DEFENDERS' CORNER
BY AUDREY GRANT
IMITATION:
You
♠ 10 8 2
♥ 10 9 7
♦ A K J 9 3
♣ 8 4
Still the Sincerest
Form of Flattery
The defenders and declarer have
something in common. Both are trying
to take enough tricks to reach their
goal. The defenders are trying to defeat
the contract; the declarer is trying to
make the contract. It’s often a race to
see which side can get to its objective
first.
The defenders have the advantage of
the opening lead, which gives them a
head start to take winners or to begin
to develop the tricks they need. In the
process, the defenders may have to give
up a lead before they can establish
additional winners. Good defenders
make a plan and carefully consider the
information from the opening lead,
partner’s signals, and the auction.
To develop tricks for the defense, they
could even use the same techniques that
declarer uses, and show declarer that
imitation really is the sincerest form of
flattery.
You are sitting West and the bidding
goes:
WEST
NORTH
EAST
SOUTH
1NT
PASS
3NT
ALL PASS
South is declarer in a 3NT contract.
As West, it’s your lead from this
hand:
♠10 8 2 ♥10 9 7 ♦A K J 9 3 ♣8 4
With a strong diamond sequence,
lead the ♦A. West wants to know
where the ♦Q and ♦10 are located.
After the lead, dummy comes down
with two low diamonds, followed
8
with low diamonds by both partner,
East, and declarer.
You
♠ 10 8 2
♥ 10 9 7
♦ A K J 9 3
♣ 8 4
Dummy
♠ K 7 3
♥ K 4 3
♦ 6 4
♣ A 10 7 5 3
n
w
e
3NT
Partner
♦ 2
s
Declarer
♦ 5
The first step to better defense is to
be able to imagine where the top five
cards are located.
Assuming East-West have agreed to
play standard attitude signals, with
a low card followed by a high card
as a discouraging signal, East’s ♦2
indicates no interest in diamonds.
This means declarer is likely to hold
the ♦Q. The ♦10 is the only other
top five high card in the suit. It could
be held by partner or declarer.
In deciding what to lead on the next
trick, the defenders do well to imitate
the declarer. Suppose declarer held
this diamond suit:
DUMMY
DECLARER
♦A K J 9 3
♦8 7 2
There are eight cards in the suit, and
with no other information, declarer
would try to finesse and lead toward
the ♦J in the dummy, hoping to
trap the ♦Q. The handling of the
suit works the same way for the
defenders. Let’s look at the entire
hand:
A udrey G rant ’ s B etter B ridge | S eptember -O ctober 2019
Dummy
♠ K 7 3
♥ K 4 3
♦ 6 4
♣ A 10 7 5 3
n
3NT
Partner
♠ A J 5
w
e
♥ J 6 5 2
s
♦ 8 7 2
Declarer ♣ 9 6 2
♠ Q 9 6 4
♥ A Q 8
♦ Q 10 5
♣ K Q J
West leads the ♦A, and partner
plays the ♦2, a discouraging signal.
Instead of following with the ♦K,
knowing declarer has the ♦Q, West
wants to use the defensive finesse to
play this suit the way declarer would
have played it. West needs to look
for an entry to partner's hand so
partner, East, can lead diamonds and
trap declarer’s ♦Q.
West might decide to shift to the
♥10. As it turns out, this isn’t where
partner’s entry lies, but it’s not over
yet. Declarer wins this trick with
dummy’s ♥K. Declarer can count
eight sure tricks – three hearts and
five clubs. If West is careful not
to give declarer a diamond trick,
declarer has to try for the ninth trick
by promoting a spade.
Suppose declarer leads a low spade
from the dummy. The fate of the
contract now rests with partner,
East. If East automatically plays
second hand low, declarer will win
a trick with the ♠Q and make the
contract. That is a good play by
declarer – attempting to get a ninth
trick before the defenders realize
what is happening.
East, however, has enough clues to
find the winning defense. Once the
♦A is led and West shifts to another
suit after seeing the discouraging
signal, East can imagine where the
high cards are located. West’s ♦A
lead is either from the top of a three-
card or longer sequence or a broken
sequence. When West switches to a
heart, West is showing specifically a
broken sequence with the ♦A-K-J.