grizz: Hi everybody, thanks for attending another in a series of lessons on Defense. grizz: I have been gone for a while, let's see if I can still do this! grizz: First I have an announcement. grizz: PedroG and I have been invited to play in a Listen To The Experts panel in the BIL tomorrow vs hondo and aspiring at 1530 BBO time. grizz: We will be playing SAYC and chatting about our bids, plays and thought processes. grizz: You are all invited, and encouraged to ask questions. Seeya there! 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 at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. 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 located at: http://www.grizzbridge.com/Lessons_and_Archives.php grizz: More than 50 sessions are logged there now, with lots of good information. 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: If I forget a question while answering another, please remind me. grizz: I encourage participation by all kibitzers grizz: So jump right in with a comment, question, or bid at any time, but please do so in open chat. grizz: There are only 5 basic types of defensive strategy at the beginning of a hand. grizz: These concepts are out of the book "How The Experts Win At Bridge" by Burt Hall and Lynn Rose-Hall, the Bridge Book of the Year in 1997. grizz: By way of review, and for those who are new here, the 5 lines of defense are: grizz: 1. Force declarer to ruff, and lose control of his own trump suit. grizz: 2. Active defense, go get your own tricks. grizz: 3. Passive defense, let the lead come to you. grizz: 4. Reduce ruffs. grizz: 5. Create trump tricks. grizz: Again, if you need review on the 5 Lines of Defense check out http://www.grizzbridge.com/Lessons_and_Archives.php grizz: Scroll down the page until you find those lessons under the BIL listings. grizz: Briefly, here are the lead guidelines for each of these different strategies: grizz: 1. Forcing defense - lead your side's strongest suit. grizz: 2. Active defense - also, lead your side's strongest suit. grizz: 3. Passive defense - top of a sequence, or a worthless suit grizz: 4. Reduce ruffs - lead a trump grizz: 5. Create trump tricks - lead away your own or toward partner's shortness. grizz: So choosing a lead depends on what your defensive game plan is, referring back to the 5 Lines of Defense. grizz: When you know WHAT you intend to accomplish, it is easier to decide HOW to get it done. grizz: This week we are going to continue looking at example hands and auctions, consider defensive plans and choose leads. grizz: These example hands are not predealt, they are random. grizz: So I have not analyzed them, rather we are all looking at them for the first time. grizz: The bidding will be done by the bots, though I must sit in one of the seats during play to control the pace. grizz: I have no idea who the declarer will be or which seat will be on lead, so you may kibitz all 4 hands. grizz: We will put our heads together and come up with a defensive strategy based on the auction, the hand on lead, and the 5 Lines of Defense. brockobama: should we look at all hands or just south? grizz: I will try to remember to insert the board numbers in the Chat Log, so you can match up the log with the hands file in the future. grizz: I have no idea who the declarer will be or which seat will be on lead, so you may kibitz all 4 hands. grizz: If you wonder what a GIB bid means, click on it - the bots play 2/1. grizz: grizz: ok, time to choose a Line of Defense, then choose a card grizz: what does this sound like? sch212: q!C grizz: strategy first, then choose the card grizz: ops have bid strongly to game, with no information about side suits analisals: they don't have another long suit 1aphrodite: passive el tombo: active, try to create tricks el tombo: low club grizz: let's rule out a couple bad ones Pearls23: J!D brockobama: counting tricks might be good meshmeshaa: 10c el tombo: or the 10 grizz: there is no reason to suspect that pard has 4 trumps, so Create Trump Tricks has no future sch212: strategy= E have 8 tricks grizz: and if try to Reduce Ruffs, we will probably surrender a natural trump trick ivision: active defense grizz: E probably has the !SA, so underleading the K is suicide grizz: and leading the K is even worse sch212: yes Pearls23: big time grizz: Forcing is out with neither defender being long in trumps grizz: so that leaves Active and Passive brockobama: attacing lead would be Q!D wyoming33: west made a single raise - so pard probably has a few points grizz: if we go Active, then we try to establish and cash our own tricks right away, at the risk of giving up a trick or two if we are wrong bizzee: I would lead the 9 of C ivision: passive defense grizz: if we go Passive, we don't risk giving up a trick right away, but we surrender the timing on the hand and let declarer get on with cashing his side suits grizz: so are we worried about the side suits? grizz: not really grizz: W made a minimum bid, and we have lots of stuff sitting behind the big hand grizz: so this rates to be a Passive situation grizz: let me go back to Active for just a minute grizz: Active has the risk of giving away tricks, so you only take the risk of Active if it sounds like your tricks can go away before you get to cash them grizz: there is no such suggestion in this auction - ops do not have a strong side suit that they can run, not one that they told us about anyway grizz: so Passive wins by a process of elimination 1aphrodite: y grizz: so what card should we lead to get off to a Passive defense? kyno40: !d Mary Liz: 10c brockobama: fourh best club i very passive against a suit joesypaddy: 2h grizz: a worthless suit or the top of a sequence analisals: top of sequence tmortada: !DQ wyoming33: !DQ niccolla: c 1o grizz: y, i like the !DQ as top of a sequence brockobama: Q!D is better attack grizz: unlikely to cost us a trick grizz: and maybe pard has the A and dummy the K wyoming33: not going to finesse your P grizz: exactly grizz: the sequence will not hook pard out of a card that declarer can't get otherwise grizz: so why the !dQ and not a !c? analisals: don't know kyno40: let the !c come to you grizz: easy - we don't know where the !CJ is tmortada: because !C can cost a trick brockobama: !C offer free finsese grizz: right! grizz: so put that !c back! grizz: ok, now we see dummy for the first time, and we get to reconsider the defense plan brockobama: now leading !CQ makes sense grizz: looks like we are entitled to 1!s, 1!d, maybe 1!c, and maybe 1!h grizz: btw, for purposes of these lessons we play Standard defensive signals grizz: high encourages, and hi-lo shows even number if we are giving count brockobama: what did P discard? grizz: !d6, looks like a low card with the 234 in dummy niccolla: d grizz: and pd shows Attitude on my lead in most cases grizz: but we give Count on lead from declarer or dummy grizz: so low shows odd Pearls23: plse explain attitude Miksa: does P give count when not able to win the trick after the dummy? grizz: and the !h9 is an Attitude lead, showing nothing left in !hs Pearls23: right ty grizz: y, that is also a standard treatment grizz: some play that 3rd hand gives Count if it can't beat dummy grizz: others play that 3rd hand gives count only if dummy wins with the A or K Miksa: ty grizz: and 3rd hand may have to play high, or finesse an honor in dummy grizz: so we can't always rely on an Attitude card from pard grizz: but now, the !h9 is an Attitude lead - he has nothing left in !hs grizz: suggesting that he does have something left elsewhere grizz: but he showed no interest in !ds grizz: and we have the !Sk grizz: so pard must have a !c card grizz: let's file that away for future reference grizz: now we are stuck el tombo: endplayed :) grizz: pard has nothing in !d, so a !d lead will give away a trick Pearls23: Q!C hoping for AJ in N grizz: if pard has the !CA, then we have a problem if E has the J grizz: if N has the AJ, it makes no difference which !c we lead grizz: if E has it, we might give away a trick if we make a bad play grizz: so all things considered, it's best to lead the T grizz: hoping to convince E that N has the AQ, so he doesn't let the lead ride to his J grizz: it worked! grizz: cowabunga, dude! 1aphrodite: lol wyoming33: LOL psyched out the gib grizz: lol grizz: great fun when it works! grizz: seems like a lot of mental effort to go through on every hand, doesn't it? TwstofLime: but fun! grizz: but that is what separates the good players from the average players brockobama: that's why folks don't defend well el tombo: would it be better to lead the 9 to make it easier for GIB to go wrong? if you lead the T it is the standard lead from QT9 but the 9 suggests a bad suit wyoming33: brain works too slow - have to count cards, points, etc robiniere: oui :) grizz: y, that is one reason why folks don't defend well grizz: so my mission is to teach you how to think, and what to think about RogerPfi: the more you practice something (anything) the faster and better you get :) grizz: and don't just grab a card because some chart in some book said so brockobama: it works better to look at onkly one hand grizz: the book didn't listen to the auction or see the dummy grizz: T or 9, either one is good grizz: important thing is not to give away the location of the Q - put declarer to the guess grizz: and as you start going through this drill, it will become easier - like building up a muscle grizz: the most important thing is to avoid a bad line of defense - grizz: the worst thing you can do is go Active when you should stay Passive grizz: if we make some other lead, it's probably down 1 Pearls23: at the same time it looked like GIB was programmed to play high in clubs and myself I would run the 10 to the J in hand grizz: losing 1!s, 1!h, 1!d and 1!c grizz: but the extra undertrick is gold in a matchpoint game grizz: a logical line of play grizz: but we have an important concept here brockobama: against opening !C even GIB might duck the K grizz: give declarer the opportunity to make a bad play grizz: y, at Trick 1 declarer doesn't know yet whether he is in trouble grizz: so might duck the K and save a trick grizz: and demonstrating that Active defense risks giving up a trick brockobama: hard to lead away from !C A grizz: also true brockobama: I like the !DQ better and better grizz: any more questions on this one? grizz: zewzew: i cannot understand what is the principle of never under leading an Ace el tombo: what if declarer has a singleton king? grizz: if your RHO has the K, you just gave away a trick brockobama: in this case it could fool Declarer into ducking his K grizz: it's almost never right to underlead an Ace at a suit contract analisals: why is it only on the first lead, wouldn't that be the same case later in play? grizz: but frequently right to underlead one, even AKxxx, vs. NT Pearls23: Pete - I don't play 2/1 - what is 1NT opening in 2/1? grizz: most folks play 15-17, even in 2/1 Pearls23: ty zewzew: but if K not singleton, than K becomes immediately a winner grizz: meckwell play 14-16 in 1-2 seat, 15-17 in 3-4 grizz: a few of us play 12-14 grizz: and some of us who live on the bleeding edge play 10-13 NV, and 12-14 V Pearls23: and it is for supported honors - or just goren points? grizz: just 4321 points to start with brockobama: is there a good book on weak NT? Pearls23: right - ty grizz: but hand evaluation changes during the auction, depending on what everybody else bids grizz: there are books on weak NT, but i can't say whether they are good - brockobama: if you count an extra point for five cards suit that works grizz: i think they all have good parts and not-so-good parts, and it's hard to tell them apart Miksa: go on with Defense? :) grizz: ok grizz: hmmmm what could 3!s mean? grizz: N was not forced to bid jlco: lead directing el tombo: constructive but non-forcing? brockobama: may not even be 4 cards suit grizz: right wyoming33: 4+!S grizz: unlikely to be 4, since S doubled rather than bidding a second suit wyoming33: and apparently not support for !H brockobama: not many !h leonora3: place to play grizz: showing 3+ in the unbid suits brockobama: less than 10pts grizz: 2 important pieces of information - enough points to bid at the 3 level, and a decent suit grizz: probably some !d length too, to explain the initial pass tmortada: GIB says 4+ !s and less than 8 pts rainbow63: enough points? grizz: more inferences grizz: N has !ss, but did not make a negative double vangie: weakjump after overcalling? TwstofLime: yes, I think N realizes vulnerability and knows partner wants to compete grizz: so how many points would N need for a negative X? vangie: 8 analisals: 8 grizz: 7+ at the 1 level wyoming33: 2 level - around 8 grizz: 8+ at the 2 level brockobama: he'd neg dbl in first round if he had points grizz: 10+ at the 3 level grizz: so assume that N has less than 8 leonora3: right grizz: and that is why GIB says <8 grizz: so !s rates to be a source of tricks brockobama: so that's enought to try for game? grizz: and the !hs suit is self sufficient grizz: y, S has enormous playing strength, with N showing !ss brockobama: W has Q meshmeshaa: so why leave the hand to w? meshmeshaa: and void D? grizz: S rates to take at least 2 tricks brockobama: p may be void in !H grizz: and N squeaked, so might be good for 1 grizz: and N doubled, so N should be good for 2 grizz: so S must decide whether they have a chance to beat 5!d, and also whether 5!h might make brockobama: may have !D trick also grizz: also true grizz: !hs are long, but suit quality is poor rainbow63: Is N's double too optimistic? grizz: maybe, but S's X tends to show extras brockobama: seems like leading !HA is good grizz: N missed a chance here easybridge: what is N x ? jlco: signalling? grizz: when dummy is now void, pard can give a Suit Preference signal grizz: N X is for penalty brockobama: N should encourage if he has !SK jlco: ucda? grizz: so N should play the 8 to ask for a !h switch grizz: hope S has the A, and ruff the 2nd trick grizz: the high !s cannot be asking for a !s continuation when dummy will ruff it easybridge: n has nothing to suggest penalty wyoming33: !H about the only thing left to get trick in grizz: and the trump uppercut creates a trick grizz: look at the last trick grizz: if W ruffs low, N overruffs grizz: if W ruffs high, the J is promoted to a natural trick brockobama: !C2 is suit pref too right? jlco: why would w ruff low, has so many high cards? jlco: know he doesn't have the !dJ grizz: maybe hoped S had the J grizz: 8 was as good as the T kyno40: the real big mistake was discard of!s 4 on !s ace grizz: so we have a tricky high level bidding decision grizz: several conditions must be met before a sacrifice can be successful grizz: 1. ops must make their game grizz: 2. the sac must go down less than the value of that game grizz: 3. the field must find the game! brockobama: must avoid down 2 grizz: down 3 is ok if 5!d makes grizz: since -500 beats -600 grizz: but -500 is a phantom sacrifice if 5!d does not make grizz: so grizz: we have another concept here easybridge: pl explain #3 brockobama: our game isVV so 500 too much grizz: if 5!d makes, but other pairs don't find it, then even if 5!h is a good sac, it's a bad score grizz: if other pairs are making 130 or 150, and we go -300 or -500, that's bad news brockobama: 5!D works ifnot doubled grizz: maybe grizz: there was a question earlier, what was the X for? N does not have a great hand grizz: there is another kind of X besides a Penalty X - some call it a "Shut Up X" leonora3: lol grizz: meaning that pard is discouraged from bidding on grizz: true story, it's right there in Bridge World Standard grizz: furthermore sofine: and why the !c lead after the Dble? kyno40: i think GIB s x was based on singelton !h ? grizz: if one player makes a forcing pass, pard doubles, and first player pulls the X, that is a strong hand and a slam try grizz: but that is pretty arcane stuff meshmeshaa: arcane?? grizz: difficult to understand and execute kyno40: but then he would have been leading it so i am wrong brockobama: refined stuff! meshmeshaa: thx grizz: so the X might have been for penalty, or it might have been "Shut Up!" sofine: the !c lead is arcane grizz: could hardly be for penalty here, with 3-8 hcp brockobama: so this hand won't make 4!H? right wyoming33: shd north lead the !HJ grizz: y, N should lead the stiff H wyoming33: perfect play it looks like can make 4!Hs grizz: looks like with normal play it loses 1!s, 2!h and 1 or 2!cs wyoming33: right lose 2 !H grizz: so when all is said and done, it was a Shut Up X that worked brockobama: so it's a good sac unless doubled grizz: not if 5!d goes down wyoming33: gib said in explan - I am very weak easybridge: is it shut up x for himself or pt? grizz: it shuts pard up leonora3: the polite way grizz: :) easybridge: never heard this x grizz: BWS says "discourages further bidding by partner", or words to that effect - but the message is clear - Shut Up!!! brockobama: correct not to pull the double, agreed analisals: was the lead a active lead? grizz: y, i did not like the lead - stiff !h stands out grizz: the !c worked out here, but i would not endorse that lead brockobama: that's why I thought p was void grizz: a logical conclusion grizz: Do we have any final questions? grizz: That concludes today's lesson, and next week we will have more quiz hands on opening leads. grizz: If anybody needs help retrieving the hand records or chat log, please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. grizz: I teach private individual, pair, and small group lessons. If you would like to know more please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. kyno40: thank you brockobama: thanks a million wyoming33: thank you very much ladygolf: thanks Pete :) sch212: thx for nice lesson TwstofLime: Pete, do you have a defense lesson each Saturday in the BIL? Miksa: Thanks for the lesson and gl in the Match grizz: Thanks also to Maureen, Rosemary, Eileen, Fred and the wonderful people at BBO who make this all possible. analisals: thanks Grizz am glad to review this subject as it is very difficult for me to pick up on tmortada: thx Pete RogerPfi: thanks grizz: PedroG and I have been invited to play in a Listen To The Experts panel in the BIL tomorrow vs hondo and aspiring at 1530 BBO time. leonora3: when you don't know what day it is how do you quickly get to the end of chat log? grizz: leonora3: thank you! grizz: We will be playing SAYC and chatting about our bids, plays and thought processes. grizz: You are all invited, and encouraged to ask questions. Seeya there! TwstofLime: ty so much! :) carrell: ty grizz: Thanks all for coming, i'll see you in a week grizz: Bye now