RainBow Series – Lesson X
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.
| Hand A: |  K 4 3
| Play 3 first.
|
| Hand B: | K 4 3 2
| Play 4 , then 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 ?In standard practice, current count is orthodox: show how many you have now in the suit.
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") ?"
To illustrate, partner leads a small Heart and we are forced to play ♥K ("3rd hand HIGH") on the first round with the two hands above. On the second round of Hearts, we would play ♥4 from our remaining ♥43 to show two remaining Hearts. On the second hand, we would play ♥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 ♦2.
Partner will, we hope, figure
out that you have Three Diamonds (not one or five)
from the bidding, and hold up hir ♦A 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).
| Hand C: |  5 4 2
|
Partner leads ♠7 against 3NT. Dummy contributes ♠6 for J86. You should put ♠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.
| Hand D: |  A Q x x
|  A K 8 3 2
|
Partner leads ♣10 against 3♠. You see three Clubs and ♦K on dummy. After cashing your ♣AK and seeing partner "echo" with ♣7, you would return ♣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 ♣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.
| Hand E: | Q J 8 4 3
|
Partner leads ♠King against 5♦. Dummy has the singleton ♠7. To ask for a Heart switch, play ♠Q here. To request a Club from partner, signal ♠3. If you don't care which suit partner switches to or would like partner to keep playing Spades, play ♠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).
| Hand F: | 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 ♦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 ♣King and you hold:
| Hand G: | Q 5 2
| Play 5.
|
| Hand H: | 9 5 2
| Play 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.
| Hand I: | J 10 2
|
Against 3NT, partner leads ♥5. Declarer plays ♥K from dummy. Play ♥J (the highest of touching honours) to encourage this suit. Note that when signalling with "equals" (♥J and ♥10 in this case), you should always play the Highest such card. Playing ♥10 here would deny ♥J.
Holding ♥J82 instead of ♥J102, you would signal with ♥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, lead 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
| RAINBOW Series |
|
The Rainbow Series, from 10:00 A.M. to 12:30 PST, every weekday, is a lecture program on the SAYC system, from Opening Bids all the way through to the conventional aspects of SAYC. Unlike the FireSide and 5th Chair sessions mentioned above, the Rainbow Series is a semi-private lesson program for our students. Nevertheless, you are invited to stop by and "eavesdrop" on the discussion from the Spectator's Loft.  If you have any questions arising from these notes, or about the Rainbow Lesson Series, please do not hesitate to email me at: cpw@escape.ca |
| Back to the Tutoring Web Page |
|
| Back to Colin's Personal Bridge Page |
| If your computer has midi capacity, you have been listening to LedZeppelin's "Going to California". |