|
Remembering
the Auction |
|
As Declarer
plays the hand, he bears in mind the bids that the opponents made and
also the bids that were not made, as he builds up a picture of the whole hand. |
|
19
20
25
33
74
108
128
130 |
|
Counting the
Distribution |
|
Counting out the
defenders’ distribution is possibly the most valuable technique at
Declarer’s disposal. So it's not surprising that successful
Declarers never stop counting! |
|
1
10
22
24
25
35
37
70
89
99
131
141 |
|
Counting
the HCP |
|
Good Declarers
also routinely count the HCP that appear in the opponents’ hands …
closely related to Remembering the Auction. |
|
5
18
20
21
33
34
70
105 |
|
Entry Management |
|
In these hands
the route to success requires that Declarer organizes transportation
between her hand and Dummy in optimal fashion. |
|
2
12
46
49
51
56
69
71
115
118
124
125
137
142 |
Fishing
for Clues |
|
The clues don’t
always come gift-wrapped, sometimes you must go fishing for them.
The posh name is for this activity is "making discovery plays". |
|
21
25
44
45
74
99 |
|
Deduction |
|
Deals in which
Declarer uses diverse clues to figure out the lie of the cards. |
|
1
19
73
74
85
87
102
105
107 |
|
Ruffing |
|
Cross-ruffing,
dummy reversals, maintaining trump control, when to postpone the
drawing of trumps, you will find it all here! |
|
18
34
48
51
53
54
57
58
63
81
86
95
98
100
109 |
|
Card-Play
Technique |
|
Some deals don’t
come with a neat label, and here we have a grab-bag of unlabeled
odds and ends in which Declarer gets the chance to show superior
technique. |
|
2
4
10
18
31
53
55
62
64
80
82
88
104
112
123
132
134 |
|
Throw-In
Plays |
|
Hands where
Declarer forces the opponents to break open the key suit. Many
of these hands involve "elimination play" in which the defender's
safe exit cards have been removed. |
|
11
13
52
65 77
79
96
120
122
136 |
Deceptive
Plays |
|
Deceiving the
opponents is the bridge player’s favorite occupation, here are a few
delightful examples. |
|
7
9
38
60
85
101
116
121
138
143 |
|
Hold-Up
Plays |
|
Declining to
take winners early can disrupt the enemy communications, especially
in No Trump contracts. |
|
24
40
43
75
114 |
|
Card
Combinations |
|
Where we examine
individual suit layouts and see how to extract the maximum number of
tricks from them. |
|
5
11
13
22
28
83
110 |
|
Matchpoint
Decisions |
|
In duplicate
play we strive mightily for overtricks, sometimes at risk to
life, limb and contract. |
|
76
90
95
119 |
|
Squeeze
Play |
|
The
connoisseur’s favorite, see how tricks can sometimes be conjured up
out of thin air! |
|
50
65
70
84
89
92 |
|
Trump
Magic! |
|
A handful of
deals where we enjoy the exotica of Trump Coups and Coups en
Passant! |
|
37
72
93
105 |
Assorted
Gems! |
|
A collection of brilliancies, such as the
Crocodile Coup,
Morton's Fork, the Striptease Coup, and other gems |
|
9
35
36
39
41
42
78
117 |
|
Opening Leads
& Deadly Shifts |
|
Opening leads
are tough! It’s often pretty much a guess. Here are a few deals
where sound logic comes up with the winner! And also some
requiring a deadly shift. |
|
4
17
26
40
61
66
68
102
113
133 |
|
Count
Signals |
|
When Declarer
plays a suit the defenders are advised to give “count signals” in
order to help Partner figure out the distribution. Here are
some examples. |
|
12
15
30
43
73
85 |
|
Counting the
Distribution |
|
Yes, this is
just as important for the defenders as it is for Declarer, maybe
even more so! See also Count Signals |
|
30
80 |
Suit
Preference |
|
Another
signaling device, this one intended to tell Partner where our
strength lies or to which suit we’d like Partner to shift. |
|
4
26 |
|
Partnership
Defense |
|
In which we give
examples of the defenders operating like a well-oiled
machine, as they conspire for the ultimate demise of Declarer. |
|
7
17
23
27
29
32
35
66
103
106
129
135 140 |
|
Smooth
Ducks |
|
When Declarer
takes a losing finesse, it is sometimes a good idea to lure him to
his destruction by letting the finesse win! |
|
47
49
59
90
126 |
|
The Art of
Concealment |
|
Those Declarers
will go to great lengths to figure out what you’ve got, and your job
is to thwart them in their efforts! |
|
21
33
44
111 |
|
Delicious
Deception! |
|
It’s always
gratifying to hoodwink Declarer, so check out these gems! |
|
6
8
12
21
50
67
90
97
106
127 |
|
Trump
Promotion |
|
A collection of deals where
the defense can create an extra trump trick with the aid of an
“uppercut” or by forcing Declarer to ruff high or by attacking his
trump control. |
|
14
15
16
17
94
139 |
Attacking
Entries |
|
Sometimes the
route to success is to attack the entries in Dummy or Declarer,
ruining their communication. Here are some such hands. |
|
39
43
88
115 |