BIL Lesson 11-24-07 grizz: Hi all, while we are waiting are there any questions before we start? camilleln: can you recommend a good book on picking the right leads grizz: eddie kantar's books on defense are impeccable grizz: my lead recommendations are right out of his books camilleln: ty grizz: eddie's early stuff was very good but kinda hard to wade through, his later stuff is better organized and easier to read grizz: but it's all good grizz: Hi everybody, thanks for attending another of a series of lessons on Defense. grizz: This will be the last session of the year, since so many of us have so much to do over the holidays. grizz: We will resume on Jan. 5 at the regular time. 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. Obrigado Pedro! grizz: And archives of old sessions are available at GrizzBridge.com, on the Lessons and Archives page. 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: We have talked about leads, third hand play and signals now for several months, and now it's time we put everything together grizz: This hand came up in open play last week, and has several lessons in it. grizz: As always i encourage participation by all kibs grizz: So jump right in with a comment, question, or bid at any time, but please do it in open chat grizz: Since I can't always respond to private chat grizz: Does anybody need review on opening leads? CindyLouu: raising my hand! ruleof20: Yes, please grizz: lol OK, here we go grizz: By the way, these rules are for 1st hand LEADS, they do not apply to 3rd hand FOLLOWING! 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: If not, he should alert the 2!c bid as not promising a major. 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 ... grizz: 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 ... grizz: 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 ... grizz: 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: Nor to later tricks on the same hand. grizz: We sped through those rules because most of you have seen them many times. Are there any questions? grizz: The rules for 3rd hand play are much simpler than for opening leads: 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: OK, here is our hand for the day: grizz: This is a real hand, and the real NS pair plays weak NT, so N correctly opened 1!c, intending to rebid 1NT to show 15-17 tseager44: would I be wrong in opening that hand with 1nt? grizz: N is a strong NT hand, so most of you would open it 1NT tseager44: ty grizz: The real NS pair plays 12-14 opening NT, as do I most of the time grizz: ok, pretend you can only see the E hand and tell us what to lead and why grizz: those of you who have been to my classes will have a good idea, but i see some new faces today leonora3: what does the real west play? grizz: can't say, but it is not his lead anyway :) CindyLouu: i would lead a heart camilleln: jack of spades pacify: 5D alexiss: spade J...because decl will have surely the Q!d.. gypsy1308: k!C grizz: in NT, it comes down to a race between declarer and defenders to establish slow tricks and cash them grizz: by slow tricks, i mean little cards in long suits grizz: long suits are where the extra tricks are hiding, and entries allow you to cash them later, after they are established Matilda797: 5 of Diamonds grizz: no more calls, we have a winner! grizz: long suits are gold in NT, for both declarer and defense grizz: first let me show you what happened at the table grizz: then we will go back and defend properly grizz: EW are playing standard signals, so the 3 is a discouraging card grizz: E carries on regardless gimit: Ah it would have been good for W to send clubs via N grizz: exactly grizz: N cashed a !CQ he did not deserve, because of 2 errors: grizz: 1. E cashed his entries before establishing his long suit, and grizz: 2. E didn't believe W's discouraging signal grizz: so E had one chance to recover from his mistake at Trick 1 grizz: and W gave him that opportunity grizz: but he went ahead anyway grizz: let's see how it should go grizz: before seeing dummy, E should think along these lines: grizz: 1. my !d suit is cheesy, but it does have 5 cards grizz: 2. i have at least 2!c entries, maybe 3, and possibly another in !s grizz: 3. so i should start out with a !d, and continue !d at every legal opportunity grizz: let me also say something about defensive strategy grizz: when EW see the dummy, they should be grinning grizz: N is strong, either 15-17 or 18-19 balanced grizz: but he cannot get to dummy for any finesses grizz: maybe once in !d, but unlikely given that opening lead grizz: therefore, the most important thing for defenders to do is... grizz: ...nothing grizz: like muhammad ali, defenders should play rope-a-dope grizz: and avoid helping declarer grizz: do you see that N is trapped in his hand? grizz: he can't ever win on the board, so he must lead away from his own tenaces grizz: this is a textbook recipe for PASSIVE DEFENSE grizz: make declarer do all the work grizz: is that right? grizz: it keeps declarer off the board leonora3: right gimit: yes, will lead another diam grizz: but if declarer had AKQ, would he lead low? grizz: and wouldn't we rather have the lead coming through declarer then to him? grizz: now what? grizz: can't hurt to lead a !s grizz: and now back to Plan A, lead !ds at every legal opportunity grizz: original 5th best, to show count grizz: small discouraging !c signal tends to show cards in both majors grizz: what should E pitch now? grizz: keep the long suit, keep the entries, pitch anything else grizz: relentless attack on !ds grizz: so we have 4 important lessons on this hand grizz: For defenders, that is grizz: 1. Get started early establishing long suit, if you have outside entries grizz: 2. Establish slow tricks before cashing your entries grizz: 3. Watch partner's cards, he gets a vote too!!! grizz: 4. When declarer is in a jam, don't help him out by 'getting busy' on defense. grizz: Lay back, make it as difficult for him as possible grizz: Play Passive Defense grizz: Wait for the game to come to you, don't force it grizz: are there any questions about that hand, or any of the concepts? leonora3: can you explain why west does not respond to 1!d? grizz: excellent question grizz: ok, i held the W cards grizz: and i play weak NT too grizz: so i expected that N had either 15-17 or 18-19 balanced hand, or unbalanced hand with !c grizz: since i had !cs, i narrowed that down to 15-19 balanced likely in the north grizz: and with us vul, and no !d fit, it was dangerous for me to compete grizz: so i used some jiu jitsu, and used N's system against him :) gimit: Why not double for penalty grizz: X for penalty? if i X in that auction, it is takeout grizz: notice also that EW have misfits in all 4 suits grizz: actually makes 2 or 3!ds grizz: but if we go looking for a better fit, we might turn a plus into a minus grizz: one other reason grizz: N is a very good player, one of the best in south america grizz: and i might just give him enough information to make the hand, if not very careful grizz: i have doubled him off before, but not on this kind of hand grizz: but here is another good thing to remember: grizz: if we have a misfit, they do too grizz: and we would rather defend against them playing in their misfit, grizz: than to declare in ours leonora3: tx excellent lesson grizz: so in a misfit situation, think about defending grizz: notice also that you don't need to X on this hand to get rich grizz: -2 is 200 points for the good guys grizz: or 4.5 imps grizz: which on a misfit hand is pretty darn good! grizz: even without the X grizz: another thing grizz: if you get greedy, and X for penalty, grizz: pd might not realize it's penalty, and pull it grizz: or you might give declarer just enough information to make the hand, taking anti-percentage plays that cater to the auction grizz: one other point about playing against weak NT grizz: you best have a good hand to compete! grizz: never forget that even though it's 'weak', it's still a full opener. grizz: just a K short of a strong NT grizz: and grizz: since opener does not have that K, it's floating around loose somewhere grizz: and might be in the 3rd hand, which is now more dangerous than in a strong NT auction, if unpassed grizz: so many things to think about! grizz: any other questions? Cliff228: Is it ever wise to redouble a contract? grizz: only 2 cases that come to mind grizz: 1. SOS, you are in a terrible spot and don't know where to go, that says "they are killing me pard, do something intelligent!" grizz: 2. You know something about the hand that ops don't grizz: like a void or two, and you are playing with a 30- or 20-point deck grizz: but beware: grizz: if you think it's Case 2, pd might think it's Case 1! grizz: and it can only get worse from there grizz: so i would never XX looking for a top in imps grizz: maybe at mps it pencils out grizz: but it's a train wreck waiting to happen grizz: any other questions? murphyslaw: is it always almost right to cover honour lead with honour eg Queen with king etc in second seat grizz: it's hard to generalize, but yes it's almost always right grizz: unless for instance you have Kxx and Ax is on the board grizz: so you can't be hooked out of the K, the A must be played first if you hang onto it grizz: That concludes today's lesson, and next week we will look at something different. grizz: not next week, but next session, which will be Jan 5 grizz: and i hope you all enjoy the holidays grizz: We have seen that when using standard methods, a signal can only be Attitude, Count OR Suit Preference. dotfl: tks Pete grizz: Wouldn't it be cool if one card could send two messages at once? And both partners knew exactly what they were? Stay tuned next session! grizz: If anybody needs help retrieving the hand records or chat log, please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. grizz: This lesson's chat log and hands will soon be posted at http://www.grizzbridge.com/Lessons_and_Archives.php, where previous lessons can also be downloaded for free. grizz: Thanks for your interest and participation, and I hope to see you next year. 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 on Jan. 5. grizz: Bye now