Creating Trump Tricks grizz: Hi all, while we are waiting are there any questions before we start? dae->Kibitzers: y grizz: fire away grizz: or not lol dae->Kibitzers: signalling hi - lo on first trick led, how to know if singleton or doubleton grizz: you can't ever be 100% certain dae->Kibitzers: so often I am fooled grizz: though sometimes you can make assumptions from the auction dae->Kibitzers: y grizz: and it is a problem too - if singleton, it is right to win it and continue the suit for a ruff grizz: but if doubleton, more often right to duck first, win the second one and THEN return for a ruff dae->Kibitzers: no I mean when partner of leader hi-los grizz: most players avoid doubleton leads i think, because they rarely work out well grizz: oh, same story really grizz: it is never totally clear until the second round of that suit is played grizz: so you must decide which position is more probably, given the auction and dummy 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 previous 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: 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: 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: The same advice also applies to the defenders 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. Manso21->Club: tks Oliver 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 ruffing power. grizz: 5. Create trump tricks. grizz: Commit those 5 phrases to memory, because you will use them for the rest of your bridge life. 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: We have looked at Forcing, Active and Passive defense and Reduce ruffing power for the last 4 weeks. grizz: Let us review the conditions for those strategies briefly, and then get into Creating Trump Tricks. grizz: 1. Force declarer to ruff, and lose control of his own trump suit. grizz: There are 4 conditions in which the Forcing Defense can work. They are: grizz: a. Declarer has a 2-suiter. grizz: b. Any time you have 4 trumps, or think partner might. grizz: c. Declarer is in a 4-3 or 5-2 trump fit. grizz: d. Any time the long trump hand can be forced to ruff early in the play of the hand. grizz: 2. Active defense. grizz: Here are the general conditions that point the way to Active Defense: grizz: a. Any time tricks can go away, such as on a long side suit in either op hand. grizz: b. Declarer's side suit is breaking favorably. grizz: c. Ops have bid strongly, showing slam interest. grizz: d. One op has a long running suit, such as a Gambling 3NT bid showing a running 7+ card suit. grizz: 3. Passive defense. grizz: a. Ops have not bid a strong side suit. grizz: b. Declarer is strong, and dummy is weak. grizz: c. There is a misfit in key suits. grizz: d. Opening leader has no suit to lead against NT. grizz: e. You are defending 6NT or any grand slam. grizz: f. Ops have stumbled into a game. grizz: 4. Reducing Ruffs grizz: 1. Ops are playing in a misfit. grizz: 2. The auction suggests shortness in dummy. grizz: 3. Defense is strong in all other suits. grizz: Are there any questions before we charge ahead into Creating Trump Tricks? grizz: Let us now look at an example, before we talk about general conditions for Creating Trump Tricks to work. grizz: First a word about the auction. grizz: I didn't like it much! grizz: Responder has plenty of points and a glorious !s suit, and a ruffing value in !Ds. grizz: But responder "masterminded" the hand, neglecting to get opener's opinion about the matter. grizz: While it is true that responder becomes the captain of the partnership in a NT auction, he does not have enough information about the hand yet to place the contract. grizz: North should rebid 3NT to show 5!ss, a balanced hand and game forcing values, and let opener decide where it should play. grizz: If opener has 3 or 4!ss, then 4!s will usually be the best contract. But some hands play better in 3NT. grizz: Even some hands with 5-3 fits play better in 3NT, such as where opener has slow tricks and 4333 shape. grizz: The wrong rebid by responder works often enough that many players do not realize their mistake, but on this hand they pay a price. grizz: West starts with the top 2 !ds, and South false-cards with the J and Q, hoping to convince West to switch. grizz: But West has no better lead anyway. So the !d is continued. grizz: If dummy ruffs low (or does not ruff at all), East's Q wins. grizz: If dummy ruffs high, East's Q is promoted to a natural trick. grizz: btw, the low !d suggested a !c return in case E ever gets in grizz: Are there any questions on this layout? dae->Club: n wyoming33->Kibitzers: n grizz: lol North has learned his lesson, and gives partner a vote! cdt->Kibitzers: r we looking at all hands? grizz: but with 3 card support now, and ruffing value in !cs, 4!s rates to be a better contract grizz: yes, you should look at all 4 hands so you can see how this works grizz: This is a similar layout, except for the !s suit. If East can restrain himself from overruffing with the Q, sooner or later he will score 2 trump tricks. grizz: Many would be tempted to win the Q at Trick 3 fiscryder->Kibitzers: why sluff good !D? grizz: but by ducking, E will make 2 of those trumps grizz: illustration purposes only grizz: the point is that S must play !s eventually grizz: if N does not ruff, E wins small and still will cash the Qxx behind the AKJTx grizz: the key play here is that if E has the opportunity to overruff the J or T, he should duck fiscryder->Kibitzers: makes sense ty grizz: and will certainly make the Q and 9 or 8 grizz: The other type of trump trick creation is known as the "uppercut" grizz: let me claim first, so the hand will save for your review grizz: See how a trump materializes out of thin air on this hand, after a heads-up play by both defenders. grizz: instead of ruffing casually with the 5, East steps up with his highest spot card grizz: and S is now in trouble grizz: if he wins the K, then one of West's JT8 will be promoted grizz: and if not, he loses the trick grizz: notice that W knew that E and S were both out of !cs grizz: and with 3 big middle !ss, hoped that E had one big enough to dislodge an honor grizz: that in essence is the Trump Uppercut grizz: So here are the conditions for Creating Trump Tricks: grizz: 1. Ruffing declarer's tricks: grizz: a. You are short in any unbid suit. grizz: b. You are long in ops' side suit, both bid and raised. grizz: Then partner must be short in that suit. grizz: c. You have a weak hand, and no better line of defense. grizz: 2. Promoting tricks: grizz: a. Trump promotion grizz: b. Trump uppercut. grizz: Are there any other questions? grizz: That concludes today's lesson, and next week we will look at recognizing these different lines of defense at the table. baccib->Kibitzers: thank you grizz: If anybody needs help retrieving the hand records or chat log, please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. coco24->Kibitzers: thank you wyoming33->Kibitzers: thanks:) grizz: Thanks for your interest and participation, and I hope to see you next week. Dianne0516->Kibitzers: Thanks Pete :) ladygolf->Kibitzers: thanks Pete camilleln->Kibitzers: ty Pete!! grizz: Thanks also to Maureen, Rosemary, Fred and the wonderful people at BBO who make this all possible. ->camilleln: :) thelz000->Kibitzers: thank you grizz: Thanks all for coming, i'll see you in a week grizz: Bye now