The following
golden rules apply in at least 95% of situations so if you follow them you will
be doing the right thing 9.5 times out of 10.
The exceptions can take time to spot, but as you see them you will
remember them for next time getting you close to perfect bridge.
1.1
For
game in No Trumps you will usually require 25+ High Card Points
(HCP) for a small slam in NT you will usually need 32-35 HCPs and 36+ for a
grand slam in NTs. 10s are usually more
important in NT than in suit contracts.
1.2
For
game in suit contracts you may need the same points as above but high cards are
not as important as distribution. Aces
are more valuable in suit contracts than the 4 HCPs assigned in NTs. Try
counting them as 5HCPs ONCE you have agreed a suit!
1.3
Bid
slowly when you have strength to determine the correct strain (suit vs NT); bid
quickly when you are weak with a fit.
1.4
MISFIT
nearly always = NT and you will need more HCPs (than mentioned above) to
achieve your goal.
1.5
The 5
level belongs to the opposition in competitive auctions. This means that if you bid to 4S expecting
to make and the opponents bid 5H, you should normally pass or double 5♥
rather than bidding 5♠.
1.6
Follow
the law of total tricks [The total number of potential trumps held
in you and your partner’s best fit OR the total number of potential trumps held
in your opponents fit defines the level at which you should play in competitive
sequences. Simply put if you have 9
spades between you and any number of points it is most;ly safe to bid to the 3
level (9 tricks needed).] There are
several good books on this topic that are essential
bridge reading.
1.7
Don’t
psyche unless you wish to change partners!
2.1
Plan
the whole play before you play any
card to trick one.
2.2
Count
your tricks – winners AND losers. The
total may not add up to 13!
2.2.1
Where
do extra tricks come from?
2.2.1.1
Finesses. These
are easiest to understand and do but you should look to avoid these if a better
percentage is available. On the face of
it a finesse is a 50% chance this may be better if an opponent has bid the suit
and the finesse cards are sat on her left.
2.2.1.2
Establishing long suits.
Vital in No trump contracts and often vital in suit contracts. If you have enough entries a hand with Axxxx
opposite a singleton offers a better chance of 2 tricks than a finesse in
another suit. It just requires a 4-3
break (62%).
2.2.1.3
Ruff with the hand that has short trumps.
If you have 5 trumps in one hand and 3 in the other, try to use the 3
for ruffing (trumping losers). Indeed
it is rarely right (unless establishing a side suit (see above) or performing a
dummy reversal (see below) to ruff with the hand that has long trumps.
2.2.1.4
Cross ruff (trump in both hands).
Easy to spot when you have two shortages opposite one another. Often needed when you are short on points for
your contract.
2.2.1.5
Looking to drop key honour cards.
Sometimes you can gain when an opponet has say QJ bare or singleton
K. Sometines the bidding will give you
a clue.
2.2.1.6
Dummy reversals. These
can be hard to spot but sometimes you can make more tricks by ruffing with the
hand that has long trumps. Say you have
5 trumps in one hand and 3 in the other, you may ruff 3 times with the long
trumps and draw trumps with the short hand.
2.2.1.7
End plays. This is
where you force, by plan or accident, an opponent to lead a suit that is
favourable to you.
2.2.1.8
Squeezes. This
will happen by accident at first. There
are many varieties but when you start to see them happen, then start to plan
for them you will appreciate the art and beauty of the game. If you find yourself with a hopeless
contract that must surely fail by a trick – think “SQUEEZE”. You will usually need entries to both hands
and a running suit that will squeeze or force an opponent to throw away a card
she would rather keep.
2.2.1.9
Coups & trump promotions.
These come in many flavours but you usually aim to win tricks by leading
a winner in a side suit that your opponent either ruffs high, establishing your
trump or she ruffs low and you over ruff.
2.3
Count the opponents points and link that to the bidding. e.g. If one opponent has already shown up
with 11 points and you are trying to find a queen in a suit, it is likely to be
with her partner otherwise she might have opened the bidding.
2.4
Count your opponents length in key suits.
2.5
As declarer, if you hold touching honours
lead the lowest one if you don’t want the defenders to cover.
2.6
Try
to establish suits that need to break 3-2 (68%) or 4-3 (62%) is better odds
than a finesse (50%) so only take finesses if you have to!
2.7
Consider
the opening lead (see leads below). Why
did they lead that card? If it is not in
the ‘good lead’ category that probably means they don’t have one of those
available.
3.1
With
Kxx behind AQJx(x) duck the first finesse unless you know or suspect declarer
has a singleton.
3.2
Don’t
underlead an Ace against suit contracts.
The longer your suit with an Ace in the more chance that declarer will
score a trick to which he/she is not entitled (imagine a King singleton) – see
preferred leads in the table below.
3.3
Cover
an honour with an honour unless you KNOW that the honour is from a sequence
(touching honours).
3.4
2nd
hand low, third hand high.
3.5
Try
not to give declarer a ruff and discard.
This is where both declarer and dummy have no more in a suit...it is usually
wrong to play that suit again!
3.6
Try
to force the hand with long trumps to ruff (i.e. ‘shorten declarer’s trumps).
3.7
When
you have the majority of the points but the opponents have won the auction,
lead a trump no matter how unattractive it might seem. Remember they will probably need to cross
ruff to make their contract.
3.8
When
you can see little future in more tricks in the side suits try for uppercuts
and trump promotions by playing a long suit again. An uppercut is where you would like your
partner to ruff high so that you can score a trump trick. (say you have Qx and
your partner has Jx trumps). If declarer
gets in, the A and K will draw your trumps, however if one of you ruffs
something you will always score a trump trick whether or not you are over-ruffed). A trump promotion is where declarer can draw
the outstanding trump(s) but you play a suit and she either ruffs high
establishing a trick for your partner’s trump or she ducks and your partner
scores the trump anyway.
Smile at your partner. No matter how badly she or he plays. Arguing or criticising rather than
encouraging will have perhaps the most negative effect on your score card of
all the rule breaking opportunities listed here.
5.1
vs.
suit contracts. Listen to the auction
before choosing a lead. The unbid suit
is often a good starting point.
5.1.1
Good leads
Lead the card underlined
Ace singleton
AK followed by the Ace
AKx
x
KQ10 or better
KQx
QJ9 or better
J10x or better
xxxx(x) MUD (middle-up-down) or TON (top of nothing) applies (see below)
Ax
5.1.2
Reasonable leads (if no good lead
available)
xx
xxx lead either the middle (MUD – middle
(followed by the top one) up down also known as ‘second’ as you
would lead the second highest from 4 or more as well as just three cards e.g. 87654)
or TON (top of nothing). Agree with partner what constitutes
‘nothing’. Prefer a 10 to be something
so if playing MUD leads the 9 will always be from shortage as you would lead
109xx.
Kxx(x) or Qxx(x)
10xx(x)
5.1.3
Bad leads
Jxx(x)
Kx
5.1.4
Terrible leads
Axx Leading an ‘unsupported
Ace’ This can be right against slams,
especially in pairs but almost never at any other time.
Axx(x) This can be right against a small slam but you will be blamed
if it doesn’t work!
Qx
Kxx(x) Leading and unsupported King
is often worse than leading an unsupported Ace.
AQx(x) (against a suit contract)
Never underlead AQ unless you KNOW that your partner has the K!
5.2 When to lead trumps?
It is nearly always right to lead trumps when:
-
your
side have the majority of the points
-
You
have a good holding in declarer’s first or second bid suit that is not trumps
-
you
do not expect declarer to have a running suit
-
you
do not have a certain misfit with partner (when you might try for a cross ruff)
-
You
have no obvious other lead
5.3 When not to lead trumps?
-
When
you wish to get a ruff
-
When
you have a holding such as Kx, Qxx or Jxx that you need to protect
-
When
partner might have the Q