6.1 Playing Tricks & Quick Tricks
a) Playing Tricks
The strength of a strong Distributional Hand is usually assessed in terms of “Playing Tricks”, rather than High Card Points. The number of Playing Tricks in a suit is determined by assuming that all the cards in the suit are distributed evenly between the other 3 hands:
AKQJ Will produce 4 tricks
AKQJ32 Should produce 6 tricks. After playing the top 4 honours the other tricks should be good.
AK65432 Should produce at least 5 tricks (and maybe more).
AQ Will make 2 tricks if the finesse works or 1 if it loses, so call it 1½ tricks.
AQJ Will make 2 or 3 tricks depending on the finesse(s), so call it 2½ tricks.
K53 Is taken to be half a trick. K usually makes half the time.
KQ3 1 or 1½ tricks.
KQJ765 Should make 4½ or 5 tricks.
AJ8532 Probably 3½ or 4 tricks.
Assessing Playing Tricks is not an exact science. It is better to be a little over-optimistic than the other way round.
b) Quick Tricks
When partner has a long strong trump suit, he will be interested to know how many ‘Quick Tricks’ (QT) your hand can supply in the other suits. For example, when partner opens with a ‘Strong Two’ (e.g. 2 Hearts or 2 Spades) showing 8 Playing Tricks, if your hand can supply 2 Quick Tricks then game should be on.
6.2 Trial Bids
After the trump suit has been agreed, a bid in another suit asks partner to clarify his hand to see if a Game contract is on. The meaning of trial bids differs depending on whether the trump suit is a Major or Minor suit.
a) Major Suit Trial Bids
After the sequence 1H - 2H or 1S – 2S, opener bids a suit in which he requires help – typically a suit with 3 ‘quick losers’. If responder is able to reduce the number of losers because of a high card holding or a shortage he raises to Game, otherwise he signs off in 3 of the agreed trump suit and opener passes.
- With 3 losers: bid 3 of the trump suit
- With 2 losers, having raised on a minimum (6 – 7 pts): bid 3 of the trump suit
- With 2 losers, having raised on a maximum (8 – 9 pts): bid 4 of the trump suit
- With 1 or no losers: bid 4 of the trump suit
b) Minor Suit Trial Bids
After the sequences 1C – 2C, 1D – 2D, 1C – 3C or 1D – 3D, opener investigates the possibility of a No Trumps contract by bidding the lowest suit in which he holds stoppers (e.g. a minimum holding of A-x, K-x, Q-10-x or J-x-x-x). Such a bid is made in the belief that Game is a possibility, so after a 2 level raise it requires 17+ pts and after a 3 level raise it requires 14+ pts.
If responder holds any stoppers he bids the lowest ranking suit with a stopper, or No Trumps at the appropriate level with stoppers in all the un-bid suits. Without any stoppers he signs off in the agreed trump suit and opener passes.
6.3 Opening Leads
Choosing a good opening lead is very important and can often make or break a contract.
Against a suit contract it is usually the first two rounds of a suit that are important, and consequently it’s often correct to concentrate on the quick trick taking potential of a suit – i.e. honours. Subsequent rounds are less important, since there is a high probability that they are going to be ruffed.
However against no-trumps you are trying to establish a suit; and part of this process is maintaining communications with partner, so it’s much more of a patient waiting game – less emphasis on the actual lead of an honour, more about trying to eventually benefit from the length of the suit.
Here are some general guidelines:
a) Choosing Which Suit to Lead
Leading a suit bid (or suggested) by partner is usually a good move, especially if it was bid as an over-call which suggests a fairly solid suit. Reasons for not leading your partner’s suit could be:
- A dangerous holding in the suit such as A-x-x (see below).
- An especially inviting alternative lead, like a singleton or solid suit.
- When a trump lead seems correct.
Against a Suit Contract
If partner has not bid, there are 3 basic leads:
- A short suit (especially a singleton) in the hope of a ruff.
- Your longest and strongest suit.
- Trumps (but not a singleton).
Against a No Trumps Contract
If partner has not bid, generally lead your longest and strongest suit unless:
- You are very weak and unlikely to get in to cash your winners.
- You longest suit is only 4 cards headed by a solitary King or Queen.
In these cases it is better to lead a suit that the opponents have not bid, hoping that partner may be strong in that suit.
b) Choosing Which Card to Lead
General Guidelines
- Lead the top of a sequence (see below)
- Lead a low card to show interest in a suit (you have an honour in the suit), or a higher card to deny interest (no honour). For example:-
- 4th highest from a long suit with an honour
- 3rd highest from 3 to an honour
- 2nd highest from nothing
- “Middle-Up-Down” (MUD) from 3 small cards
- top of a doubleton (although this can be a risky lead, especially if it is an honour)
Against a Suit Contract
- The top of 2 or more touching high cards (if 10 or above), e.g. Q from Q-J-x
Exception: don’t lead away from an Ace against a suit contract, e.g. with A-J-10-x find another suit to lead. - A low card to show interest in a suit (if you have an honour), e.g. 2 from Q-8-5-2
- A higher card to show no interest in a suit (if you have no honour), e.g. 7 from 9-7-3-2
- Trumps if all other leads look unattractive (but don’t lead a singleton if the bidding indicates that partner may hold 4 trumps).
- In general, do not lead an Ace without holding the King (one exception to this is against a slam where quick tricks may be required).
- Do not under-lead an Ace
- Try to avoid under-leading a King
So when partner leads an honour against a suit contract (other than an Ace), it promises the card below (or a singleton, or possibly a doubleton) and denies having the Ace in that suit.
Against a No Trumps Contract
- The 4th highest card of the longest suit, unless it is a weak suit with no honour or a weak hand with no entries, e.g. lead 5 from Q-9-8-5-3
- A high card from a poor holding, usually the 2nd highest, e.g. 8 from 9-8-7-5
- With a sequence of 3 or more significant high cards lead the highest of the touching cards (as long as it is 10 or higher). There are 3 types of sequence:
| Sequence Type | Definition | Example | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete | 3 or more consecutive high cards | Q-J-10-x | Queen |
| Broken | 2 touching high cards with the next but one below | J-10-8-x | Jack |
| Interior | 2 touching high cards with one more above | A-J-10-x | Jack |
The lead from a sequence against a No Trumps contract gives partner a lot of information and will help him to choose the best card to play on the first trick. Except in the rare case where the lead may be a doubleton, leading an honour promises:
- Holding the card below
- Holding either the card 2 below, the card 3 below or a higher honour
- Denies having the card above
For example:
| Lead | Complete Sequence | Broken Sequence | Interior Sequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ace | A-K-Q-x | A-K-J-x | |
| King | K-Q-J-x | K-Q-10-x | |
| Queen | Q-J-10-x | Q-J-9-x | |
| Jack | J-10-9-x | J-10-8-x | A-J-10-x or K-J-10-x |
| Ten | 10-9-8-x | 10-9-7-x | A-10-9-x or K-10-9-x or Q-10-9-x |
In summary, when leading an un-bid suit against a No Trumps contract:
- Leading an honour indicates a sequence (or rarely a doubleton)
- Leading a small card indicates the 4th highest from a suit headed by an honour
- Leading a higher intermediate card indicates a suit with no honour card
When leading partner’s suit against a No Trumps contract, choose the top of a doubleton or the top of touching honours. Otherwise lead low from three or more cards.