Defensive Signals
On defence, it is vital to give information to partner regarding our hand when partner needs to know This information. Do NOT signal in cases when declarer is more likely than partner to profit from the information that you divulge. Also, Never signal with a card you Can't afford !
So when, and how, do you signal ?
Count
In standard methods, count is shown by playing
your lowest card in a suit to show an ODD number of
cards in that suit.
With an EVEN number of cards in
the suit, you "ECHO" or
"HI-LO" by playing a high
one — the highest you can afford — and THEN your
lowest card.
♥K 4 3 – Play the ♥3 first.
♥K 4 3 2 – Play the ♥4 first, then the ♥2.
"But what if I'm forced to play a High card on the first round of a suit,
and want to show count on the second round ?
Do I show how many cards I started with in the suit (which is called "ORIGINAL
COUNT"), or the number I have NOW (which is called "CURRENT COUNT") ?"
In standard practice, current
Count is orthodox: show how many you have NOW
in the suit.
To illustrate, partner leads a small Heart
and we are forced to play the ♥K ("3rd Hand HIGH")
on the first round with the above two hands.
On the second round of Hearts, we would play the ♥4
from our remaining ♥43 to show TWO remaining
Hearts.
On the second hand, we would play the
♥2 from our remaining ♥432 to show Three (i.e.
an odd number) Hearts left.
Count in the opponents' trump suit is shown the other way around: a small one shows an EVEN number of their trumps, an echo shows an ODD number of trumps (and suggests interest in ruffing with the 3rd trump).
When do you show count ? The most common
instance is when partner may be thinking of holding
up a boss card (the Ace, usually) in a suit to
deny Declarer an entry.
For example, if Declarer in 3NT leads a small Diamond toward Dummy's ♦KQJ10x
(and Dummy has no side-suit entry) and you have ♦542
you will play the ♦2.
Partner will, we hope, figure
out that you have Three Diamonds (not one or five)
from the bidding, and hold up hir Ace until Declarer
is playing hir Last Diamond.
In this way, Declarer
can be prevented from stealing any extra Diamond
tricks.
Meanwhile, partner, the one holding the boss
card, should be giving a false count signal (i.e., Low
from an EVEN number, echoing with an ODD number) to
mask your combined holdings so that Declarer will not
know which one of you is telling the truth.
:)
A less common instance where count is important
is when defending a high-level contract, and Declarer is
running a long suit (and partner needs to know which
suits to keep).
Here, your first discards in each suit
might be count in the suit you're pitching.
When partner leads small and your RHO plays a
small card, you should play "3rd Hand High".
But what if you don't have a high card in the suit ?
Then, you
should show Count, if and ONLY if 2nd hand has not
played the Ace, King or Queen in the suit (otherwise,
show Attitude about partner's lead).
♠5 4 2
Partner leads the ♠7 against 3NT.
Dummy contributes the ♠6 for J86.
You should put the ♠2 on the table to show an ODD number of Spades.
This may help partner (who may have lead from ♠AQ973)
drop Declarer's hidden doubleton ♠K if partner
regains the lead.
Some people play that you should show count whenever partner plays an Ace from what might be AK. This is part of "KATARACT" (see below).
Remember: echo EVEN (both words start with "E" and have four letters), Low ODD (both words have an "O" and have three letters).
Suit Preference
When giving a suit-preference signal, play a High card first to ask for a High ranking non-trump suit return from partner, and a Low card first to ask for a Low ranking non-trump suit return from partner. Remember: High for High, Low for Low.
"When do you make suit-preference signals ?" you might wonder. The most obvious instance is when you figure that you're giving partner a ruff.
♦A Q x x
♣A K 8 3 2
Partner leads the ♣10 against 3♠. You see three Clubs and the ♦K on dummy. After cashing your ♣AK and seeing partner "echo" with the ♣7, you would return the ♣2, your lowest Club, to ask for a Diamond return after partner ruffs, rather than a Heart return. If you did want a Heart return, you would return the ♣8.
Another time when it is correct to show suit preference is when partner has led an Ace or King against a suit contract and dummy appears with a singleton.
"Which suit should I switch to ?" partner may be wondering. Here, an unusually high card from you asks for a high-ranking switch, a lowest card from you asks for a low-ranking suit switch. A middling card says that you'd just as soon partner continue with the led suit or that you have no distinct preference between the other two suits.
♠Q J 8 4 3
Partner leads the ♠King against 5♦. Dummy has the singleton ♠7. To ask for a Heart switch, play the ♠Q here. To request a Club from partner, signal the ♠3. If you don't care which suit partner switches to or would like partner to keep playing Spades, play the ♠8.
A third situation where you show suit preference is when discarding from a "known" suit (i.e., one in which partner knows your holding, likely because Declarer has shown out in that suit).
♦A K 10 9 7 5
Against 6♣ you lead the King. Dummy has three small Diamonds. Declarer ruffs, then starts playing Clubs — of which you have none. To show your partner that you have strength in Spades pitch the ♦Ace or ♦10 immediately. To show strength in Hearts play the ♦5 first.
Attitude
Attitude is shown by playing a High card to Encourage a given suit, a Low card to discourage a continuation of that suit. Remember: a High card shows that you have a High opinion of that suit, a Low card shows a Low opinion of that suit.
"And when, pray tell, do you show attitude ?" one may ask.
The most common instance when we show attitude is when partner leads an honour — especially an honour other than the Ace. Let's say partner leads the ♣King and you hold:
♣Q 5 2 – Play the ♣5.
♣9 5 2 – Play the ♣2.
A slightly less common example is when partner leads a small card in a suit and your RHO wins with the Ace, King or Queen.
♥J 10 2
Against 3NT, partner leads the ♥5. Declarer plays the ♥King from dummy. Play the ♥J (the highest of touching honours) to encourage this suit. Note that when signalling with "equals" (the ♥J and ♥10 in this case), you should always play the Highest such card. Playing the ♥10 here would Deny the ♥Jack.
Holding ♥J82 instead of ♥J102, you would signal with the ♥8 to encourage the suit.
KATARACT
"What should I lead from AK ?" some will ask.
Here we have a Rule of Thumb: Lead the King if you are interested in attitude from partner, the Ace if you are interested in count from partner. The acronym "KATARACT" (King ATtitude, Ace Requests A CounT) may help you remember this. :)
One Final Word
The above rules will act as a guideline as to when to signal count, suit preference and attitude. Before deciding on which signal to show, though, always ask yourself this question:
"What does partner want to know right now about my hand ?"
That should be the over-riding consideration.
For an extreme example of this, check out Hand #21
from the "Session From Hell" series at:
http://www.escape.ca/~ksired/session.htm