Defense, Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Third Hand Plays High (?)

Third hand plays high. This is the basic rule, and we all know it. That is, of course, if hands 1 and 2 have played low. However, there are some exceptions:

1. If you hold a sequence, play the lowest card from the sequence:

A)

	♠643
♠K9752		♠J
	♠A

You lead the ♠5. Partner played the ♠J and declarer won the ♠A. Where is the ♠Q?

It has to be with partner, else South would have won the trick with the ♠Q.  So, when you win next trick, play low to avoid knocking partner's ♠Q or to avoid blocking the suit.

Full position:

	♠643
♠K9752		♠QJ
	♠AT8

Here's another variation:

	♠43
♠KT752		♠Q
	♠A

You lead the ♠5. Partner played the ♠Q and declarer won the ♠A. Where is the ♠J?

It has to be with South, else, with ♠QJ, partner would have played the ♠J. Third hand plays LOW from a sequence. By playing the ♠Q, partner denied the ♠J!

So... When you get the hand, think about playing another suit. Try to put partner on lead so that he will continue spades through declarer. If you continue spades yourself, you will promote opponent's ♠J.

The full position:

	♠43
♠KT752		♠Q86
	♠AJ9

B)

	♥AJT
♥972		♥Q
	♥3

During the play you lead the ♥7. Partner played the ♥Q which won the trick. Where is the ♥K?

It has to be with partner, else declarer would win with the ♥K. So if you get the lead at some point, play another heart to set up your partner's ♥K.

How about now?

	♥AJT
♥972		♥K
	♥3

You lead the ♥7, but this time partner played the ♥K as 3rd hand, which means the ♥Q is 100% with declarer (else, with KQ, partner would have played the Q).

C)

	♦93
♦Q8652		♦T
	♦A

Partner doesn't have the ♦K, else he must play it – 3rd hand plays HIGH. But partner has the ♦J! Else declarer would win the trick with the ♦J. So, when you get the hand, play the ♦2. Partner's ♦J will knock out declarer's ♦K (or win the trick), and your suit is promoted.

The full position:

	♦93
♦Q8652		♦JT4
	♦AK7

Now let's think about this case:

	♦93
♦Q8652		♦J
	♦A

This time it is clear that declarer has both the ♦K and the ♦T , as partner didn't play either.

The full position:

	♦93
♦Q8652		♦J74
	♦AKT

D)

	♣43
♣AJ652		♣8
	♣Q

This time you can figure out ALL the cards:

Declarer won partner's ♣8 with the ♣Q. That means
- ♣K is with declarer (else partner would play it)
- ♣T9 is with partner (who played low from the sequence), else declarer would win with a cheaper card
- ♣7 is with declarer, else partner would play the ♣7 from ♣10987.

If you get the hand, play another suit, and try to put partner on lead so that he will play the ♣T or ♣9 to your ♣AJ through declarer's ♣K7.

The full position:

	♣43
♣AJ652		♣T98
	♣KQ7

Another variation:

	♣43
♣AJ652		♣7
	♣Q

As explained in the previous example, we can figure out that declarer has ♣KQ and partner ♣T987. Think about it, what is the danger here?

When you win a trick, play the ♣A to drop declarer's ♣K (let's say partner has played the ♣T to that trick) and play a LOW club next, to avoid blocking the suit! Partner wins with the ♣8, continues the ♣9 which you overtake with the ♣J and cash the last club in your hand too.

The full position:

	♣43
♣AJ652		♣T987
	♣KQ

2. Dummy completes the sequence

A)

	♠543
♠2		♠KJT
	Declarer's hand

Partner lead the ♠2. You hold ♠KJT. Which card will you play?

Play the ♠K. Third hand plays high, and you have only one high card.

Here's the full layout:

	♠543
♠A762		♠KJT
	♠Q98

If you don’t play the ♠K, declarer will score his ♠Q. If you play high, declarer will not make any spade tricks.

B) Now let's consider this situation:

	♠Q43
♠2		♠KJT
	Declarer's hand

Partner lead the ♠2 and dummy played low.

This time, you have to play the ♠T. You can see the full sequence with your hand and dummy combined. Or, in other words, your ♠T is high enough. High enough for what? High enough to win the trick if partner has the ♠A, or high enough to knock out the Ace if it is with South.

And if the ♠T wins, what should you continue?

Well, that depends on partner's opening lead. What did partner lead?

- If it's a low card, which promises an honor (the Ace here), continue with the ♠K and a 3rd spade to partner's ♠A. In this example, partner lead the ♠2, which means he wants you to continue the suit:

	♠Q43
♠A762		♠KJT
	♠985

- If it's a relatively high card (2nd high card in his suit denies an honor), switch to another suit. Let's say partner lead the ♠7.

	♠Q83
♠9762		♠KJT
	♠A54

You were allowed to win the trick with the ♠T but you can figure out that the ♠7 cannot be 4th best (because only the ♠A and the ♠9 are higher than the cards you can see – you can use the Rule of 11 too). It is best to switch to another suit, and next time partner wins a trick he can continue spades through dummy.

Here's another example where you can see which card is high enough from your hand and dummy combined:

	♠QT3
♠2		♠KJ9
	Declarer's hand

Partner leads the ♠2. If dummy plays low, you can play the ♠9, because it is high enough to win the trick if partner has the Ace, or high enough to knock out declarer's Ace if he has it.

If dummy doesn't have the ♠T though:

	♠Q53
♠2		♠KJ9
	Declarer's hand

This time, you have to play the ♠J if dummy plays low.

3. If dummy has an honor and you hold a higher honor, usually (but not always) you should duck your honor to avoid setting up dummy's high card
   
A)

	♠Q43
♠2		♠KT97
	Declarer's hand

Partner lead the ♠2 and dummy plays low. Which card to play?

Play the ♠9. Why? Partner has at least one of the two missing honors (♠A and ♠J).

• If partner has both spade honors, your ♠9 will win the trick. But if you play the ♠K, dummy's ♠Q will get promoted:

	♠Q43
♠AJ62		♠KT97
	♠85

• If partner has the ♠J, declarer has ♠A and you play the ♠K, then declarer scores 2 tricks:

	♠Q43
♠J652		♠KT97
	♠A8

By playing the ♠9 you will knock out declarer's Ace while your ♠K still can win dummy's ♠Q next time partner plays spades. Thus declarer scores only one trick in the suit, instead of two.

• If Partner has the ♠A and declarer the ♠J, declarer will always score a trick, so your ♠9 will lose to the ♠J but your ♠K will capture his ♠Q later on:

	♠Q43
♠A652		♠KT97
	♠J8

B) What will you do now?

	♠Q4
♠5		♠KT97
	Declarer's hand

Your partner lead the ♠5 and declarer played low. Which card do you play?

If you are thinking the ♠9... You are wrong!

Try to imagine declarer's cards:
- If he has no honor in hand, he would surely play the ♠Q in dummy, hoping that West had lead low from AKx5 (vs NT).
- If declarer had the Ace and your partner the ♠J, declarer will surely try again for the ♠Q, hoping West has the ♠K, and the ♠Q will cash.

Declarer played a low card. That means he has the ♠J. So your partner has the Ace. Play the ♠K and continue with the ♠T to avoid blocking the suit:

	♠Q4
♠A8652		♠KT97
	♠J3

Your partner will win the next trick with the ♠A, play the ♠2 to your ♠9, you will continue with the ♠7 to partner's ♠8 and he will be able to cash his ♠6 too.

4) Lead of the Ace asks 3rd hand for attitude (encourage/discourage)

In standard carding, if you play a high card as 3rd hand when your partner has lead an Ace, or if partner lead a low card and dummy played the Ace - this is encouraging partner to continue playing that suit. (Some players play upside down attitude, where a low card is encouraging. Others plays odd/even, where an odd card is encouraging. Agree with your partner what carding and signals you play).

5) When defending a notrump contract, lead of the King asks partner to unblock if he has an honor, or else to show count. In std carding: a low card followed by a higher card shows an odd number of cards. A high card followed by a smaller one shows an even number of cards in that suit.

A)

	♥43
♥KQT76		♥2
	♥8

You lead the ♥K against 3NT. Your partner played the ♥2 and declarer the ♥8. You have agree to play standard carding.

The ♥2 from partner means he doesn't have the ♥J, nor the ♥A (else he must unblock), and he has an odd number of cards in hand. So, partner must have 3 cards and declarer also 3, headed by the ♥AJ. If you continue the suit, you will set up declarer's ♥J.

This is the position:

	♥43
♥KQT76		♥952
	♥AJ8

The correct play from declarer is to duck the lead if the heart suit is one he is worried about.

B) The bidding went (opponents bidding, you and partner pass throughout):

1NT	Pass	2♣	Pass
2♦	Pass	3NT	Pass
Pass	Pass

	♥T9
♥AKQ32		♥7
	♥8

You lead the ♥K. Partner plays the ♥7 and declarer the ♥8. How do you continue?

You decide to continue with the ♥A, partner played the ♥6 and declarer the ♥J. Now what?

Partner showed an even number of hearts in his hand. He could have either a doubleton, or 4 cards in hearts. How can you know which it is?

Think about the bidding. Partner must have 4 cards, because declarer denied holding a 4-card major major during the bidding.

Pay attention to the spot cards! At trick 3 you must play a low heart. Partner wins with the ♥5, continues with the ♥4 to your ♥Q and you will be able to cash the ♥3 too.

If you play the ♥Q at trick 3 you will block the suit, because your remaining cards are ♥32 and partner still has the ♥4...

To be continued...