Complimentary Issue of Better Bridge Magazine March / April 2020 | Page 10

DEFENDERS' CORNER
BY AUDREY GRANT
FOURs and
FIVEs
Mighty and Useful
To defeat declarer’s contract, it is WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
important the cards each defender
2NT
plays send a message to partner.
This series looks at the thirteen cards
Pass
3NT
Pass
Pass
ranked from the two through the Ace,
Pass
and the meaning and contribution
Partner leads the ♥5 and the dummy
each card can make to the defense.
appears:
Consider the four and the five
Dummy
within the context of each complete
10 8 5
♠
deal. They may be low cards, but
3NT
A 2
♥
they provide useful information the
♦ Q J 10 7 3
defenders need to make the right
♣ 7 5 2
decisions.
Partner
LEAD
♥5
T he F our C ounts !
You’re defending with the East hand
against 3NT. Here’s the auction:
8
n
You
♠ Q 9 2
w
e
♥ Q 9 6 4
s
♦ 6 5 4
Declarer ♣ 10 8 6
♥ 3
The ♥2 is played from dummy and
you play the ♥Q — third hand high
— which wins the trick as declarer
follows suit with the ♥3. What do
you know about the heart suit?
Partner led fourth highest, the ♥5.
Dummy has the ♥2, you have the ♥4,
and declarer played the ♥3. Partner
has no card lower than the ♥5, so
partner has a four-card heart suit.
After winning the ♥Q, return a
heart to drive out dummy’s ♥A.
With three cards remaining in the
suit, the ♥9-6-4, lead back the ♥4
– low from three remaining cards
to show count. With only two cards
A udrey G rant ’ s B etter B ridge | M arch -A pril 2020
left, lead the top of your remaining
doubleton.
Declarer wins this second trick with
dummy’s ♥A. Now declarer leads the
♦3 from dummy. You are at a critical
juncture. Which card do you play?
When you aren’t interested in a
suit, usually play the lowest card as
a discouraging signal. This situation
is different, however. When declarer
is establishing tricks in a long suit,
partner already knows you don’t like
the suit. Instead, use this opportunity
to give a count signal. Play a high
card followed by a low card to show
an even number of cards. Playing
low-high shows an odd number.
Here, with an odd number of cards
in diamonds, play the ♦4 to start a
low-high count signal. To see why
this is important, here’s the complete
hand:
Dummy
Partner
♠ J 7 6
♥ K J 7 5
♦ A 8 2
♣ 9 4 3
♠ 10 8 5
♥ A 2
♦ Q J 10 7 3
♣ 7 5 2
n
3NT
You
♠ Q 9 2
w
e
♥ Q 9 6 4
s
♦ 6 5 4
Declarer ♣ 10 8 6
♠ A K 4 3
♥ 10 8 3
♦ K 9
♣ A K Q J
When declarer plays the ♦K, partner
has to decide whether to win the
trick. Even if partner lets declarer
win the ♦K, partner again has to
decide what to do when declarer
leads another diamond. Your play
of the ♦4 is key to helping partner
make the right decision.
In this hand, if partner holds up
twice with the ♦A, declarer will make
3NT with nine tricks: two spades,
one heart, two diamonds, and four
clubs. To defeat the contract, partner
has to win the ♦A on exactly the
second round of diamonds. How
will partner know to do that?