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. I am available for tournaments as well. 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: 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: 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: The opening lead depends on your defensive strategy - as in chess, you must be thinking several moves ahead. 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. castraveti: do you need players, sir? ->castraveti: no, thx :) 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: That is the difference between strategy and tactics. 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. 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: If you wonder what a GIB bid means, click on it - the bots play 2/1. grizz: Here is the GIB convention card: http://online.bridgebase.com/doc/gib_system_notes.php grizz: grizz: this is an awkward hand to describe in SAYC grizz: but it's easy in 2/1, just start with a forcing NT grizz: then jump in the trump suit grizz: that shows a Limit Raise hand with only 3 trumps grizz: LR = 10-12 hcp grizz: ok, S to lead now OliverC->Club: I am grizz: any ideas? castraveti: looking at all hands? lbk1990: heart? antonio37: pasive defense castraveti: or considering only S hand grizz: pretending you can only see S castraveti: 9!D? antonio37: !d 9 grizz: y, i agree OliverC->Club: Alpha is always the FIRST Asking Bid if it is used at all grizz: any other suit is likely to give away a trick antonio37->Lobby: omg! oliver! lbk1990: yeah I guess with kings its not always a good idea to reveal yourself grizz: now is the time to reassess the defensive plan grizz: looks like Passive is still best castraveti: !D grizz: hope to cash both kings and hold to 4 castraveti: in order to make W ruff with high trumps grizz: or down 1 if pard has a trick grizz: or we could change to Reduce Ruffs grizz: though pard didn't show much interest in our !d lead grizz: if you couldn't see all 4 hands, would you go up on this trick? lbk1990: cash it don't you? grizz: would E play like this if he had the Q? castraveti: no grizz: maybe, but not likely EddyHaskel: pard must have Qc or e would have led it castraveti: impass from W antonio37: never OliverC->Club: The sequence we were discussing before during the session wasn't immediately over a positive response grizz: would cross to dummy with a trump and take the !c hook grizz: so N must have the Q! castraveti: 10!C? lbk1990: 8!s? grizz: and the !hs are a threat, but there is only 1 entry, the !s grizz: so let's kill that now grizz: success! EddyHaskel: man over machine! grizz: lol grizz: so one of the ways to get an edge on defense is to think like a declarer grizz: e.g., "would he do X if he had Y?" lbk1990: I'm not sure how you determined E didn't have the queen. was it that he would have finessed the other way? grizz: some folks lead trump if they doen't know what else to do OliverC->Club: I would even suggest that over 1!C-1!H-5!C Double is Gamma in Hearts grizz: that is not a good reason for leading a trump grizz: and on this hand a trump lead would give up a trick pzee: a low !h from East would have been better than a low !c grizz: E takes the Q with the A, and then hooks S for the K grizz: y, i agree there too pzee lbk1990: thanks grizz: ok, here is the logic on the !cQ grizz: if W has the J9xx in dummy, and E has AQx in hand, will he start by leading low to the J? grizz: not likely grizz: even less likely if E has AQ tight EddyHaskel: he's fishing for the K... if he had the Q he'd fish with it, not dummy's jack grizz: so E has Axx or Axxx grizz: and N has the Q, which might be singleton grizz: so if S rises with the K, it might crash pard's Q lbk1990: i see grizz: btw, the 2!c bid from E promised only 3+ grizz: though he could have 4 grizz: but in no case would he lead low to the J if he had the Q in the closed hand grizz: so this is not a case of blindly following the "second hand low" rule, but a case of applying solid bridge logic zewzew: bidding this hand in sayc, would it be 1!s, 3!s, 4!s ? grizz: no, in SAYC 1!s-3!s is a game force castraveti: 1!S-2!C-2nt-4!S? grizz: y, in SAYC often you must make a 2/1 bid on a 4-card suit grizz: and frequently it's a bad suit, like this one is grizz: but 2/1 handles this hand easily starting with a forcing NT, and then jumping to show a 3 card LR grizz: any questions on this one? zewzew: thx penol: n ->zewzew: :) grizz: click on the X bid to see that it is a Support Double grizz: this is another convention played by many 2/1 pairs, when responder bids a major that could be only 4 cards long grizz: in SAYC many folks bid 2!h here and risk playing in a 7 card fit pzee: is it used in SAYC? grizz: sure, any number of 2/1 conventions can be played with SAYC pzee: ty grizz: btw, sometimes a 7 card fit is the best contract available grizz: but the Support X allows pard to know the length of your support early on pzee: Moysian Fit, right? grizz: y grizz: S has a semblance of a !d fit, but red vs. white it's a risky idea to support !ds grizz: W is not wild about playing in a 4-3 fit with a suit this bad grizz: and E has not denied having 4!ss grizz: but generally responder must have 10+ hcp to bid twice grizz: on the other hand, EW are white and ops are red grizz: so vul is favorable for them grizz: well darnit, 2!s was a mild overbid grizz: E assumed 11+ EddyHaskel: r2d2 .... always the optimistic one. grizz: well W was close, with 8 hcp and 1 distribution point for the !c doubleton grizz: so the bot gets to lead, but i would have chosen the same suit grizz: which card to play from AK? A or K? grizz: the old style is the K fhill: A unless doubleton grizz: which leads to some confusion, since you also lead the K from KQ grizz: and unless pard has the A or Q or can see it in dummy, pard will not know for sure which other honor pard has lbk1990: agree before hand? grizz: y sascha3: hi bonidydy: what if you hold AK sec grizz: the newer style is to lead A from AK, to eliminate that confusion ->sascha3: hiya! ydannac: ty sascha3: :) just sent u an email - i cant make tomorrows group lesson:( jaymac: Why did E X rather than bid !S? grizz: so the A must be from one of 3 types of holdings - ->sascha3: oh, thx - np :) grizz: hold that question please, but don't let me forget it grizz: start with the assumption that pard would not lead an unsupported ace grizz: so either the A is from A singleton, Ax looking for a ruff later, or AK+ grizz: that makes life simpler for 3rd hand at Trick 1 grizz: ok, why did E bid X instead of 1!s? grizz: hard for me to answer that, since sometimes the bots' bidding is erratic grizz: the explanation is usually right, but sometimes the bid is dead wrong wvajuju: 1 spade would not be sufficient EddyHaskel: north competed to two level, one spade not available. grizz: sure grizz: and E had to allow for the possibility that pard had 5!hs without jumping a level grizz: besides, if W has only 4!hs but 4!ss too, then he might be able to bid them next grizz: as he did here grizz: 4-card suits get bid "up the line" grizz: btw, responder's 2!s bid is not a "responder reverse", about which there has been some buzz lately grizz: some players think that a reverse by responder is forcing to game, just as a reverse by opener is GF grizz: since responder bids 4-card suits up the line, a second suit by responder only shows 10+, not a GF hand grizz: anyway, back to the defense JanaDe: i have a general question on defense. You need to start with a defensive plan Then do you reassess your plan after each trick, perhaps changing to another plan? grizz: yes JanaDe: then what's the difference between strategy and tactic? grizz: opening leader must formulate a plan before choosing a card, but that choice was made before seeing dummy grizz: strategy is what you intend to accomplish, and tactics are the methods employed to do so JanaDe: so all defense plans are tactics? grizz: in warfare it is said that no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, and so it is in bridge too grizz: you must make certain assumptions about the hand based on the auction when selecting a line of defense and a lead JanaDe: so the strategy is 'defeat the contract grizz: sometimes those assumptions are borne out, and the best defense is to continue with that plan grizz: other times the cards in dummy necessitate a change of plan grizz: right JanaDe: ok grizz: but strategy is more finely honed than that - grizz: Forcing, grizz: Active, grizz: Passive, grizz: Reduce Ruffs, or grizz: Create Trump Tricks grizz: all those are strategies grizz: and the lead is the tactic used to execute the strategy grizz: so it's time for 3rd hand to play now JanaDe: this is where i have trouble :) grizz: S would like N to continue, so what card should S play here? ->JanaDe: :) NWaller: 10!D EddyHaskel: encourage... big ladygolf: J!d grizz: in standard methods a big spot card encourages, and a little one discourages grizz: but it's not quite that simple - grizz: seems as if in bridge it rarely is lol EddyHaskel: big spot... honor might signal doubleton... but also want to unblock... you know north has 4+ diamonds probably grizz: we don't use honor cards for signals, usually they are too valuable to waste grizz: if S unblocks, then W's 9 sets up for a discard grizz: so the 4 is the biggest card we can afford to play JanaDe: :) JanaDe: so is this a forcing strategy? grizz: started out that way, yes JanaDe: ok grizz: but it became apparent that W could not be forced to ruff !ds in the long trump hand pennicilin: oh nice grizz: actually, chances are that trumps are 4-4 grizz: so declarer can ruff in either hand, and Forcing Defense does not work grizz: so N changed strategy at Trick 2 to Creat Trump Tricks grizz: hoping that S could get in and give N a !c ruff grizz: so that is the complete answer to Jana's question earlier :) JanaDe: ty :) grizz: now W has a decision to make pzee: wasn't N's play of the !s9 a waste? grizz: he would like to repeat the !s finesse, but the only entry in the hand is a !c grizz: and the !c lead on the last trick looked suspiciously like a singleton grizz: so the best that W can do now is cash the !SA, hoping that N started with the !SKx lbk1990: now clubs? grizz: "wasn't N's play of the !s9 a waste?" grizz: not necessarily grizz: it was never going to take a trick anyway grizz: it looks more like a "Trump Echo" grizz: telling pard that he has 3, so he can ruff later if S gets in before all trumps are gone grizz: even in standard methods a hi-lo echo in the trump suit shows 3 grizz: so W was not lucky enough to catch the K, but it's not all bad news grizz: if N ruffs, it will be with a natural trump trick grizz: so NS do not get an extra trick with the ruff sascha3: hi-lo echo - u mean that top and then bottom - they dont have to be sequential? grizz: right BILmanager (Lobby): => Club: !d!d BEGINNERS/INTERMEDIATE: #1567, Ind, imps, Jackpot Tourney starts in 30 minutes. Please go to the tourney room to sign up. The more that play, the more prizes. Membership not required! !d!d grizz: nice, down 1 is a good result for defenders here grizz: especially considering that the major kings are both finessible grizz: and the !c tenace is favorable for declarer grizz: one other comment about the big !d opening lead grizz: a couple, actually grizz: when you bid or overcall a suit and pard does not support, that tends to show that pard is short grizz: so that's a good place to go searching for ruffs grizz: 2. when you have an AK in a side suit, there should be a compelling reason to start anything else grizz: and when the AK is in a long suit that pard has not supported, that is a perfect time for it wyoming33: OK - but I think all will be well unless something comes up grizz: p may be short, able to ruff the 2nd or 3rd round grizz: and it's unlikely to set up a trick for ops to get a discard on grizz: so the big !d was not just a shot in the dark here, there were solid reasons behind it 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. grizz: Thanks also to Maureen, Rosemary, Eileen, Fred and the wonderful people at BBO who make this all possible. grizz: Thanks all for coming, i'll see you next week. ydannac: THANKS GRIZZ!HH EddyHaskel: thanks, grizz! good stuff. grizz: Bye now.