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: And archives of old sessions are available at GrizzBridge.com, on the Lessons and Archives page located at: http://www.grizzbridge.com/Lessons_and_Archives.php 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. abrown1: what's the topic today? grizz: quiz hands on the 5 lines of defense grizz: which 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: Let us review the conditions for those strategies briefly, and then get into more quiz hands. 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: 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: Notice that there are a LOT of situations that indicate Passive Defense is best! grizz: 4. Reducing Ruffs grizz: 1. Ops are playing in a partial or complete misfit. grizz: 2. The auction suggests shortness in dummy. grizz: 3. Defense is strong in all other suits. grizz: grizz: 5. 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 trump tricks: grizz: a. Trump promotion grizz: That's a lot to remember. grizz: For those of you who are new, we spent a session on each of these topics, and archives are on my website. abrown1: this is whole year lesson?? grizz: in a sense - last year we spent 20 weeks on NT defense grizz: Are there any questions? bluehi: n grizz: Now let's get to the quiz hands. grizz: Knowing what the rules are is one thing, but being able to apply them at the table is quite different. grizz: You may kib all 4 hands to get a bird's eye view, or just West and dummy to get a more realistic view of the problem. grizz: this is a Support Double, showing precisely 3 cards in parner's suit grizz: so that pard can judge whether and how high to compete, based on the Law of Total Tricks grizz: the K here shows the top of a sequence grizz: so pard knows it's ok to lead the suit if he gets in again rq4mulae: on p's lead? grizz: right rq4mulae: not lowest of touching? abrown1: highest card to show E has the next lower grizz: you would play lowest if covering a trick, but not signalling when you have already lost it Miksa: East had shown equal honours bluehi: more easy this way grizz: right rq4mulae: k grizz: ok, now what? abrown1: club abrown1: passive meshmeshaa: c grizz: yes, passive is perfect - but why, and how? abrown1: need S to lead h grizz: right abrown1: if S has K Q no problem abrown1: but E bid h grizz: this is exactly the wrong time to go active and look for a !h trick grizz: sure, E bid !hs, but does not necessarily have the K wyoming33: dont break new suit - grizz: and if S has it, !h lead is all wrong grizz: correct, avoid giving declarer anything he doesn't deserve grizz: so an exit in either minor is ok grizz: eventually S must lead !hs from the board, and defense gets 2 of them grizz: one other point - E should play high here, in case S is running an endplay on W grizz: another point grizz: W can count declarer's tricks grizz: 6!s, after E shows out on the second round of trump grizz: 2!d, once the AK are gone grizz: and 1!c grizz: so where can the 10th trick come from? it can only be in !hs grizz: so S must play !hs sooner or later grizz: and the AJ is a dynamite tenace to hold over declarer grizz: notice one other thing too grizz: it is wrong to lead pard's suit at Trick 1! grizz: pard bid !hs, but that only guarantees 4+ grizz: doesn't say anything about honors grizz: and on this layout, a !h lead at Trick gives S his 10th trick grizz: so this is one of those many cases where Passive Defense is best abrown1: if that was E opening bid and you hold AJx would you lead it at first trick? grizz: depends on a lot of factors grizz: such as, did RHO bid NT? grizz: or run from NT? grizz: clearly the K is more likely to be in the E hand if he opens the suit grizz: but not necessarily grizz: another point on this hand grizz: if you have AK in any side suit, it is almost a mandatory lead vs. a suit contract spirit1320: both ace and king or just one of them? grizz: both grizz: in fact if you have AK in a side suit, there should be some compelling reason NOT to lead that suit meshmeshaa: do u still lead AK ,even if u hv no other entries grizz: sure grizz: vs. a suit contract, that is grizz: vs NT, those would be your entries and you would try to set up a long suit first grizz: but vs. a suit contract, odds are that you will both win a trick and stay in the lead spirit1320: even when that is simply opening up a suit for ops to run as in this case? sharon J: would that take priority over P's suit? grizz: yes to both questions sharon J: ty grizz: and this hand is a perfect example grizz: leading partner's suit here costs the game-going trick rq4mulae: if count as well as attitude can be shown on p's lead, not a good idea? rq4mulae: following to !dA, why not play 5 instead of 3? grizz: so when you start with the AK side suit, usually you get to look around and see if the defensive plan needs revision Dianne0516: The clue here is the tenace in ptnrs suit? grizz: yes grizz: one other clue too: grizz: b. Declarer is strong, and dummy is weak. grizz: and another clue: a. Ops have not bid a strong side suit. grizz: did anybody notice what card E played on Trick 1? abrown1->Club: 3 grizz: right Miksa: yes, always attitude signal on p's honour lead grizz: that was a Suit Preference signal wyoming33: you know P has high clubs so leading club will not cost you anything - and puts declarer in his/her hand rq4mulae: 3 signals for 1? :) grizz: when attitude is known, then pard has an opportunity for a different kind of signal Miksa: oh!? ty! spirit1320: low card = lower suit? grizz: continuing !ds is clearly wrong here grizz: so E gives a SP signal, to guide the defense grizz: and the small !d asks for a !c shift grizz: cool, eh? ydannac: y spirit1320: what is SP signal pls? grizz: SP = Suit Preference Miksa: yes, ty grizz: and that is just one of many reasons why an AK lead is a Good Thing abrown1: are these std or partnership agreement? grizz: these are standard defensive signals abrown1: how come diff books has diff signals spirit1320: if E wanted hearts, she would have played 8 diam? grizz: for those of you who may be new here, there are only 3 kinds of signals - grizz: 1. Attitude grizz: 2. Count grizz: 3. Suit Preference grizz: and in standard methods one card can give only one signal at a time sharon J: is count ever given rather than SP? abrown1: y on NT if partner lead A no honor shows count grizz: yes, count should be given in obvious situations, such as when pard has opened a preemptive bid showing 6 or 7 cards in the suit grizz: yes, there are several others too grizz: but in general you show Attitude on partner's lead, and Count on declarer's side suit grizz: and SP otherwise, if possible and convenient spirit1320: how do u show count please? grizz: depends on whether you use Standard or Upside Down grizz: Standard methods require hi-lo echo to show an even number of cards when giving count grizz: and lo-hi to show odd grizz: and just the reverse of that for UDCA abrown1: do u use trump echo? grizz: yes grizz: for those of you who don't know what a Trump Echo is, let me explain grizz: when holding 3+ trumps, you follow hi-lo to the first 2 rounds of trump grizz: so that pard knows you have one remaining in case there is a ruff to be had grizz: and that is true in trumps even if you play UDCA grizz: back to the AK lead, other good things might happen grizz: you might catch pard with a doubleton grizz: and start with A-K-ruff grizz: always a good way to start a hand :) Miksa: How would East signal doubleton here? grizz: or if continuation is wrong, as here, pard can signal how to proceed Miksa: High !d might be for !h shift? grizz: if E had doubleton here, would follow hi-lo Miksa: How should West know that it is not SP? grizz: not always 100% clear Miksa: ok, ty grizz: but here it is clear grizz: any other questions before we march on? ydannac: n grizz: Hand 2 then DougC43: how common are o/e discards? DougC43: sry, can wait till another time grizz: o/e is common enough that all advanced players should know what they are grizz: unusual bid, but maybe they play ACOL :) PedroG: :) grizz: assume standard signals, so W doesn't like !cs grizz: ok, we are really deep into the hand now grizz: and E must make a critical decision here grizz: if you are looking at all 4 hands, you see that whichever side breaks !ds will lose a trick abrown1: club whiz: :) !H grizz: so remember the old rule about never giving a ruff and a sluff? abrown1: only for beginners Miksa: :) grizz: it's another one of those rules that you need to know when to break! grizz: and here is one of those times grizz: S must lose a !d here coco24: why did you open with only 4 card major? grizz: my guess is that this pair plays either ACOL or Stone Age Goren :) sharon J: lol wyoming33: :) coco24->Club: txs grizz: or some whiz-bang new system like Canape PedroG: :) DougC43->Club: Stone Age Goren -- that sounds pretty manly lol grizz: ugghh spirit1320->Club: does Precision open with 4card majors? grizz: no, even Precision requires 5M wyoming33: true - many years ago first learned bridge Goren teaching 4 card majors grizz: E had a pretty good count on the S hand grizz: with 4!s, grizz: 3!hs and only 2!cs grizz: since he dropped the T on the second round of !cs LadyStar17: !H!HSuperLesson!!! Your information is ALWAYS excellent!! grizz: so S was marked with some !ds that could not go away on a long side suit PedroG: Pete if u wanne checkit for tomorrow :) http://pedrobridge.axspace.com/conv/Jac2nt.html grizz: and in such a situation, a ruff/sluff does no harm grizz: but breaking a new suit can be death for the defense grizz: a kib asks: when ur partner opens in a minor must u reply first with a 4 card major or up the line (e.g. diam over cclub)? grizz: again, that depends grizz: assuming that you have a 4m and a 4M, how many points do you have? grizz: with 10+ you are entitled to 2 bids, so bid !d first and your 4M later spirit1320: 10 alexiss->Club: ty grizz: with less than 10, you are only entitled to one bid grizz: so best to make it count, skip over the minor to bid the major spirit1320: and with 9 hcp and 4-4 in majors? grizz: then bid !h first grizz: if pard has them, you are ok grizz: if pard has !s he will bid them next, and you are still ok grizz: the worst thing to do is bid !s first, and find pard with short !s and 4!hs spirit1320: it turned out we both had both spirit1320: but spades were stronger spirit1320: and we played in hearts grizz: in that case it doesn't make much difference which major you play in grizz: in most cases spirit1320: but spades were stronger grizz: that is a Good Thing, having a strong side suit spirit1320: thx so much grizz: your little trumps will be winners grizz: as ruffs grizz: any other questions? spirit1320: what to do when u have only AJ in trumps between both hands grizz: there are tables that will tell you how to play any combination - would you like to know where to find them? spirit1320: yes pls paruljain6: yes plz' spirit1320: yes pls ydannac: y meshmeshaa: please grizz: the Encyclopedia of Bridge has some very good ones grizz: that tell you not only how to play the suit for any number of tricks in it, but what the odds are grizz: hang on for just a minute and i will find another one for you abrown1: Mike Lawrence? Sekmeth: software suitplay.exe spirit1320: Pete, thank u so much for these lessons Miksa: http://www3.telus.net/ldh/bridge/safety.txt Miksa: http://www.bridgeball.de/BCYdata/Downloads/Lernmaterialien/safety.doc grizz: http://bridgehands.com/S/Suit_Combinations.htm Miksa: http://www.albrecht-hollstein.de/Bridge/Safety%20Plays.htm grizz: this table is not as complete as the Encyclopedia, but it will do grizz: there is also a link to this on my website, in case you forget Dianne0516: Why 3nt here and not hsgt? grizz: not sure, somebody else constructed the problem spirit1320: thanks again grizz: most folks would open the S hand 1!d grizz: back to the tables for a minute grizz: the question was, how do you play a suit when you have AJ between the two hands? grizz: so ops have the KQ, or 5 hcp grizz: so go to the 5HCP page: grizz: http://bridgehands.com/S/Suit_Combination_5.htm ydannac: lots to do all these websites grizz: and scroll down the page until you find the layout that best matches your own ydannac: Thanks Grizz!H!H! grizz: :) kyno40: Thank you !!!!! grizz: most mere mortals cannot possibly memorize all these tables grizz: but look for patterns grizz: That concludes today's lesson, and next week we will continue quiz hands on these different lines of defense at the table. grizz: BTW, your satisfaction is guaranteed, or the next lesson is free! :) PedroG: Ty Pete :) !h Dianne0516: Thanks so much Pete abrown1: Thx Pete dotfl: thanks Pete ladygolf: thanks Pete for lesson:) grizz: If anybody needs help retrieving the hand records or chat log, please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. coco24: Thank you Pete, been very helpful:) onoway: thanks Pete :) grizz: Thanks for your interest and participation, and I hope to see you next week. wyoming33: thanks - see you shortly in IAC bluehi->Club: tu 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 Miksa: Thanks! AofHearts->Club: tx Pete and maureen grizz: Bye now