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A Guiding Hand.

Have you ever felt as a defender you just do not know which suit to play next? Should you switch or just carry -on with the suit you have led? Often, your partner will say whether they liked or did not like the lead or perhaps tell you if you asked how many cards they have in the suit. They might provide guidelines but what about when a singleton appears in the dummy and you will or are very likely to retain the lead?

 

A straightforward Stayman auction. 1NT was 15-17. Your partner leads A. Any thoughts?

It is not clear to you whether or not your partner holds K. Assuming declarer has no more than 4 diamonds to have a normal no-trump shape, your partner should have at least 5 diamonds, maybe more.

This is a situation where you can guide your partner into what might be the best card to play at trick 2. The normal approach is if you are going to suggest a switch to the higher non-trump suit, you play as high a card to trick 1 as you can afford and conversely a low card suggests a switch to the lower non-trump suit. If you hold more than 2 cards, a middle card offers no preference, or suggests a trump switch or maybe even the continuation of the suit led.

That’s a lot of options to suggest in one card. So, do the best you can. It is only a guide and you may not always be correct.

With the East hand given above, it seems that hearts is the better switch though the success of this switch will depend on whether declarer has 2 or 3 hearts. (They cannot have 1 heart because of their no-trump opening and for most the bid of 2 denied 4 hearts.) So, the card you play to trick 1 is the J. Necessary but not obvious to your partner without your guidance. These were the four hands:

 

There may have been different ways to beat 4. For instance, had East held KQ and A,instead of AK, it would have been necessary for West to have led J at trick 1. With the cards above, it was vital for West to switch to the J at trick 2. It is rather random which doubleton jack West would choose if they did not start with A. 

It is East’s role in such a situation to suggest a possible switch. With nothing better to go on, West should follow that recommendation with the heart ruff being the fourth trick for the defence.

One further thought. East should do their thinking while the declarer takes their look at dummy which should be before they call for dummy’s card. Then, East can play their card in perfect tempo, taking away the added information that a hesitation provides, that one’s partner does not have a singleton.

The ethics of our game should be observed at all times.

The right time to think

Richard Solomon

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