NT Defense - Third Hand Play, Finessing Dummy and Partner BILManager (Lobby): => Club: !D!DGrizz's Lesson Table will begin in the BIL in about 5 mins. Tpdays lesson "Third Hand Play - Finessing Partner and Finessing Dummy". All members are invited to attend this very informative lesson!H!H grizz->Lobby: !s!h Grizz on Defense in the BIL is now open. All members are invited to attend. Today's topic is NT Defense - Third Hand Play, finessing partner and dummy !d!c grizz: lol finally got around to it, after threatening for a month :) grizz: hi everybody, thanks for coming grizz: sry about missing the last couple sessions, turns out i had pneumonia and didn't know it grizz: i'm on the mend now, but might make this one shorter than usual grizz: nasty bug, i missed more time at work in the last 3 weeks than the prior 5 years grizz: anyway, here we go grizz: Hi everybody, thanks for attending another of a series of lessons on Defense. grizz: Here we go with the usual stuff. grizz: Chat logs and hand records are stored in your computer for later review. For information on how to retrieve them, go the BIL homepage or email me. grizz: I teach private individual, pair, and small group lessons. If you would like to know more please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. grizz: The new website is up now, thanks to the help of PedroG. Gracias amigo! grizz: And archives of old sessions are available at GrizzBridge.com, on the Lessons page. grizz: We are missing some of the past sessions, from #1, 14 and 15. grizz: So if anybody has those chat logs and hand records, could you please email them to me and I will put them up on the website? grizz: There will be lots of questions. I want to address them all, but in a manner helpful to all, so please ask them in open chat. grizz: I cannot respond to private chat during a lesson. grizz: Are there any questions so far? grizz: Last time we talked about notrump opening leads, went over some general rules and looked at some examples. grizz: Let us review those rules, and then go on to 3rd hand play and look at finessing partner, and finessing dummy. grizz: Notrump is a race to see which side can establish and cash its winners first. grizz: Both sides usually have enough tricks to get the job done, but one side runs out of time. grizz: Notrump defense is about long suits and entries. Long suits are where the extra tricks are, and entries allow you to cash them. grizz: That is why it is usually best to start with your side's long suit. grizz: For those of you who are tired of hearing this again, please bear with me - we have some newcomers. grizz: The race to develop tricks starts at Trick 1, and if the defense does not get on with its Job #1 then momentum and timing shift to the declarer. grizz: Here are some general rules for NT leads as a review, for those who may not have attended previous sessions. grizz: By the way, these rules are for 1st hand LEADS, they do not apply to 3rd hand FOLLOWING! grizz: That bears repeating, these rules are only for the OPENING LEAD. grizz: 1. If your partner has bid a suit, lead it, unless you have a strong suit of your own and an outside entry. grizz: 2. Strong top-of-sequence leads from 4-card suits (KQJx. KQTx. QJTx) are better than weaker but longer suits (Jxxxx, Qxxxx). grizz: 3. If you have the choice between an unbid major or an unbid minor with similar strength in each, the major is usually a better prospect. grizz: 4. If dummy uses Stayman he can be assumed to have one or two 4-card majors. grizz: 5. If your hand is dreadful, try to hit partner's long suit, even if he hasn't bid. Any suit that he might have bid at the 1 level but didn't will be an unlikely candidate for this desperation lead. grizz: 6. If dummy has announced during the auction that he has a long, strong suit, you must make an aggressive lead in another suit. AKx. KQx or QJx are better in this case than weaker but longer suits. grizz: 7. Partner needs to know whether you have any honors in the suit you lead. If a switch must be made at Trick 2, partner needs to know and act quickly. grizz: A. The lead of a low card in an unbid suit promises an honor. So if you lead low, expect partner to return that suit if he gets in. grizz: B. Likewise, the lead of a big spot card tends to deny an honor. Partner is notified that he must switch. grizz: C. Leading from a strong 4-card suit like AQTx, AQJx, AJTx, or AKTx usually costs a trick. Odds are that RHO has the missing honor, and a lead from one of these sequences goes right into declarer's tenace. grizz: But it is a GOOD idea to lead from a strong 5-card suit, such as AQTxx, AQJxx, AJTxx, or AKTxx. grizz: D. The lead of a Q shows either the top of a sequence (QJT, QJ9) OR a powerful combination headed by the KQT9. grizz: If the opening leader may have that combination, that is you are 3rd hand and do not see the K,T or 9 but you do have the J, you should play it at Trick 1. grizz: Otherwise you would give a Count signal. grizz: So the opening lead of a Q calls for Unblock the J or give Count grizz: E. The lead of a K shows either a sequence or a short suit (AKx, KQx). grizz: F. Leading an A shows a very strong suit, headed by AKQ, AKJT, AKJ (or AQJ with an outside entry). Since the A is a guaranteed entry, it is rare to waste it on the opening lead. grizz: G. Playing Coded 9's and T's, also known as Jack Denies (and T or 9 Implies), the lead of a J denies a higher honor, but guarantees a sequence if it is an unbid suit. grizz: The lead of a T or 9 now specifically shows 0 or 2 cards higher. If leader has 2 higher cards, they are specifically a touching tenace (KJT9, KT98, AT98, AJT9, etc.) grizz: Remember, these rules are for 1st hand LEADS, they do not apply to 3rd hand FOLLOWING. grizz: We sped through those rules because most of you have seen them many times. Are there any questions? grizz: We will talk about 3rd hand play in following weeks, but here is a sneak peek at the rules, and you will be happy to know that they are much simpler. grizz: 1. Win the trick, unless there is a good reason not to. grizz: 2. Give Attitude on partner's lead - tell him whether to continue the suit or switch. grizz: 3. Give Count on declarer's lead, to help partner figure out suit distribution around the table. grizz: Any questions so far? grizz: I have referred in the past to "finessing dummy", as opposed to "finessing your partner" when you are third hand to play at Trick 1. grizz: Today we will concentrate on those two interrelated concepts, and look at some examples. grizz: First let's look at finessing your partner. grizz: We will assume that leader has attended our class and leads in accordance with the rules just restated above. grizz: 1. If the opening lead is low, AND THERE ARE NO HONORS IN DUMMY, then 3rd hand should play high. grizz: Take a look at example #1. grizz: East has the choice of the K or J grizz: This is a good example of the rule that everybody has heard against finessing parter. If he plays the K, declarer takes no !S tricks. grizz: 5 top tricks. grizz: Back to what happens if you finesse partner grizz: South now wins a !s trick that he's not entitled to, and makes the contract grizz: If South has the A and West has the Q, it makes no difference which card East plays. grizz: But reverse those 2 cards, and it makes the difference between making and setting! grizz: As third hand, most of the time you need to play high to protect honor(s) in your partner's hand. grizz: And that is the reason for Rule 1 above: grizz: 1. Win the trick, unless there is a good reason not to. grizz: Do we have any questions? grizz: Here is the first example of finessing against dummy. grizz: West leads the !S2 against 3NT, and the J53 appears in dummy. As third hand, you hold the KT6. What do you play? alexiss: 10 gypsy1308: 10 grizz: If you play high and return the suit, the J sets up as a stopper in dummy and the contract makes. bwd1: 10 bluehi: 10 grizz: What if declarer has the Q? grizz: If East wins the Ace, then declarer cashes both the K and Q making 3. grizz: 4!C, 3!h, and 2!s grizz: But if East finesses the K by playing the T, declarer cannot afford to hold up, makes only one !S trick, and goes down. grizz: This way declarer scores only 4!c, 3!h and 1!s, going down 1. grizz: Note that East's second highest card must be at least a 9 for this to work - a lower card might not drive out a stopper. grizz: Do we have any questions about finessing dummy? PedroG: what is considered a honor in dummy? equal -1?? PedroG: if dummy has Q in this example ->PedroG: can you rephrase that? PedroG: or just a equal minus one spot? grizz: yes AofHearts: so with an 8 or under you must take with the A? grizz: yes, without a big spot card to drive out a stopper, take the winner grizz: and hope that partner has good intermediates grizz: Common combinations are AT over a K, KT over a J, etc. PedroG: Do we finesse dummy with any honor on dummy? grizz: yes PedroG: ty grizz: so long as your second highest is at least a 9 PedroG: ty Pete grizz: or equivalent, with others higher visible on the board grizz: the important point is that your card must be high enough to drive out a stopper Cheeseball: Pete wouldd the same apply if the bid had gone 1NT 2C 2D 3NT? grizz: sure, the auction does not affect the cardplay grizz: in this case, that is grizz: Rule #1 above is: Win the trick, unless there is a good reason not to. grizz: Here are some good reasons not to: grizz: A. There is an honor in dummy that you need to finesse against. grizz: B. Playing high wastes your honor. grizz: C. You need to drive out declarer's stopper while you still have communication with your partner. grizz: Can you think of any others? gillyfleur: maybe decs long suit dont want him to establish too easily grizz: great point gilly grizz: it might be that dummy has a long running suit, and the only entry is in the original led suit grizz: that would be a good reason not to win the trick, to prevent entry later dae: might be trumped later grizz: that would be a consideration in a trump contract, but we are so far just talking about NT defense gillyfleur: leaves dec guessing where boss card is grizz: deception is an important part of bridge, certainly grizz: but only works as part of a larger strategy grizz: I have examples of those, but they are not prepared yet and i'm tired, so we will cut this one short grizz: That concludes today's lesson, and next week we will look at more Third Hand Play,when not to win Trick 1. grizz: If anybody needs help retrieving the hand records or chat log, please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. grizz: Thanks for your interest and participation, and I hope to see you next week. grizz: Thanks also to Maureen, Rosemary, Fred and the wonderful people at BBO who make this all possible. grizz: Thanks all for coming, i'll see you in a week grizz: Bye now