time
when the defenders can do the least damage.
2. If you can afford a trump loser, you may be able to guard against a
bad trump break by conceding an early round of the suit. You lose the
lead at a time when the defenders cannot harm you.
3. What may be the optimum play, when taking the trump suit in
isolation, may not be correct in the context of the full hand. Consider
whether a defender may be able to damage you if you take a losing
trump finesse.

Chapter 3 - Maneuvers in the Trump Suit • 31

 QUIZ
To Answers

A. ♠8742
♥ A K J 10 6
♦A74
♣A
N
♣K led W E
S

♠AK
♥Q7
♦KQ532
♣9753

West leads the ♣K against 6♦. Plan the play.

B. ♠87
♥A65
♦K874
♣9653
N
♣2 led W
S
E

♠AK63
♥K7432
♦A3
♣A7

West leads the ♣2 against 4♥. Plan the play.

32 •Planning in Suit Contracts

Answers
To Questions
A. You should win the ace of clubs, cash the ace of trumps, and duck a
round of trumps. The full hand may be something like this:
♠8742
♥ A K J 10 6
♦A74
♣A
♠ Q 10 5 N
♠J963
♥95432 W E ♥8
♦9 S ♦ J 10 8 6
♣ K Q 10 4 ♣J862
♠AK
♥Q7
♦KQ532
♣9753

If the defenders continue clubs at Trick 4, you can ruff with dummy’s
♦7, come to hand to draw the remaining trumps, then claim. If they
do anything else, you can simply draw trumps and cash winners.
B. A compulsive drawer of trumps would fail to spot the best line. You
have a club trick to lose, and at least one trump. You must also make
plans for the two small spades in your hand. Perhaps your immediate
thought is to play off the ♥A, then ruff the two losing spades with
dummy’s small trumps. That will be good enough unless East has a
doubleton spade and four trumps. He will then overruff the third
spade, cash his diamond winner, and play a second round of trumps
— leaving you with four losers. A better approach is to cash the top
spades immediately and then continue with a third spade at Trick 4.
If East overruffs and returns a trump, you can win in dummy, cross
to the ♦A, and play your fourth spade. You do not mind if a defender
can ruff or overruff, since you are quite prepared to lose two trump
tricks. This line of play fails only if East can overruff the third spade
with a singleton trump — a much less likely scenario.

Chapter 3 - Maneuvers in the Trump Suit • 33

 C H A P T E R • 4

Establishing Suits
In this chapter, we will pass a close eye over the techniques you can
employ when setting up a suit — either a suit in dummy or the main side
suit in your hand.
When the side suit is in dummy, your prime concern will be to
ensure sufficient entries to set up the suit and to enjoy the established
winners. Back in Chapter 1, we saw a deal where you had to use
dummy’s trump honors as entries. You therefore began to establish the
suit before drawing trumps. Here is a further example:

♠K7
♥AQ62
♦ A 10 7 6 2
♣ 10 2
♠54 ♠J93
N
♥J874 E
♥ 10 3
W
♦KJ8 S ♦Q954
♣Q765 ♣K984
♠ A Q 10 8 6 2
♥K95
♦3
♣AJ3

West finds the awkward lead of a trump against your 6♠ contract.

You can no longer organize a club ruff in dummy because the defenders
will play another trump when you concede a club trick. The best chance
is to establish a long card in diamonds, with a 3-3 heart break in reserve.
To set up and reach the long diamond, you will need four entries to
dummy. You have exactly that number, so you cannot afford to waste
one by drawing trumps first.

34 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 Capture East’s jack of trumps with the ace, cross to the ♦A, and
ruff a diamond. Return to dummy with the king of trumps, making full
use of that entry, then ruff a diamond with the ten of trumps. When both
defenders follow to this trick the contract is assured. Draw East’s last
trump with the queen, throwing a club from dummy. You then cross to
the ace of hearts and ruff the thirteenth diamond good. When you return
to dummy with the ♥Q, you find that all this effort was not wasted —
the hearts break 4-2. Throw a club loser on the thirteenth diamond and
claim twelve tricks.
Another way to protect your entries is to duck a round of the suit
you are trying to establish. Look at this deal:

♠J83
♥A74
♦AK762
♣72
♠K942 ♠Q75
N
♥Q652 W E
♥ J 10 9 3
♦J5 S ♦ Q 10 9 4
♣ 10 9 6 ♣43
♠ A 10 6
♥K8
♦83
♣AKQJ85

West leads the trump ten against your contract of 6♣. You draw
trumps in three rounds and turn your eye towards dummy’s diamond
suit. If you play the ace and king, continuing with a diamond ruff, you
will succeed only when diamonds divide 3-3. A better idea is to duck
the first round of diamonds. If the defenders return a heart, you will win
with the king and cross to the ace of diamonds. The king of diamonds
reveals the 4-2 break, but this now proves to be no problem. Ruff a
diamond, establishing the thirteenth card in the suit, and return to the
ace of hearts to enjoy it. Twelve tricks made.
An opening heart lead would have beaten the contract. When you
ducked a diamond, the defenders could play a second heart, killing the
entry to dummy before you could profit from it.
Sometimes a similar duck can save you from a damaging overruff
or trump promotion. Look at this deal:

Chapter 4 - Establishing Suits • 35

 ♠A3
♥A74
♦AK762
♣732
♠ 10 9 4 N
♠76
♥Q652 W E ♥ J 10 9 3
♦95 S ♦ Q J 10 4
♣KJ96 ♣ 10 8 5
♠KQJ852
♥K8
♦83
♣AQ4

West leads the ♠10 against 6♠. Suppose you elect to use the trump ace
as a later entry to set up the diamond suit. You win with the ♠J at
Trick 1, cash the top diamonds and lead a third diamond. You will not
succeed. If you ruff with the eight, West will overruff. You can draw
West’s last trump with the ace and set up a long diamond, but there will
still be a club to lose.
Suppose instead that you ruff the third round of diamonds with the
queen. You will fare no better. When you cross to the ace of trumps and
play a fourth round of diamonds, West’s ♠9 will be promoted.
There is no need to risk these horrors. Win the trump lead with the
ace and draw trumps. You should then duck a diamond. East will win
and doubtless play a club. Rise with the ace, cross to the ace of
diamonds and cash the diamond king, throwing one club. The
defenders’ diamonds split 4-2, but that is not a problem. You can ruff
the last diamond good and use the ♥A as an entry to the thirteenth
diamond. The chance of diamonds being no worse than 4-2 is
nominally 84%. If West had held a singleton diamond he might well
have led it, however, so your chance of success with this line is not far
short of 90%.
Strangely, a duck can assist you even when you hold only a
singleton in the suit you are trying to establish. Look at the next deal:

36 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 ♠A3
♥752
♦ A K 10 7 6 2
♣AQ
♠ 10 9 4 2 ♠75
N
♥ J 10 9 4 E
♥Q63
W
♦83 S ♦QJ94
♣ 10 7 4 ♣KJ93
♠KQJ86
♥AK8
♦5
♣8652
A club lead would have been unwelcome, but West leads the ♥J
against your spade slam. You have ten top tricks and, if the club finesse
is right, can doubtless bump this to twelve by taking a club ruff. Better
odds are available by playing on the diamond suit, but only if you do so
in the right way.
Suppose you win the heart lead with the ace and cross to the ♦A.
You can no longer make the contract. If you duck a diamond now, a
third round from East will promote a trump trick for West. Nor will you
fare any better if you ruff a diamond low. The 4-2 breaks in both key
suits will defeat you.
There is only one route home. You must play a diamond to the ten
at Trick 2! Suppose East wins and returns another heart. You put up the
king, cross to the ♠A and ruff a second round of diamonds low. The
diamonds are now good. You can simply draw trumps and use the ♣A
as an entry. (Observe that if West had held Q-x or J-x of diamonds, he
could have defeated you by rising with his honor! Few defenders are
that good, fortunately.)
Finally, a contract that looks so easy that many players would give
it insufficient attention and go down. Cover the defenders’ cards and
play 7♠ on the lead of the ♦Q:

Chapter 4 - Establishing Suits • 37

 ♠J963
♥A63
♦A
♣ 10 8 6 5 3
♠84 ♠—
N
♥Q4 E
♥ K J 10 9 7 5
W
♦ Q J 10 6 3 S ♦K987542
♣J742 ♣—
♠ A K Q 10 7 5 2
♥82
♦—
♣AKQ9

You only seem to have one loser — the second heart. A careless
declarer would discard that heart on the ♦A at Trick 1. About 95% of
the time, he would get away with doing so, but not today. With West
holding all four missing clubs, declarer cannot avoid losing a trick to the
♣J.
Of course, you realized the need to establish dummy’s suit in order
to discard a loser from your hand. You therefore threw the ♣9 at
Trick 1. After drawing trumps, you were then able to cash the three top
clubs, cross to dummy, and ruff the clubs good. You could then return
to dummy and throw your loser on the thirteenth club. We never
doubted for a moment that you would play it that way!

Establishing a side suit in your hand

Different problems arise when you are trying to establish a side suit in
your own hand. When you hold a two-suited hand, it will often be
necessary to establish the tricks in your second suit before drawing
trumps.
In Chapter 3, we saw that it can be right to duck an early round of
trumps to guard against a bad break. The usual reason for this is to
retain a ‘trump policeman’ in dummy, to prevent the defenders from
forcing the long trumps in your hand. The same technique may be
employed when you need to establish your second suit. Look at this
deal:

38 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 ♠AQ3
♥ 10 9 7 6 3
♦75
♣AJ3
♠9842 ♠6
N
♥KQJ54 E
♥8
W
♦K3 S ♦ A Q J 10 9 8 4 2
♣72 ♣K65
♠ K J 10 7 5
♥A2
♦6
♣ Q 10 9 8 4

You become declarer in 4♠ after East has made a vulnerable 4♦

overcall. West tables the ♦K and East overtakes to play a second round.
You ruff low and West follows suit. How do you plan to make ten
tricks?
You only seem to have only three possible losers — one in each
side suit. It looks as though diamonds are 8-2, however, so you cannot
expect the other suits to break evenly.
When you start on trumps, by cashing the ace and playing a second
round to your ten, East discards a diamond. So, West has the same
number of trumps left as you. You can hardly draw all of West’s trumps
and take the club finesse into the dangerous East hand. If the finesse
loses, East will still be cashing diamond winners tomorrow morning.
No, you must set up your clubs before you finish drawing trumps.
Leaving the queen of trumps in dummy, you run the ten of clubs, which
East smartly allows to hold. When you play a second club West again
follows low. If you repeat the finesse, you will go down. East will take
his king and give his partner a club ruff. You will lose a heart later.
Since you are quite prepared to lose a club trick, you should go up
with the ace on the second round. When you lead a third round of
clubs, you do not really care which defender wins. You will win the
return, draw West’s trumps, and cash your club tricks.
Do you see the purpose of leaving that queen of trumps in dummy?
It was a sentinel against a third round of diamonds. If East tried to
promote a trump trick for his partner by playing a third diamond, you
would have discarded your heart loser and ruffed with the queen of

Chapter 4 - Establishing Suits • 39

 spades. That would bring you eleven tricks!
There are other reasons for not drawing trumps straight away.
Perhaps you need to use dummy’s trumps to ruff your second suit good.

♠J643
♥9763
♦75
♣K96
♠ Q 10 9 7 2 N
♠AK85
♥Q54 W E ♥ J 10 8 2
♦ K J 10 4 S ♦Q9
♣2 ♣Q53
♠—
♥AK
♦A8632
♣ A J 10 8 7 4

Take over from declarer and decide how you would play this hand:
You might have bid all the way to 6♣ — we have all been in worse
slams than that. You have your conservative bidding boots on, however,
and stop in game. West leads the ♠10 against 5♣. Any ideas how to
play the hand?
You have at least one diamond loser, maybe a trump too. If
diamonds do not divide 3-3, you will need to ruff twice in order to
establish your long card in the suit.
Before touching trumps, you should play off the ♦A and exit with
a second round of the suit. East overtakes his partner’s ♦10 with the
queen and plays the five of trumps. West follows with the ♣2 and you
allow your seven to win the trick. When you play a third round of
diamonds, West follows with the jack. It may seem safe to ruff with
dummy’s nine but, if you do so, your contract will bite the dust. East
will overruff with the queen and remove dummy’s last trump. You will
later have to concede a diamond trick to West, for one down.
What a dastardly defense from East! Who would imagine that he
had switched to a trump from Q-x-x? True, but you should not have
fallen into his trap. You could afford to lose a trump trick provided you
were able to ruff out the diamond suit.
Observe the difference if you ruff the third round of diamonds with
dummy’s king. (If East had followed suit, the diamonds breaking
evenly, you would simply play a trump next, hoping to guess the

40 • Planning in Suit Contracts

location of the queen for an overtrick.) When East in fact shows out on
the third diamond, you cross to the ♥K and play a fourth round, ruffing
with the nine. You do not care if East overruffs. The trump queen will
be the last trick for the defense.
Even when your trump suit appears solid as a rock, a couple of ruffs
and a bad break can jeopardize your control of the hand. Here is another
♠ 10 8 5 3
♥J9
♦7542
♣K96
♠AK72 ♠QJ96
N
♥4 E
♥A532
W
♦ K 10 9 8 3 S ♦QJ6
♣ Q 10 7 ♣J3
♠4
♥ K Q 10 8 7 6
♦A
♣A8542
example on which your timing is crucial.
You declare 4♥ and West leads two top spades. How do you set
about making ten tricks?
The trump holding looks splendid, does it not? However, it is not as
impregnable as it may appear. Let’s see how the play might go if your
first inclination is to ruff the second spade and play a trump. East takes
the trick with the ace and plays a third round of spades. You ruff and
cash a second trump. It is at the point when West discards a diamond
that you get that sinking feeling.
East now has the same number of trumps as you. If you draw them
all, the defenders will be able to cash a spade when they get in with their
club trick. If you do not draw East’s trumps, West will force you again
when he gets in and East will score a trump trick instead. Either way,
the contract will be one down.
Let’s rewind the tape. Having ruffed the spade at Trick 2, see what
happens if you immediately play the king, ace and a third round of
clubs, setting up your side suit before broaching trumps.
West wins the third round of clubs, but what can he do? If he
continues with a third round of spades, you will simply take the force
and ruff one of your good clubs in dummy. East can overruff or not as
he chooses. If he does not, you will cross to the ♦A and ruff your last
good club with the ♥J. No matter how the trumps break, the only trick

Chapter 4 - Establishing Suits • 41

 the defenders will make is the ace of trumps.
To stop you ruffing clubs in dummy, West could switch to trumps
after taking his club winner. That suits you too — you are back in
control and will eventually be able to draw trumps and cash your club
winners.

Key Points
1. When setting up a side suit in dummy, you sometimes need to use
entries in the trump suit. This may involve playing on the side suit
before you draw trumps.
2. Ducking the first round of dummy’s main side suit (for example,
when dummy holds A-K-x-x-x opposite your x-x) may ease the entry
situation. It may also enable you to avoid an overruff or a trump
promotion.
3. When setting up a side suit in your hand, you may need to retain a
trump in dummy to prevent the defense forcing the long trumps in
your hand.
4. It is often right to tackle the main side suit in your hand before
drawing trumps.

42 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 QUIZ
To Answers

A. ♠98
♥85
♦AQ4
♣AK9864
N
♦J led W
S
E

♠ A K J 10 6 4
♥AQ72
♦K32
♣—

West leads the ♦J against your small slam in spades. How

do you play the hand?

B. ♠87
♥ J 10 6 5
♦AJ4
♣A753
N
♣2 led W E
S

♠AK6542
♥A
♦ K Q 10 9 7
♣J
West leads the ♣2 against your contract of 6♦. How do you
play the hand?

Chapter 4 - Establishing Suits • 43

 Answers To Questions

A. One option is to rely on a successful finesse in one of the majors.

You can improve on this by trying to set up the clubs. At first glance,
dummy seems to lack the three entries needed (two to set up the
clubs and one to enjoy the long cards), but look again.
Win the ♦Q, cash the ♣AK, and ruff a club with the ♠10. When
both defenders follow to the third round of clubs, you are nearly
home. The next move is to lead a low spade, forcing an entry to
dummy with the ♠98. Whatever the defense does, they cannot stop
you from entering dummy in trumps, ruffing the fourth round of
clubs with a high spade, and drawing the remaining trumps. The ♦A
remains in dummy as an entry to the long clubs.
B. If both the spades and the diamonds break 3-2, you can make thirteen
tricks. Perhaps you should have bid the grand slam. Now is not the
time to worry about that, though. You should concentrate on making
the small slam. Can you spot a way to overcome a 4-1 break in both
key suits?
If you win the ♣A and draw trumps immediately, your contract
will fail whenever the spades are 4-1. Suppose you start by cashing
one trump, then playing the top spades. If someone ruffs the second
spade winner and forces you with a second round of clubs, you will
again be recording a minus score when trumps split 4-1.
You should win with the ♣A, cash one top spade, and lead a low
spade from hand! You can ruff the club continuation, ruff a spade
high in dummy, then draw trumps ending in your hand. Only a 5-0
break in either key suit will beat this line of play. In that case the
contract could never by made anyway.

44 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 C H A P T E R • 5

Keeping the
Dangerous Defender
off Lead

The concept of the ‘danger hand’, a defender who cannot be allowed to

gain the lead, is familiar in notrump play. If West, say, has winners
ready to cash, you may need to establish your own tricks without allow-
ing him on lead.
The same situation arises frequently in trump contracts. Again, one
defender may have winners to cash, or he may be able to lead through
an unprotected king. Another concern, in a suit contract, is that one
defender may be able to give his partner a ruff or effect a trump promo-
tion. In this chapter, we will see how your overall plan may be affect-
ed by the need to keep a particular defender off lead.
We start with a relatively simple example, played in 4♠:

Chapter 5 - Keeping the Dangerous Defender off Lead • 45

 ♠ 10 4 3
♥972
♦KJ96
♣K54
♠862 N
♠95
♥ A 10 8 4 W E ♥QJ5
♦Q73 S ♦842
♣QJ7 ♣ 10 8 6 3 2
♠AKQJ7
♥K63
♦ A 10 5
♣A9
West leads a spade and you draw trumps in three rounds. The dia-
mond suit will give you a heart discard and you can finesse either
defender for the ♦Q. If East gains the lead, however, a heart switch will
put your contract at risk. You should therefore take the diamond finesse
into the safe (West) hand. Win the third round of trumps with dummy’s
ten and run the ♦J. On this layout the finesse loses. You don’t mind
this at all because West cannot play hearts profitably from his side of the
table. You win his return and discard a heart on the long diamond, even-
tually seeking an overtrick by leading towards the ♥K.
Sometimes the need to keep one defender off lead will affect the
way you play the trump suit itself.
♠K75
♥72
♦KJ942
♣863
♠4 ♠ Q 10 2
N
♥KQJ84 W E ♥ 10 9 6 5
♦ 10 7 3 S ♦86
♣AQ92 ♣ J 10 5 4
♠AJ9863
♥A3
♦AQ5
♣K7
West opens 1♥ and you end in 4♠ from the South seat. West leads
the ♥K and you note immediately that it would not assist your cause if
East were to gain the lead. He would play a club through the king and
you might then lose four tricks.
Your first smart move is to allow West’s ♥K to win the opening

46 • Planning in Suit Contracts

trick. This will prevent him from crossing to East’s ♥J or ♥10 later in
the play (should West hold a trump trick). You win the heart continua-
tion and must now draw trumps. How should you go about that?
Suppose you play the king and ace of trumps. Not good enough!
When you turn quickly to the diamond suit, hoping to discard a club,
East will ruff the third round and kill the contract with a club switch. To
keep East off lead, you should cross to the king of trumps and finesse
the jack. It doesn’t matter if West gains an undeserved trick with a dou-
bleton trump queen. You will lose at most one further trick (to the ace
of clubs). By finessing trumps into the safe hand, you guarantee your
contract.
On the next deal, the risk you are trying to evade is that of an
adverse ruff.
Neither Vul. ♠ A 10 7 4
Dealer East ♥AQ93
♦963
♣A2
♠63 ♠K
N
♥KJ8542 W E ♥ 10 7 6
♦2 S ♦ K Q J 10 7 5
♣ 10 8 6 4 ♣953
♠QJ9852
♥—
♦A84
♣KQJ7

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

2♦ 3♠
pass 5♠ pass 6♠
all pass

Partner’s raise to 5♠ asked you to bid the slam if you had the dia-
mond suit controlled. West leads the ♦2. How will you play the hand?
The odds on West holding the king of trumps are high. He has
twelve non-diamonds to East’s seven and is therefore almost a 2:1
favorite to hold any specific missing card. Does this mean that you
should win with the ace of diamonds and take an immediate trump
finesse?
Two-to-one odds are fairly good, but you can do better. West has
clearly led a singleton diamond. There is therefore no danger of the
defenders cashing a diamond winner if West gains the lead. You do not

Chapter 5 - Keeping the Dangerous Defender off Lead • 47

 mind losing a trick to the king of trumps, provided it is West who wins
that trick.
You should take the ace of diamonds at trick one and play a trump
to the ace. If East shows out, you will continue to draw trumps and
eventually park dummy’s diamonds on your club winners. You can then
ruff one diamond in dummy and throw the other on the ♥A.
If both defenders follow to the first round of spades with low
trumps, you plan to cash your clubs, throwing dummy’s diamonds. You
will go down only if East started with the guarded king of spades and
fewer than four clubs. In that case there was no winning line.
The situation in which your safety play reaps the greatest reward is
that shown in the diagram. The singleton king of trumps falls offside!
By spurning the best hope of an overtrick (taking the trump finesse),
you improve your chance of making your contract.

Finesse or ruffing finesse?

When a suit offers you the choice between a straight finesse and a ruff-
ing finesse, your decision will sometimes depend on which defender
can safely be allowed to gain the lead. Cover the East-West cards and
take declarer’s seat here:

♠Q5
♥AQJ63
♦K72
♣753
♠98763 ♠—
N
♥K972 E
♥ 10 8 4
W
♦J S ♦ Q 10 9 6 5 4
♣ A 10 8 ♣QJ94
♠ A K J 10 4 2
♥5
♦A83
♣K62

You reach game in spades and West leads the ♦J. How do you plan
to make ten tricks?
Nine top tricks are on view and the heart suit should provide a
tenth. Suppose you win the diamond lead with the ace, draw trumps,
and take a straightforward finesse of the heart queen. Here it would

48 • Planning in Suit Contracts

win, but you would deserve no congratulations from partner. Had the
heart finesse lost, East might have defeated the contract by switching to
a club through your king
After drawing trumps, you should play a heart to the ace and lead
the queen of hearts. If East doesn’t cover, throw a minor-suit loser.
West is welcome to win the trick, since he cannot attack clubs profitably
from his side of the table. Ten tricks are assured. If instead East cov-
ered the heart queen, you would ruff, cross to the ♦K, and throw a club
on the established ♥J. (Just as well you won the diamond lead with the
ace and not the king!)
Now suppose the North and South club holdings had been the other
way round, with ♣K62 in dummy. You would then have taken a
straightforward heart finesse into the safe (East) hand. This would give
you the chance of overtricks if West held ♥Kxx as you could then ruff
the heart suit good. A ruffing finesse would ensure ten tricks too
because, even if it lost, you would throw one club from hand as you ran
the ♥Q to West.

Ducking to leave the safe hand on lead

When you cannot afford a particular defender to gain the lead, it may
pay you to allow the other defender to score an unnecessary trick. By
swapping one trick for another, you can establish your key suit without
allowing the danger hand to gain the lead. Take a look at this hand:

Neither Vul. ♠A53

Dealer West ♥74
♦K853
♣KJ86
♠ K Q J 10 4 ♠9762
N
♥AQ85 E
♥ J 10 9 6 3
W
♦ 10 7 2 S ♦QJ9
♣4 ♣2
♠8
♥K2
♦A64
♣ A Q 10 9 7 5 3

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

1♠ pass 2♠ 3♣
3♥ 5♣ all pass

Chapter 5 - Keeping the Dangerous Defender off Lead • 49

 Missing the best spot of 3NT, played by South (you would have
found it, we believe you!), you arrive in a club game. West leads the
♠K. How do you plan to make eleven tricks?
The ace of hearts is almost certain to be offside. Suppose you draw
trumps, eliminate the spades, then play three rounds of diamonds. If the
suit breaks 3-3 and West has to win the third round, all will be well. He
cannot play on hearts from his side of the table; if he plays any other
suit, you will discard a heart on the thirteenth diamond. The trouble
with that line is that the defenders can usually arrange for East to win
the third round of diamonds. (If West holds ♦Qxx, for example, he can
drop the queen under your ace.) In any case, there is a much better line
of play that only requires the diamonds to break 3-3.
You should allow West’s ♠K to win the first trick! He cannot dam-
age you in hearts from his side of the table. You will later throw a dia-
mond on the ♠A, ruff the diamond suit good, and throw a heart on the
long diamond that you establish.
The same sort of ducking play can be executed in this position:
♠AK3
N
♠ Q J 10 6 W
S
E ♠9852

♠74
Or, when it will not suit you for West to gain the lead, with this
combination:
♦A95
N
♦ Q 10 7 6 2 W E ♦KJ84
S

♦3

West leads the ♦6 against some trump contract and you cover with
dummy’s nine, conceding a trick to the safe (East) hand.

Avoidance plays to preserve control

Sometimes the need to keep a particular defender off lead revolves
specifically around the trump suit. Take over from declarer in this spade
game.

50 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 ♠Q5
♥632
♦KQ2
♣A9753
♠8632 N
♠A
♥Q7 W E ♥ A K J 10 9 4
♦J975 S ♦ 10 6 4
♣Q86 ♣ J 10 4
♠ K J 10 9 7 4
♥85
♦A83
♣K2

You play in 4♠ after East has opened the bidding with 1♥. West
obediently leads the queen of his partner’s suit. East overtakes with the
king, cashes the ace (West following) and leads the ♥J. You ruff with
the nine and West discards a diamond. How do you continue?
When dummy appeared with Q-x to solidify your good spade suit,
it did not seem that having too many trump losers would be a stumbling
block. That is exactly what will happen if you are not careful, though.
Suppose you play a spade to the queen at Trick 4. East will win with the
ace and play a fourth round of hearts. Whether you ruff high or low,
West’s ♠8 will be promoted into the setting trick.
You cannot prevent East from gaining the lead; he is going to get in
with his ace of trumps no matter what you do. However, a maneuver is
available that will protect you against a promotion. You should cross to
dummy in one of the minors and lead dummy’s low trump. East’s ace
will capture only thin air, and you can then afford to ruff the fourth heart
high. Dummy’s queen and the remaining two high trumps in your hand
will be available for drawing West’s holding.
If East had been able to duck the first trump and capture dummy’s
queen on the second round, you would then know that trumps were 3-2.
You would ruff the fourth round of hearts high and no trump promotion
would be possible.
In Chapter 4, we saw how it is often right to set up a side suit before
drawing trumps. This may be necessary even when you are setting up
only a single trick by knocking out an ace. Unless you are feeling too
weary (you’re not reading the whole book in one session, are you?),
cover the defenders’ hands and take the South seat here:

Chapter 5 - Keeping the Dangerous Defender off Lead • 51

 ♠Q764
♥K82
♦K
♣AQ752
♠ 10 8 3 2 N ♠9
♥ J 10 6 3 W E ♥A94
♦AJ86 S ♦ 10 9 7 5 4 3 2
♣4 ♣86
♠AKJ5
♥Q75
♦Q
♣ K J 10 9 3

In 5♣ you would have three unavoidable losers. You bid accurately to

4♠ instead; how will you tackle the play when West cashes the ♦A and
switches to the ♣4?
You should win in hand and play off the ace and king of trumps.
When East shows out on the second round you have a problem. Can
you see a way to overcome the 4-1 trump split?
You cannot draw the remaining trumps, since that will leave you
one trick short. You will be able to cash your club winners but not to
make the vital heart trick — one defender will keep the ♥A and two
diamond winners.
So, you must set up your heart trick before drawing the outstanding
trumps. What about leading a heart to the king now? That’s no good
either. East will win the ace and play a club for his partner to ruff. You
will eventually have to concede a second heart trick — one down.
If East holds the ♥A you cannot stop him gaining the lead, but
perhaps you can make it too expensive for him to do so at a time when
he can hurt you. Suppose you cross to dummy with the ♠Q and lead a
low heart. If West has the ace of hearts, no return can hurt you. If East
holds that card, he has a choice of poisons. He can rise with the ♥A and
give his partner a club ruff, but that will be the last trick for his side. If
instead East ducks, allowing your ♥Q to win, you can afford to draw the
trumps, cash your club winners, and give up two heart tricks at the end.
The final deal in this chapter combines the elements of suit
establishment discussed in Chapter 4 with the concept of keeping the
dangerous defender off lead.

52 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 ♠ J 10 9 8
♥KQ5
♦AK5
♣752
♠K742 N ♠A653
♥6 W E ♥732
♦ J 10 8 3 S ♦9642
♣ A Q 10 8 ♣J9
♠Q
♥ A J 10 9 8 4
♦Q7
♣K643

West leads the ♦J against your contract of 4♥. You could just draw
trumps and hope not to lose three club tricks. Can you see a better plan,
one that may succeed when West holds the ♣A?
Let’s see what happens if you start by cashing three rounds of dia-
monds, disposing of the ♠Q. It is still too early to set about the trump
suit, so your next move is to lead a spade from dummy.
East hops in with the ace, but you are not prepared to concede the
lead to him, as he will surely switch to clubs. You ruff in the South hand
and cash the ace of trumps. When you re-enter dummy with a second
trump, East discards. No matter, you are in control. Play another spade
and, when East does not produce the king, let it run to West as you
throw a club from your hand.
What can West do? He can cash his ♣A, setting up your king, or
he can exit passively with a spade. Whichever he chooses, you will
draw the last trump with dummy’s ♥K and cash spade winners to dis-
pose of two more clubs. West will come to the ♣A eventually — eleven
tricks made.

Chapter 5 - Keeping the Dangerous Defender off Lead • 53

 Key Points
1. When you are prepared to lose the lead to one defender but not the
other, take a two-way finesse into the ‘safe hand’.
2. When one defender is ‘dangerous’, your play in the trump suit may
be affected. With four trumps to the queen missing, you may choose
to finesse into the safe hand. With five trumps to the queen missing,
you may choose to play for the drop, rather than finesse into the dan-
gerous hand.
3. Consider ducking a trick in a no-loser suit into the safe hand. You
may then be able to discard a loser in some different suit, proceeding
to establish that suit without allowing the danger hand to gain the
lead.
4. Sometimes you cannot keep the dangerous defender off lead perma-
nently. In that case, arrange to lose the trick at the point when he can
do you the least damage.
5. By leading a low card through the defender who holds a high card in
the suit, you may be able to make him pay a high price for taking the
card. His winner will beat air and your own honors will increase in
value.

54 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 QUIZ
To Answers

A. ♠KJ5
♥74
♦ Q 10 9 7 5
♣AJ5
N
♥6 led W E
S

♠ A 10 9 8 4 2
♥Q
♦KJ4
♣ Q 10 3

You play in 4♠ after East has opened the bidding with 1♥

and East-West have competed to game in their major. West leads
the ♥6 to his partner’s king and you ruff the heart continuation.
How do you play to give yourself the maximum chance of taking
ten tricks?

B. ♠ K8
♥ A 10 3
♦ K32
♣ A8654
N
♥6 led W E
S

♠ 764
♥ 9
♦ A Q J 10 6 5
♣ K 10 2

Once again ignoring the advice that nine tricks are easier to
make than eleven, you arrive in 5♦. West leads the ♥6. How will
you play the hand?

Chapter 5 - Keeping the Dangerous Defender off Lead • 55

 Answers
To Questions

A. Suppose you start by laying down the two top trumps. If East shows
out on the second round, you may be in trouble. You now switch to
diamonds. West wins the ace on the first round and plays a club. The
finesse is destined to lose, and if you try to cash diamonds to dispose
of your club losers, West may ruff the second or third round and play
a club to his partner’s king. Either way, you will be one down. All
the warning signs are there. You cannot allow West gain the lead
before the diamonds are established and should therefore play the
trumps in such a way that West cannot get in. Cash the ♠A and
finesse the jack on the second round. You don’t mind if East wins,
since he can do no damage.
Even that is not quite the best line of play though. West might hold
all four missing trumps, so run the ♠10 on the first round. Let East
think he has gained something by winning with the singleton queen.
He will soon be disillusioned!
B. You must aim to set up dummy’s club suit without allowing West
(the danger hand) to gain the lead. Best is to play low from dummy
at Trick 1. You can win East’s return, draw two rounds of trumps
with the ace and queen, then play the king and ace of clubs, hoping
to find the suit 3-2. You will then discard a club on the ♥A and ruff
the club suit good. The king of trumps will serve as an entry to the
long clubs. By ducking an unnecessary heart trick into the safe hand,
you prevent West from gaining the lead even if he holds three clubs.

56 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 C H A P T E R • 6

Ruffing in the Long

Trump Hand
One of the first things most novices learn is to take ruffs in the short-
trump hand but not in the long-trump hand. It’s an excellent rule but, as
always, there are exceptions. Say you bid these hands to 4♠:
♠752
♥A943
♦A65
♣A82
♠ J 10 9 6 ♠—
♥ Q 10 7 2 N
♥KJ85
W E
♦QJ2 S
♦ 10 9 7 4
♣Q3 ♣ K J 10 7 5
♠AKQ843
♥6
♦K83
♣964
West leads the ♦Q and you win with the king. All seems straight-
forward but when you cash the ace of trumps East shows out. It may
appear now that you have three minor-suit losers and a further loser in
trumps. Think again! You have four winners in the side suits. If you
can score all six trumps in the South hand, this will bring your total to
ten. How should the play go?
Cross to the ace of hearts and ruff a heart. A diamond to the ace
allows a second heart ruff and you return to dummy with the ace of

Chapter 6 - Ruffing in the Long Trump Hand • 57

 clubs. When you ruff dummy’s last heart both defenders follow and you
have your ten tricks. West will have the dubious pleasure of ruffing his
partner’s club winner at Trick 13.
An unlikely club lead would have defeated you on that hand,
removing a key entry to dummy. What if West had led a heart?
Although there is no reason to suspect a 4-0 trump break, it would be
good play to make use of the entry to dummy by ruffing a heart in your
hand. When the bad break came to light, you would then be well placed
to take two further ruffs in the South hand.
On the previous hand the defender with the long trumps had to fol-
low suit while you took your ruffs. That will not always be the case, as
here:
♠863
♥K873
♦A832
♣A4
♠J N ♠ Q 10 9 7
♥ Q 10 6 5 2 W E ♥J9
♦K9 S ♦QJ74
♣ Q J 10 6 3 ♣975
♠AK542
♥A4
♦ 10 6 5
♣K82
You reach 4♠ and win the club lead with the ace. Two rounds of
trumps bring the bad news of a 4-1 trump break and you must now aim
to score three more trump tricks from the pips remaining. Start with the
♣K and a club ruff in dummy. Then play the ♥AK and a third round of
hearts. It would not help East to ruff in with a master trump, as you
would discard a diamond loser. The defense would take only two trump
tricks and one diamond. So, East discards and you ruff. When you con-
tinue with a diamond to the ace and a fourth round of hearts, East has to
surrender. Although he has two winning trumps and two high dia-
monds, the heart lead ensures a trick for one of your remaining small
trumps. This technique, where you promote a trick for a low trump by
leading a plain suit through the defender with a higher trump, is known
as scoring a trump trick en passant.
Declarer may need to resort to this maneuver when his trump suit
is weak. This is particularly the case when you find yourself playing in
a fit with insufficient trumps. The two authors of this book were sitting

58 • Planning in Suit Contracts

North-South when our final deal occurred at the table.
Would you like to play a heart contract with K-J-9-2 of trumps fac-
ing 7-4-3? Well, this was the trump holding of the defenders on the deal
in question!
♠AQJ5
♥ 10
♦ A 10 8 2
♣AK92
♠K942 N ♠ 10 7 3
♥743 W E ♥KJ92
♦763 S ♦KQ4
♣ Q 10 4 ♣J83
♠86
♥AQ865
♦J95
♣765
South opened a non-vulnerable weak two in hearts and North raised
to game. How would you play the contract on a trump lead?
It is easy to panic in these circumstances, but a count of the poten-
tial winners makes it clear how declarer must play the hand. He has two
tricks in clubs, one in diamonds, and perhaps two in spades. He there-
fore needs to score all five trumps in his hand.
After capturing the ♥K with the ace at Trick 1, declarer played a
spade to the jack, cashed the ♠A, and ruffed a spade. The two top clubs
came next, followed by a fourth round of spades from dummy. It would
not have helped East to ruff, so he pitched a club. Declarer ruffed again
and exited with a club. When West won with the queen and switched to
a diamond, declarer rose with the ace. These cards were still to be
played:
♠—
♥—
♦ 10 8 2
♣9
♠— N
♠—
♥74 W E ♥ J92
♦73 S ♦ K
♣— ♣—
♠—
♥Q8
♦J9
♣—
Needing two more tricks, declarer played dummy’s club. What

Chapter 6 - Ruffing in the Long Trump Hand • 59

 could East do? If he discarded or ruffed low, declarer would score the
♥8; the queen of trumps would then be his tenth trick. When East chose
to ruff with the nine, declarer threw a diamond. He eventually scored
two tricks with his ♥Q-8 when East was forced to lead away from the
♥J at Trick 12. Contract made!

Key Points
1. When you do not have sufficient side-suit tricks to fulfill your con-
tract, look to the trump suit for the extra tricks. This may be the
moment to take ruffs in both hands.
2. Be prepared to take ruffs in the long-trump hand when doing so will
produce enough tricks for your contract. This may involve scoring
your low trumps and leaving the defenders with high trumps at the
end.
3. Calculate carefully how many entries to dummy will be needed, to
take the required number of ruffs.
4. When your trump suit is fragile (or shorter than you would like), con-
sider taking ruffing tricks rather than trying to draw trumps.
5. A similar strategy may be an effective way to overcome a bad trump
break.

60 • Planning in Suit Contracts

 QUIZ
To Answers

A. ♠53
♥AQ4
♦7543
♣A763
N
♦A led W
S
E

♠AK7642
♥9632
♦—
♣K42

West North East South

1♠
dbl redbl pass 2♠
pass 3♠ pass 4♠
pass pass dbl all pass

West leads the ♦A against 4♠, doubled by East. You ruff in the
South hand and play the trump ace, West showing out. How will
you continue the play?

B. ♠ 62
♥ A952
♦ 10 5 3
♣ AJ64
N
♣10 led W E
S

♠ A K Q 10 8 4
♥ K43
♦ A86
♣ 3

You reach 4♠ and West leads the club ten. How will you
play the contract?

Chapter 6 - Ruffing in the Long Trump Hand • 61

 Answers
To Questions
A. This may be the full deal:

♠53
♥AQ4
♦7543
♣A763
♠ — ♠ Q J 10 9 8
N
♥ K J 10 5 E
♥87
W
♦ A K 10 9 2 S ♦QJ86
♣QJ98 ♣ 10 5
♠AK7642
♥9632
♦—
♣K42

You have four side-suit tricks, with the aid of the heart finesse, and
will need to score all six trumps in your hand. After ruffing the dia-
mond lead and cashing the trump ace, play a heart to the queen and
ruff a diamond. Cross to the heart ace and ruff another diamond.
Finally, cash the two club winners and play a fourth round of dia-
monds. When East has to follow suit, you are home. At the end,
both defenders will be left clutching three winners!
B. By playing the hand correctly, you may be able to survive a bad
trump break. You should win the club lead and ruff a club at Trick 2,
taking the first step towards scoring all the trumps in your hand.
Then cash the ace and king of trumps. Let’s suppose that West shows
out on the second round. Cash the king and ace of hearts, reaching
dummy, and ruff another club with the eight. Your final move is to
cash the ace of diamonds and exit in one of the red suits. Your Q-10
of trumps, sitting over East’s J-x, are certain to score the game-going
tricks.

62 • Planning in Suit Contracts

The Bridge Technique Series is designed to take the reader
through the most important aspects of card-play technique at
bridge. Each book of the series focuses on a different topic, and
wherever possible the tactics and strategy are considered from the
point of view of both declarer and defenders.

PLANNING IN SUIT CONTRACTS

This book covers the fundamental strategies available for declarer
in contracts where there is a trump suit. Topics covered include
the timing of drawing trumps, when not to draw some or all of the
opposing trumps. establishing side suits, avoidance plays, tech-
niques for crossruffing, and elopement.

DAVID BIRD has written more than forty previous books, including the
well-known ‘St Titus Abbey’ series, and several co-authored with
Terence Reese. He writes two newspaper columns in the UK, and his
work appears regularly in numerous bridge magazines in the UK and
the US.

MARC SMITH’s previous books include Countdown to Winning

Bridge (1999, with Tim Bourke) and 25 Bridge Conventions You
Should Know (1999 American Bridge Teachers Association Book of
the Year, with Barbara Seagram). He is a regular contributor to a
number of bridge magazines.

MASTER POINT PRESS