| What would Ann do? .... "Bid the 'Sucker' !!!!" |
| never Never NEVER NEVER NEVER lead from an Ace in a Suit Contract !!!!! |
| Remember... Smile at Partner |
| After the dummy is down, STOP, ... Plan your play |
| In a notrump contract, count your winners, in a suit contract, count your losers. |
| An important step toward good declarer play is to count the HCP in dummy and add your own. Deduct the total from 40 to see how many HCP the opponents hold. That may help you to pinpoint where the missing cards lie, especially if there has been opposition bidding. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| With length in trumps, your best strategy might be to force declarer to ruff and so lose trump control. You may have to hold off with the master trump until it draws the last trump from the shorter trump hand. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| When you need just one trick to make your contract and that trick can come from one of two finesses, take first the finesse that does not go into the danger hand. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| At notrump when you lead one suit, get in and lead another, the size of the card you lead in the second suit tells partner which suit you want back. A high spot card says return my first suit, a low spot card says return my second suit. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| When you have more than one finesse to take and entries pose a problem, leading from touching honors can provide an additional entry, whether the finesse wins or loses. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| Never surrender. No one can predict what might happen in the end game. Bobby Wolff, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| "No Fit-ey, No Bid-ey" |
| "Dummy on your left, lead through heft. Dummy on your right, lead the weakest suit in sight." |
| Watch the card third hand returns in the suit that was led. The standard return with two remaining cards is the higher; with three remaining cards, the lowest. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| When you have three threat suits, and one opponent guards one suit, and the other opponent guards another, and they both guard the third, cash your winners in such an order that you save the suit they are both guarding until the bitter end. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| The Jack from KJ10xx is the standard start, but if declarer is marked with a stopper and you have certain entries outside, leading the king can be superior and is spectacular when you pin a singleton queen. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| It is generally a bad idea to attack dummy's long, strong suit. If partner has a trick in that suit, it will always come. In most cases it is better to develop outside tricks before declarer either sets up or runs that long suit. Giving yourself various chances to defeat a contract is the way to go. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| While finessing may be the best chance to avoid a trump loser, it may be possible to combine chances by playing for the drop in trumps and using winners in a side suit to discard losers. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| At teams, play to make your vulnerable game, even at the risk of an extra undertrick. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| Remember... Smile at Partner |
| Once you have isolated the suit to attack, you still have to attack with the proper card. When dummy to your right has a singleton and you have three or four cards headed by two two non-adjacent honors, it is almost always right to attack with the lower non-adjacent honor, an attacking card that prevents declarer from ducking the trick into partner's hand. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| To set up extra tricks in a long suit, it may be possible to 'pin' a spot card by leading honors through the strong hand. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| When you are known to have a very limited point count and show up with a few points early, beware of revealing too much more of your hand Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| The discard of a king denies the ace and is normally used to wake partner up! Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| With a choice of setting up a length trick or taking a finesse, try the establishment play play first if you can still fall back on the finesse as a last resort. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| When the suit you wish to tackle is missing four or five cards including the ace, jack and ten, and you have the king and queen in opposite hands, start the suit by leading a low card so that the opponent who is likely to hold the ace has to play second on the trick. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| Do not automatically return partner's lead. Consider the card led and what that suit gives declarer. If returning partner's lead sets up tricks for declarer, it may be vital to switch. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| When you have to attack an unpalatable suit, a suit in which one opponent is known to have strong broken strength, try to strip that hand of safe exit cards before attacking the suit. If you can then duck a trick in that suit into the hand of the opponent in question, the forced return may gain you a trick. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| With AKJ10xx opposite a doubleton, a first-round finesse is the best way to play this suit for no losers, in the absence of any other considerations. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| To measure suit quality, count the number of cards in your long suit and add the number of honor cards in that suit. If the answer comes out at 10 or more, the suit is self-sufficient (i.e., does not require support). Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| When your contract depends upon taking the right finesse, maximize your chances by playing for the drop in your long suit. If that doesn't work, take a finesse in your shorter suit. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| When trying for an uppercut, first take your side-suit tricks. Phillip Alder, July 1, 2003 newspaper column |
| Partner is entitled to draw inferences from the cards you play but not from the manner in which you play them....It is a good idea to try to make all your plays, even the easy ones, in a deliberate and regulated fashion. At least your "slow" plays won't appear so much different from your "fast" ones. No one can play all his cards in the same tempo but it's something worth striving for.Eric Kokish & Beverly Kraft, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| When your trump suit can be played several ways depending upon how many trump tricks you can afford to lose, and there is a side suit that requires a must-take finesse, take the finesse first to determine how to play the trump suit. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| It often pays not to advertise your strength when you are a passed hand. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| In notrumps, count your instant winners and decide which suit to attack first to set up any extra tricks needed. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| A penalty double by a very weak hand, such as after a preempt or a weak jump overcall, is often lead directing, suggesting a void somewhere. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| A provisional count of declarer's hand is based upon the bidding and the opening lead. It is assumed that declarer will not skip over a four-card major to rebid 1NT and will not rebid 1NT with a six-card minor. These assessments may be wrong, but it helps to have something to lean on before the play develops. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| When the bidding indicates that a finesse is highly likely to fail, see whether you can force the opposition to lead the suit for you and so eliminate a loser. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| Working out declarer's point count from the bidding can be the answer to many a defensive problem. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| When leading from a three-card suit topped by two non-adjacent honors in which partner has greater length, it is usually right to start with the lower non-touching honor to unblock the suit. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| While second-hand-low is a sound general principle, be prepared to win in second seat, even though partner is able to take the trick too, if playing low may expose partner to an endplay. Ron Klinger, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| There will be times when you can discard a loser on a winner in dummy either early or late in the play. If you discard it prematurely, you may expose yourself to an awkward trump promotion scenario. If possible, it is safer to discard it later after trumps have been removed. Eddie Kantar, 2003 Bridge Calendar |
| If you have a big balanced hand and your partner has nothing, the contract will play poorly for you. You won't be able to get to dummy to lead toward your high cards. Instead, you will have to lead away from your high cards, which means it will be harder than normal to use your good hand. This adds up to a warning that when they open and you have a good balanced hand, it won't be as good as normal. Mike Lawrence Bridge Bulletin January 2006 |
| SWISS TEAM TACTICS |
| WINNING SWISS TEAMS |
| Did You Know? |
 How Will The Cards Divide? |