BILManager (Lobby): => Club: !D!DGrizz's Lesson on Defense is now open in the BIL. Lesson will begin in about 10 mins. All members are invited to attend this very informative lesson.!H!H ->BILManager: thx ->BILManager: sry about missing last week, i had mega computer problems grizz: hi all, thx for joining us, we will wait until the advertised time at the bottom of the hour grizz: brb Manso21->Club: nice p donsanders: Hi everyone BILManager (Lobby): sounded mega when you said that it got so many computers what a disaster BILAssist->Kibitzers: !D!DGrizz lesson will start in about 5 mins!H!H grizz: Do we have any questions before we start? donsanders: you must have fixed your computer? grizz: lol y, 1 is working but the monitor is toast Manso21->Club: here ? donsanders: lol emiller7: some have said do not lead with a or K is that right BILAssist: are you going to do volunteers today if yes 2 or 3 boards?? ->BILAssist: no volunteers today grizz: it all depends... rq4mulae: Pete, can you define "coup" as it applies to bridge, and can any be done by defense as well as declarer? grizz: let me give a better answer to the AK question grizz: experts frequently underlead Ks, except when NT has been bid by LHO grizz: unsupported Aces are usually bad leads grizz: we will be talking more about ace leads today, are you psychic? BILAssist->Club: !D!DGrizz lesson is starting now in the BIL. All members are invited to attend this very informative lesson on Defense!H!H donsanders: This lesson is still dealing with NT - correct? grizz: yup, we are still stuck on NT, and still at Trick 1, even after 7 weeks! donsanders: don't know about the rest, but I am pretty slow meshmeshaa: whn will we start?? grizz: a "coup" is from the French, meaning a strategic stroke, brilliant move, in defense or declarer play grizz: start very soon drgarie2xx: will you cover defense against coup en blanc? grizz: one fairly frequent defensive coup is a Scissors coup grizz: where there is a long suit in dummy that won't yet run, but will soon, and only one outside entry grizz: if that entry is a A, it is frequently right to sacrifice an unsupported K to wipe out the entry and destroy declarer's timing grizz: hence the term "Scissors", since it cuts declarer's communication grizz: Hi everybody, thanks for attending another of a series of lessons on Defense. grizz: For those who missed my BIL session last week, so did I! gimit: tks to you PedroG: hi Pete , and thanks for the lesson we are having grizz: The pleasure is all mine :) grizz: A power transformer blew up just down the street, and killed all 5 of my PC's. It took me all day Saturday to get one running. rq4mulae: hey! i've done that! just didn't realize it was "a strategic stroke, brilliant move" :) grizz: One is down for the count, the other 3 are on life support, but it looks like my bridge computer is healthy except for some monitor issues, and a new one is on the way. grizz: BTW, I found a screaming deal on a big NEC MultiSync LCD monitor, if anybody needs one email me for details. jacquiek: is your website up yet? grizz: nope :( i'm a slow study when it comes to website design grizz: Anyway, here we go. First the usual stuff, plus one change. 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. grizz: My old email at grizz.den@gmail.com still works, but I have a new one too, Grizz@BrizzBridge.com. grizz: The new website is not up yet, and won't be for a while. I have lot to learn about webpage design! grizz: If you have any ideas about what you would like to see on the site, please let me know. grizz: I plan to use it as an archive for lesson chat logs and hand records, but there must be other things you folks would like to see there too. grizz: Please email me with any ideas at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. 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 cannot respond to private chat during a lesson. Caitlin: good luck will be back...can you send me hands after? HUGS!H ->Caitlin: !H grizz: Last week we talked about notrump defense, went over some general rules and looked at some examples, concentrating on 3rd hand play to Trick 1. grizz: Today we are going to transition into signalling, but first let us review those notrump defense rules. grizz: Notrump is a race to see which side can establish and cash its winners first. grizz: The two most important concepts in notrump defense are long suits and entries. grizz: Long suits are where the extra tricks are, and entries allow you to cash them. grizz: That is why it is usually best to start with your side's long suit. grizz: The race to develop tricks starts at Trick 1, and if the defense does not get off to its best lead then momentum and timing shift to the declarer. grizz: We will see an excellent example of that later today. grizz: Here are some general rules for NT leads as a review, for those who may not have attended previous sessions. grizz: By the way, these rules are for 1st hand LEADS, they do not apply to 3rd hand FOLLOWING! grizz: 1. If your partner has bid a suit, lead it, unless you have a strong suit of your own and an outside entry. grizz: 2. Strong top-of-sequence leads from 4-card suits (KQJx. KQTx. QJTx) are better than weaker but longer suits (Jxxxx, Qxxxx). grizz: 3. If you have the choice between an unbid major or an unbid minor with similar strength in each, the major is usually a better prospect. grizz: 4. If dummy uses Stayman he can be assumed to have one or two 4-card majors. grizz: 5. If your hand is dreadful, try to hit partner's long suit, even if he hasn't bid. Any suit that he might have bid at the 1 level but didn't will be an unlikely candidate for ... grizz: this desperation lead. grizz: 6. If dummy has announced during the auction that he has a long, strong suit, you must make an aggressive lead in another suit. AKx. KQx or QJx are better in this case than ... grizz: weaker but longer suits. grizz: 7. Partner needs to know whether you have any honors in the suit you lead. If a switch must be made at Trick 2, partner needs to know and act quickly. grizz: A. The lead of a low card in an unbid suit promises an honor. So if you lead low, expect partner to return that suit if he gets in. grizz: B. Likewise, the lead of a big spot card tends to deny an honor. Partner is notified that he must switch. grizz: C. Leading from a strong 4-card suit like AQTx, AQJx, AJTx, or AKTx usually costs a trick. grizz: Odds are that RHO has the missing honor, and a lead from one of these sequences goes right into declarer's tenace. grizz: But it is a GOOD idea to lead from a strong 5-card suit, such as AQTxx, AQJxx, AJTxx, or AKTxx. grizz: D. The lead of a Q shows either the top of a sequence (QJT, QJ9) OR a powerful combination headed by the KQT9. grizz: If the opening leader may have that combination, that is you do not see the K,T or 9 but you do have the J, you should play it at Trick 1. grizz: That 9 is a critical card. This lead tells partner that once the ace is cleared and the J is played or unblocked, the suit will run. grizz: Otherwise you would give a Count signal. grizz: So the opening lead of a Q calls for Unblock the J or Count jacquiek: so from AQTXX, AQJXX, etc....would you lead 4th down? bluehi: right there not clear the lead 9 grizz: jacquie's question first grizz: if there is no outside entry in the hand, lead low - your only entry is in that suit grizz: if there IS an outside entry, i would lead low from AQTxx, the Q from AQTxxx, and the Q from AQJxx or AQJxxx grizz: and for bluehi, the comment was not about leading the 9, but unblocking the J if you don't see the K, T or 9 in 3rd hand or dummy bluehi: ok grizz: DO NOT unblock the J unless you can see all 3 of those cards grizz: So the opening lead of a Q calls for Unblock the J or Count hallway (Lobby): !D!D I didnt get any hands to load for the tourney from you - when it is time pls tell them random bds today ->hallway: ok :) grizz: as for the tournament afterward, we will have random boards today grizz: E. The lead of a K shows either a sequence (KQJxx, KQTxx, KQTxx) or a short suit (AKx, KQx). trudean 24: can i just ask how u give count? grizz: we will be covering that in more detail after the recap meshmeshaa: great question grizz: but in short, playing standard carding uses hi-lo to show even count, and lo-hi to show odd BILAssist: looks like your hard work has paid off grizz: so you need to play 2 cards to show the count ->BILAssist: :) grizz: in order to clarify whether the first card was hi or lo grizz: since sometimes the 7 could be low, and in others the 4 may be high trudean 24: thks grizz: it is all relative to the cards in your hand and dummy trudean 24: just wanted to be sure it was hi-low - low-hi grizz: Against NT the K is either a sequence in a long suit or a desperation lead hoping to find partner with length and an entry. Another clarification here. grizz: yes, in standard methods that is corredct grizz: lol correct grizz: playing upside down count, those two cases are reversed grizz: we will be talking about that down the road grizz: for now let us assume standard signals grizz: so we can all be on the same page grizz: F. Leading an A shows a very strong 4-card suit or longer, headed by AKQ, AKJT, AKJ (or AQJ with an outside entry). Since the A is a guaranteed entry, it is rare to waste it on ... grizz: the opening lead. grizz: It asks specifically to unblock an honor, or otherwise to give count. grizz: This is a clarification of the rule as stated in previous classes, and we will look at an example. grizz: G. Playing Coded 9's and T's, also known as Jack Denies (and T or 9 Implies), the lead of a J denies a higher honor, but guarantees a sequence if it is an unbid suit. grizz: The lead of a T or 9 now specifically shows 0 or 2 cards higher. If leader has 2 higher cards, they are specifically a touching tenace (KJT9, KT98, AT98, AJT9, etc.) grizz: Remember, these rules are for 1st hand LEADS, they do not apply to 3rd hand FOLLOWING. grizz: We will talk about 3rd hand play in following weeks, but here is a sneak peek at the rules, and you will be happy to know that they are much simpler. grizz: 1. Win the trick, unless there is a good reason not to. grizz: 2. Give Attitude on partner's lead - tell him whether to continue the suit or switch. grizz: 3. Give Count on declarer's lead, to help partner figure out suit distribution around the table. drgarie2xx: how many card plays does it take to figure accurately opp distribution !S !h !d !c ? selaine: hi - I am in a class in the BIL grizz: frequently, though not always, you can figure out the distribution in the led suit at Trick 1. You should have a pretty good idea from the auction and play to the early tricks grizz: by Trick 4 or 5, things should be pretty clear grizz: though sometimes not grizz: Are there any other questions? bluehi: n grizz: OK, let us zero in again on 3rd hand play to Trick 1. This is the most important single signal in NT defense. grizz: Partner needs to know whether whether to continue the suit or switch, if the lead holds... grizz: ...and whether to continue or switch if it doesn't! grizz: Remember, there are only 3 kinds of signals - Attitude, Count and Suit Preference. grizz: One card can only give one signal. For instance, if Attitude is discouraging, the same card cannot also show suit preference for the switch. grizz: Partner will just have to work it out from the cards he can see and the auction. grizz: Now let's go back to the lead of an ace. grizz: Against NT you don't waste an entry at Trick 1, so you don't lead the ace unless you have a very powerful suit, something like AKQTx, AKJTx, AKJxx. grizz: Or add a card or 2 to any of those holdings grizz: This is a suit that will run if the missing honor can be picked up, or if partner has it. grizz: So the lead of an ace asks 2 questions: grizz: 1. Partner, do you have the missing honor? or grizz: 2. Partner, if you do not have the missing honor, can I pick it up or do I need to wait and have the lead come to me? grizz: Therefore, 3rd hand must give one of 2 answers! grizz: 1. Unblock the missing honor if he has it, or grizz: 2. Give count otherwise. grizz: See Hand #1. grizz: West leads the Ace, asking partner first to unblock the missing honor, or otherwise give count. grizz: Without the missing honor, East gives count, hi-lo meaning an even number in standard signals. grizz: East did not play the J, so South must have it. grizz: East played high, so must have 1 or 2, therefore South's J is guarded and the !s suit will not run. grizz: West needs to have the !S lead come to him, so he exits with any other suit. JanaDe: so you're saying give count on declarer's lead in a suit AND on p's lead in NT defense? grizz: The !S lead coming through South was just what West was hoping for, and this hand goes down. grizz: See above grizz: On the lead of the A, East's first duty is to unblock the honor IF he has it grizz: If he does not unblock, he does not have it grizz: And if he does not have it, then he gives count grizz: West knew at Trick 1 not to continue !Ss, because of the signal from East grizz: The !s9 said 2 things: dae: just say drop the honor-spome don't quite "get" UNBLOCK grizz: 1. Partner, I do not have the missing honor, whatever it might be, and grizz: 2. I have an EVEN number of !ss, or a singleton. grizz: In Hand #2, only one card is changed from the last hand, but watch what a difference it makes. grizz: Forgive me grizz: I must put the first hand back up, bid it and claim it in order for it to save correctly in your hand records bluehi: u can just claim now dfb: why didn't you lead !h to the second trick? grizz: Same auction, same lead. grizz: No particular reason grizz: Any of the other suits is safe to exit in grizz: East's first duty is to play the missing honor if he has it. Otherwise he signals count, playing low from 1 or 3. grizz: If East has only 1, there is no way to beat the hand. But if East has 3, then South has the unguarded J, and West takes the first 5 !s tricks. Dianne0516: Is 10 considered an honor? i.e--9 and 10 changed in these hands grizz: which hands? Dianne0516->Club: present one grizz: T is considered a minor honor grizz: Not to be considered when unblocking Dianne0516: thnks grizz: If West is missing only the T, then he has AKQJ, and will lead from the top grizz: So I guess it doesn't matter whether you unblock the T or not grizz: This lead has to do with locating a face card grizz: So the suit can run grizz: There was no guesswork here. East gave the correct signal, and West knows that either he takes the first 5 tricks or the hand makes. grizz: Hand #3 demonstrates a similar position, with a new consideration. kasey28: E was discarding !Hs, what signal does that give his P? grizz: he discarded from the bottom up, so had no interest in !hs kasey28: thx grizz: Same auction, same lead. grizz: Should East play the T here? bluehi: 4 kyno40: no trudean 24: no - give count grizz: Could that be the missing honor that West is asking about? kyno40: no grizz: East should NOT play the T here, that is not the missing honor that West is asking about! grizz: And the T would give the wrong Count signal grizz: Look at what happens if East does play the T. meshmeshaa: how will erast know if west is looking for the Q or the 10? ->meshmeshaa: in open chat please meshmeshaa: east i mean meshmeshaa: how will east know if west is looking for Q or the 10?? grizz: If it is from Tx, West must switch now. grizz: See above - the T cannot be the missing honor that West is worried about grizz: If it is from Tx, West must switch now. grizz: Because South has the Qx. grizz: But if it is from Txx, West must continue. How can he know? grizz: East can tell him by concealing the T and giving count. The 4 from T54 says that East has 1 or 3, and West makes the same calculation as on the last hand. grizz: If East has 3, then South has the unguarded Q, and it is safe to continue. grizz: West peels the first 5 tricks, and South is down before he gets in. grizz: Notice that South has 11 top tricks in the other 3 suits, so if West switches at Trick 2 the defense gives away a beatable contract. grizz: So without an outside entry, West must lead the A from that holding to beat the contract. grizz: And East must unblock or give count. grizz: The point here is that the T is not treated as an honor for purposes for signalling at Trick 1 when the Ace is led. grizz: Do we have any questions before moving away from ace leads against NT? bluehi: n PedroG: no ty ibeme: looks to me w should play spades..no other way to get back to hand anyway..take the risk motown: no grizz: OK, next we have king leads. sharon J: would this be the same if you had only 4 AKJ 10 rutyk: it was enlightning ! grizz: yes ->rutyk: :) sharon J: ok ty grizz: The lead of a K shows either a sequence (KQJx, KQJxx, KQTxx) or a short suit (AKx, KQx). grizz: Against NT it is either a long suit sequence or a desperation lead hoping to find partner with length and an entry, with a known long, strong suit in declarer's hand or dummy. grizz: When partner leads the K, he wants to know whether you have the A, Q or J. grizz: He is not so concerned about count, because his suit usually will not run. grizz: So if you have the A, Q or J, play your next highest card. grizz: Otherwise play low. grizz: Example Hand #4 is a K lead. grizz: West can see the 2, 3, 4, and 5 so he suspects that East's 7 is low. If East had the J, he would have played second highest, the 8 or 9. grizz: So West switches, hoping to get a !S lead through South. grizz: The low !S return shows East that West has a !C entry. grizz: This is a perfect situation for a Suit Preference Signal. jacquiek->Club: wd grizz: On a Suit Preference Signal, Low card = low suit, high card = high suit, middle card = middle suit vs. NT. grizz: We talked earlier about the the K sometimes being led in desperation from a short suit like AKx or KQx. grizz: Why would West make a desperation lead? grizz: See Hand #5. grizz: South makes a Gambling 3NT bid, announcing a running 7 card suit and no outside entries. bluehi: that middle card not clear maybe cu hearing for the 2nd time grizz: scroll back up later BILAssist->Club: !D!DGrizz Tourney starts in 30 mins that will feature hands specifically designed and annotated by Grizz to practice what Grizz is teaching. Please register to play - click on ... BILAssist->Club: tourney button on the right of your screen by the chat window to register if you are currently playing. Grizz believes that immediate practice and reinforcement makes for ideal ... BILAssist->Club: long-term learning.!H!H grizz: Partner is expected to bid 4!C for pass or correction, unless he has stoppers in 3 suits. bluehi: ok grizz: With stoppers in 3 suits, North passes with trepidation. Good things might happen! grizz: Normally West would lead the !DQ, and establish length winners while still holding the !HA and !SKQ as outside entries. grizz: But the running !C suit in the South hand changes everything. West expects from North's pass that he has the !HK, so he tries !S. jacquiek: how do we know it's the club suit? grizz: Excellent question grizz: The 3NT gambling bid guarantees a running suit grizz: Therefore he has ALL the honors onoway: only suit that west has no stopper? grizz: and there are none in the other 3 hands jacquiek: clubs grizz: The only suit with no honors in the West hand is !C grizz: Defenders must signal carefully here, on the run of !Cs. The !D8 is ordinarily a high card, and the !H3 a low one. So watch how West deals with that problem. jacquiek: makes sense grizz: We have all been here before! grizz: Prepare for discards! motown: in't East's 6 at trick one discouraging? grizz: sry, let me back up motown: isn't grizz: The J guarantess the sequence beneath it motown: ty ibeme: how about being vul..and make that 3nt..running bid clubs..does that matter meshmeshaa: but east doesnt know Q is with west grizz: Since you signal with the highest card you can afford to play grizz: yes he does grizz: Because West would not lead the unsupported K in an unbid suit meshmeshaa: of course or he wldnt hv led the king,sorry grizz: And the A is in dummy grizz: The !D 9 says "Partner, that 8 I played last time was my lowest." Completing the echo at the earliest opportunity clears up any confusion and East knows what is safe to discard. grizz: Again, completing the echo says that the 9 was low. grizz: Again, the echo on the next trick will clear up any confusion for partner. "The 3 was actually high, partner!" grizz: Now the position is clear. grizz: Notice that East had to hold on to every !s grizz: Except he could have pitched one and held the !DA :) wyoming33: why !D ace good grizz: Are there any questions? grizz: Now we have an interesting hand that demonstrates several key principles of NT bidding and defense. sharon J: yes, the J s discard was to show the missing honor or show the count? rajen: hi grizz: The !sJ was to show the sequence below it bluehi: board 4 gamble3nt grizz: If he had the J9xxxx, he would play the 9 grizz: After a preempt that is not raised, it frequently pays off to bid 3NT with a good minor suit hand and a stopper in the preempt suit, even if you don't have all other suits stopped. ... grizz: sharon J: ok, makes sense now, ty grizz: Partner rates to have some stuff. Here South needs only 1 trick from North. grizz: And East-West must play perfect defense to beat it. grizz: South holds up at Trick 1, to cut off !H communication from East. grizz: East must unblock, even if West does not have the KJ grizz: South can count 8 tricks in hand, needing only 1 from dummy. He may be able to steal one quickly in !S. grizz: Decision time for East. grizz: Should he take the !S? plaur: why !S2 wyoming33: yes - take it grizz: Or duck and hope that another !S comes his way? grizz: If he takes the !S, what should he lead back? kyno40: duck wyoming33: if he ducks they make it grizz: A !s to clear the suit and hope to get in with the !CQ? That surrenders a tempo to declarer, but those !ss look mighty tempting. gimit: take it P showed an Ace in clubs w/ low discard grizz: A !D hoping to find West's entry? motown: two of hearts at trick two = suit preference wyoming33: south played low !H says return Club grizz: Excellent! You guys are paying attention!!! grizz: Remember what West played at Trick 2? That card holds the answer. grizz: West has lots of !Hs, and the size of his card was significant. grizz: A middle card would have indicated a !D entry. BILAssist->Club: !D!DGrizz Tourney starts in 10 mins that will feature hands specifically designed and annotated by Grizz to practice what Grizz is teaching. Please register to play - click on ... BILAssist->Club: tourney button on the right of your screen by the chat window to register if you are currently playing. Grizz believes that immediate practice and reinforcement makes for ideal ... BILAssist->Club: long-term learning.!H!H grizz: A small card would have indicated a !C entry. wyoming33: meant west:) play low !H grizz: So he played the 2, a small but very LOUD card. grizz: And the rest is history. BILAssist: switching Ids be right back grizz: Notice that if East does not take the !S at Trick 3, it makes. grizz: And if East does not return a !C at Trick 3, it makes. grizz: Surrendering a tempo to declarer on this hand is suicide. grizz: And overruling partner's plan for the defense is also suicide. grizz: There are no second chances here, perfect defense wins but one mistake loses. jacquiek->Club: without the signal it would be unlikely to return the club,,,,based on what we see in dummy grizz: Cooperation and heads-up play win the day. grizz: Exactly grizz: That !c suit was ominous grizz: East needed to trust West's signal grizz: Do we have any questions? grizz: That concludes today's lesson, and next week we will continue to look at defensive signals. jacquiek: such a great lesson Grizz!!!! grizz: Remember, the rules are there for guidance, but they are no substitute for critical thinking and carefully applied bridge logic. donsanders->Club: thanks Grizz Dianne0516: Thanks Pete motown: ty grizz Fazza: many thanks Pete:) wyoming33: thank you very much grizz: Be thinking about whether you like standard signals or upside down, and why. Miksa: Excellent lesson, thanks a lot! grizz: Any suggestions for topics are welcome, please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. PedroG: TY Pete, great lesson Dianne0516: Can you tell us pros and cons on both? grizz: If anybody needs help retrieving the hand records or chat log, please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. kyno40: thank you grizz: I am also available for private, pair and small group lessons, you can email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com for more information. bluehi: thnaks grizz: Thanks for your interest and participation, and I hope to see you next week. bluehi: duh On a Suit Preference Signal, Low card = low suit, high card = high suit, middle card = middle suit vs. NT. liuchi: ty Pete, great lesson grizz: Thanks also to Maureen, Fred and the wonderful people at BBO who make this all possible. onoway: thank you for the lesson sorry and I hope it wasn't distracting that I kept losing connection gimit: ty for a very instructive class grizz: :) trudean 24: thks grizz :) grizz: Thx all, hope to see you next week bluehi: dont know what that mean u may just be saying it different meshmeshaa: th u very much grizz: Good luck to all in the tournament.