Active Defense grizz: Hi everybody, thanks for attending another of a series of lessons on Defense. 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: Archives of old sessions are available at GrizzBridge.com, on the Lessons and Archives page, grizz: ...but there are some technical problems lately and recent sessions have not been posted yet. 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: 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: We have worked on opening leads, 3rd hand play at Trick 1, and leads and signals at Tricks 2-13. grizz: Last week we began to focus on the 5 types of defensive strategy. grizz: All of you have been taught that when declaring a hand you should stop and plan the play before touching any cards at Trick 1. grizz: That is excellent advice, and I urge all of you to follow it. grizz: But have you considered that it also applies to the defenders? grizz: It does indeed! And even more so than for declarer! grizz: Because declarer can see his hand and dummy, all of his combined partnership assets. grizz: But defenders do not enjoy that advantage. grizz: Opening leader in particular is at a tremendous disadvantage, having to play before seeing dummy. grizz: And then for the balance of the hand the defenders can see their hand and dummy, but must make inferences from the bidding, play and defensive signals. grizz: There are only 5 basic types of defensive strategy at the beginning of a hand. grizz: By the way, these concepts are out of the book "How The Experts Win At Bridge" by Burt Hall and Lynn Rose-Hall. grizz: The 5 lines of defense are: grizz: 1. Force declarer to ruff, and lose control of his own trump suit. grizz: 2. Active defense. grizz: 3. Passive defense. grizz: 4. Reduce declarer's ruffing power. grizz: 5. Create trump tricks. grizz: In addition, there are 5 tools that help you figure out what partner and declarer have in terms of strength and shape. They are: grizz: a. Inferences from bidding and play. grizz: b. Counting points. grizz: c. Counting distribution. grizz: d. Counting tricks. grizz: e. Defensive signals. grizz: I would argue that these two sets of concepts are rank-ordered by their importance too. grizz: Are there any questions before we tackle Active Defense in greater depth? grizz: Let us now look at an example, before we talk about general conditions for Active Defense to work. jdhilts: are there any tricks as far as figuring out points on defence grizz: there are many inferences that can be drawn from the play to Trick 1 grizz: we spent a lot of time on that last year, and good lessons are archived at GrizzBridge.com grizz: the play to the first few tricks usually sheds a lot of light on who has what grizz: but there is no substitute for counting and using sound bridge logic grizz: Now pretend you are West, and try to devise a strategy to defend this hand grizz: Then choose a lead grizz: Dummy has a good !c suit, and West can tell that it is breaking favorably. Evelijne: 4(c) adibichea: 2!d grizz: excellent!!! grizz: adi gets a big gold star grizz: Trumps are breaking favorably for declarer too, and with 5 or 6 trump tricks and 4 or 5 !C tricks declarer may scamper home with 10 tricks before defenders get in. grizz: So a risky lead is indicated. grizz: Ordinarily West would not lead from the KJ tenace, hoping for a lead through S from either partner or dummy. grizz: Even if partner has the !SKx, !S-!S-!S ruff only nets 3 tricks for defenders. grizz: West can't know this of course at Trick 1, but the clues are there in the auction. grizz: West takes a chance. If S has the Ace, there is no defense that can work on this hand. But if partner has it... DirkSa: why should dummies clubs be good N can bid it with Kxxx too right? grizz: possible grizz: but best to assume that ops' bids are sound, and strategize accordingly grizz: East must be on his toes now. grizz: A !S switch might work, but on this hand declarer ducks and makes. grizz: East must give deference to partner's plan for the defense, unless he has a better plan. grizz: Seeing none, he returns partner's suit. grizz: BTW, at Trick 2 East returned a high !d grizz: Which was either his last or top of remaining doubleton pzee: does that show an even #? grizz: Yes, so West knew it was safe to cash the !DK grizz: It cannot hurt to cash the setting trick here! grizz: Having guessed right so far, it would be really embarrassing not to close the deal. wyoming33: better or might lose it on !Cs grizz: Exactly, and that meshes with the assumptions made at Trick 1 grizz: True, East may have !CQxx and the !SJ, and there may be another trick if declarer guesses wrong in !S. grizz: It is remotely possible that partner has the K, too. grizz: But most pairs will not have found this defense, and -1 rates to be a great score. grizz: One other thing to note on this hand. grizz: If West does not lead a !D, then the only other logical lead is a !s. jazzamine: yes...most frown leading from split honors right? grizz: yes, unless pard has bid or supported the suit Dianne0516: sometimes you will feel really dumb :) grizz: The lead of an unsupported Ace usually gives away a trick, as it does on this layout. grizz: But on this hand East gives a discouraging signal and West must lead !ds. grizz: Generally it is a bad idea to lead from a tenace, but there are exceptions. grizz: Active Defense is an exception. grizz: Are there any more questions before we move on? PedroG: n grizz: To score well at bridge in any form of scoring, but especially at matchpoints, you must take all of your tricks... grizz: ...And a few of theirs as well! grizz: On some kinds of hands declarer will be able to pitch his losers on a side suit if you give him time. salve09: I came in late what is Active Defence? grizz: Active Defense is taking risks to cash side suit tricks when ops have bid strongly in 2 suits DirkSa: what are signals that an active defense is in order? grizz: Thanks Dirk, that leads right into the next area grizz: On some kinds of hands declarer will be able to pitch his losers on a side suit if you give him time. grizz: Those tricks will go away if you don't cash them early. grizz: So in this case you will take certain calculated risks that you would otherwise avoid, like leads from tenaces. grizz: Though these risks may appear reckless, closer examination usually shows that unless partner has a magic holding it really makes no difference. grizz: Such as on the last hand, where if declarer has the !DA there is no defense that beats the hand. grizz: Here are the general conditions that point the way to Active Defense: grizz: 1. Any time tricks can go away, such as on a long side suit in either op hand. grizz: 2. Declarer's side suit is breaking favorably. grizz: 3. Ops have bid strongly, perhaps showing slam interest. grizz: 4. One op has a long running suit, such as a Gambling 3NT bid showing a running 7+ card suit. grizz: Are there any more questions before we look at another example? grizz: OK, pretend you are East and plan the defense. grizz: Your !hs are worthless now, with a void in dummy and lots of trumps. grizz: Do you see any other possibilities? grizz: Or threats to consider? alexiss: small dia gypsy1308: !S henning3: clubs Evelijne: !c mpemble: small !d pzee: 7!d grizz: That !c suit in dummy looks ominous alexiss: remove !d A...if p gets in with !cA can return !d Evelijne: and p !d wyoming33: if esst has Q !D may be able to get 2 !D tricks grizz: yes, the small !d is the only way to possibly defeat the hand pzee: weak 2!s opening indicates S has few HCP grizz: If declarer has the Q, then no defense works grizz: Right, figure for strategy purposes that declarer has about 8 hcp, maybe 1 or 2 more if red grizz: and that leaves room in partner's hand for some points Evelijne: nice grizz: and now declarer is pitching winners on winners grizz: Ordinarily East would keep the "safe" !DK behind the A in dummy grizz: But with those great !cs, declarer may be able to pitch all his !d losers first grizz: Are there any more questions before we look at another example? grizz: Let's look at almost the same hand gypsy1308->Club: y why not lead a trump back instead of leading up tp strength grizz: killing ruffing power is a legitimate strategy grizz: but not on this hand, with 4 good trumps in dummy, AND the big !c suit grizz: on every hand, you must decide what the threats are grizz: on this hand West must be long in !hs, and S must be short grizz: so !h ruffs are not the principal threat grizz: and they cannot be effectively neutralized anyway gypsy1308: ty grizz: the real threat is the !c side suit grizz: for pitching side suit losers in declarer's hand grizz: any other questions? grizz: Is there any reason to adopt a different strategy here? pzee: why lead 2!h not 4!h? grizz: against NT the 4 would be prefereble wyoming33: must like 5th leads - did so last board jazzamine: I think same strategy....A!C still unknown? grizz: vs. suits it doesn't make much difference grizz: right, the !DQ and !CA are still unknown grizz: now S reels off all the rest of the tricks, making 6 grizz: pitching all his losers on !cs jazzamine: yes....but we tried :) grizz: but in this case, there was no downside grizz: declarer was never going to lead 2 rounds of !ds anyway! grizz: and the K would never take a trick grizz: so though the small !d lead looked risky, it really was not at all grizz: and gave the only chance of beating the contract grizz: any questions on this one? Dianne0516: Why not lead Q !h? grizz: without either the T or 9, you would likely give up a trick that way wyoming33: ? - for NT yes - but been told to lead top of 2 card seq at suits grizz: that lead can create a finessing position in dummy that declarer could not create for himself grizz: the principle is less clear vs. suits grizz: i would not take anybody to the woodshed for leading the Q :) Dianne0516: Thanks--don't want to be there either :) grizz: let's try that Manso21: again the same hand ? DirkSa: pd needs to have something in hearts in order for the lead to work maybe better to lead low to avoid a possible blockage? grizz: let me first say that this situation is one in which there may be a !h stack in dummy grizz: S is short grizz: so trade the E !h holding with N, and see what happens Dianne0516: Makes sense :) grizz: S must be short to bid a weak 2 grizz: but let's try it anyway and see what happens grizz: now East has the opportunity to give a Suit Preference signal PedroG: 5h grizz: a small !h would show the !CA grizz: and a big !h would show the higher ranking side suit, !ds grizz: now if defenders had an entry, they could cash two !ds holding it to 4 baddeck: doesn't change anything in the declarer's camp grizz: not on this hand, no grizz: but it pays to develop good habits baddeck: yes grizz: because if you don't consciously develop good ones, then bad ones creep in grizz: and if you get it the habit of giving good signals, then you can think about other important things during the play grizz: it also builds partnership trust, and that is very important grizz: let's go back to the last hand for one last issue wyoming33: so all our other teachers are wrong ->wyoming33: ? wyoming33: they all say top of 2 in suits - 3 in NT ->wyoming33: depends on the auction, and this is a dangerous one for that lead grizz: to play good defense, you must take your tricks in the proper order grizz: if East plays "safe", waiting to get his !DK, it goes away grizz: showing the !CA grizz: now declarer has the timing to pull trump and run the !cs, pitching the !d losers grizz: making 5, instead of down 1 pzee: how does the 9!c show the A!c? gerd123: i would have discarded 2!h to schow !c interest grizz: same cards, same lead grizz: but the "safe" play costs 2 tricks! grizz: and here is another secret of good defense grizz: assume that partner has a strategy in mind at Trick 1, and try to figure out what it is grizz: generally it pays to fall in line with it grizz: not always, but as you all know nothing works in bridge all the time grizz: but defense requires partnership trust and coordination grizz: and if 3rd hand has a different idea of what the plan should be, and changes the strategy, grizz: there should be a compelling reason to do so grizz: West's initial strategy on this hand was to cash some !hs grizz: but the stiff in dummy and the long trump vetoed that idea grizz: so East was on his own to come up with a new strategy grizz: the void in dummy was a compelling reason to do something different grizz: and good bridge logic led to the "risky" but correct play of the low !d grizz: are there any questions? PedroG: n ty Pete grizz: remember, Active Defense and leading away from tenaces is an EXCEPTION to the usual rules of leads grizz: so let's go back to the 4 conditions that predict that Active Defense is necessary grizz: 1. Any time tricks can go away, such as on a long side suit in either op hand. grizz: 2. Declarer's side suit is breaking favorably. grizz: 3. Ops have bid strongly, perhaps showing slam interest. grizz: 4. One op has a long running suit, such as a Gambling 3NT bid showing a running 7+ card suit. grizz: That concludes today's lesson, and next week we will look at Passive Defense. DirkSa: tks grizz nice one grizz: If anybody needs help retrieving the hand records or chat log, please email me at Grizz!GrizzBridge.com. Dianne0516: Thanks, Pete--good lesson grizz: Thanks for your interest and participation, and I hope to see you next week. AofHearts: many tx :) PedroG: ty Pete great session has usual jazzamine: thnkx so much.....give us good things to 'think' about paruljain6: how do u retrieve the chat log? grizz: Chat log recovery instructions are on my website barbhow: ty Pete grizz: Thanks also to Maureen, Rosemary, Fred and the wonderful people at BBO who make this all possible. terrierx2: Thank you sharon J: bravo dmfav: thank you very much paruljain6: ok ty BILAssist: thanks, Grizz super lesson!!! PedroG: ty Rose !h grizz: BTW, have any of you old timers noticed that your defense is improving? grizz: that you have a better idea of strategy, cards, and positions? Dianne0516: y--thanks to you :) BILAssist: yes JohnnyHiLo: great lesson. do they pay u for this? ->JohnnyHiLo: no, these are free easybridge: what is your web site pl grizz: GrizzBridge.com ladygolf: thanks Pete grizz: Thanks all for coming, i'll see you in a week grizz: Bye now onoway: I am still at the stage of learning how much I donư know...bit by bit though... onoway: thank you ->onoway: a very important milepost on the way to improvement gypsy1308: u just proved to me to try something else than leading trumps when they have a void and long off suits easybridge: can i get copy of this lesson grizz: this lesson will be posted on my website, as soon as i resolve some technical issues with my domain provider Methy: thanks grizz: Bye now Methy: very useful lecture have a nice week :) dmfav: bye