Expert Defence

Defence is the hardest part of bridge, and the part where most points are lost. As declarer you can see 26 cards; as a defender you see only 26 too, but half of them are dummy’s and you must work with a partner you can’t talk to.

Good defenders do three things on every hand:

Build a picture of declarer’s hand from the bidding and the play.
Count declarer’s tricks and ask where the setting tricks will come from.
Help partner with clear signals, and trust partner’s signals in return.

1. Build a picture

When dummy goes down, stop and think before playing to trick one. Ask:

How many points does declarer have? Add dummy’s points to yours, subtract from 40, and compare with declarer’s bidding. That tells you roughly how much partner holds.
What shape is declarer? A 1NT opener is balanced; a player who rebid their suit probably has six.
How many tricks can declarer take? Count dummy’s long suits and declarer’s likely winners.
Where can our tricks come from?

Active or passive?

Choose active defence when…	Choose passive defence when…
Dummy has a long suit that will provide discards for declarer	Dummy is flat with no long suit
Declarer will have enough tricks soon unless you cash or set up yours quickly	Declarer has to guess or find tricks for themselves
You need to set up tricks before declarer draws trumps	Any suit you lead could give away a trick

Against a dummy with a long running suit, attack: lead the suits where your side’s tricks are. Against a flat dummy, sit back and let declarer do the work: lead safe cards and don’t break new suits.

2. Signal priorities

Defenders signal in three ways: attitude (I like this suit), count (how many cards I hold) and suit preference (which other suit I’d like). The trick is knowing which signal applies.

A common set of priorities:

Situation	Signal
Partner leads a suit, or you discard for the first time	Attitude: encourage or discourage
Declarer leads a suit	Count: show whether you hold an even or odd number
Attitude and count are already known or irrelevant, or partner is about to ruff	Suit preference: a high card asks for the higher-ranking side suit, a low card for the lower

Count signals matter most against long suits in dummy. If dummy has K Q J 10 x and no outside entry, and declarer leads the suit, you must show count so the defender with the ace knows when to take it.

Write your methods down. Your leads and signals must be on your system card (Module 12). Under the ABF System Regulations, encrypted signals are not allowed: declarer is entitled to know what your signals mean, and you must explain them if asked.

3. The Rule of 11 for defenders

When partner leads fourth highest, subtract the card’s value from 11 to find how many higher cards dummy, declarer and you hold between you.

Partner leads the ♠6. 11 − 6 = 5 higher cards. Dummy has ♠ Q 7 and you have ♠ A 9 8. You can see all five higher cards: dummy’s Q and 7, and your A, 9 and 8. So declarer has no spade higher than the 6. When dummy plays low, you can play the 8, knowing it will win and keep your ace over dummy’s queen.

4. Trump promotion

Defenders can make extra trump tricks by forcing declarer to ruff high or overruff.

The uppercut

Declarer (South):  ♠ A K 10 8 7
You (East):        ♠ Q 5
Partner (West):    ♠ J 9 6

If declarer simply plays the ace and king, your queen falls and partner makes only one trump trick with the jack.

Now suppose partner leads a suit in which both you and declarer are void. Ruff with the ♠Q. If declarer overruffs with the ace or king, declarer is left with only one top honour and the 10 8 7, and partner’s J 9 now wins two tricks. If declarer doesn’t overruff, your queen wins the trick. Either way, the defence gains a trump trick.

Count before you overruff

Overruffing isn’t always right. If your trump is certain to win a trick later anyway, overruffing can simply swap that trick for declarer’s ruff. Before you overruff, count how many trump tricks your side will make with and without overruffing.

Ruff high to promote partner’s trumps, and count trump tricks before you overruff.

5. Killing dummy’s entries

If dummy has a long suit and few entries, the defenders can cut declarer off from it.

Hold up your ace. Dummy has ♦ K Q J 10 9 and no outside entry. You hold ♦ A 4 3. Partner signals count (odd or even) when declarer leads diamonds. Take your ace on the round when declarer plays their last diamond, so declarer can’t return to dummy to cash the rest.

Attack the entry. If dummy’s long suit needs the ♥A as an entry, lead hearts early to remove it before the long suit is set up. Sometimes it’s worth leading a high card to knock out the entry even if it costs a trick, because you save more tricks in the long suit.

6. Discarding well

When declarer runs a long suit, you must discard. The rules:

Keep length with dummy’s long suit. If dummy has four diamonds, keep four diamonds if you can see they matter.
Keep the same length as declarer’s known long suit.
Agree who guards what. If partner has shown a suit, you can discard yours in it and keep guarding the others.
Discard early from suits that don’t matter. Hesitating and discarding a winner late helps declarer squeeze you (Module 8).

Count declarer’s tricks as you discard. Often you’ll realise that declarer has only eight tricks and you must keep one card to beat the contract.

7. Defending in tempo

Defenders who hesitate give away information:

If you think for a long time and then play low, declarer will guess you hold the missing honour.
If you hesitate with a singleton, you’re misleading declarer, and the Laws don’t allow you to try to mislead by hesitation (Law 73D).

The answer is to plan at trick one. When dummy goes down, take your time then: count points, count tricks, and decide how you’ll play each suit. After that, play at a steady pace.

Rules worth remembering

Plan at trick one: count points, tricks and shape before you play.
Long suit in dummy? Defend actively. Flat dummy? Defend passively.
Signal attitude on partner’s lead, count when declarer leads, suit preference when the others don’t apply.
Use the Rule of 11 on partner’s fourth-highest leads.
Ruff high to promote partner’s trumps, and count trump tricks before you overruff.
Hold up to cut declarer off from dummy’s long suit, and attack dummy’s entries early.
Keep length with dummy, and agree with partner who guards which suit.
Play in tempo once you’ve planned. Never try to mislead with a hesitation.

Try these

1. Dummy has ♣ K Q J 10 8 and no side entry. You hold ♣ A 7 2. Declarer leads a club and partner’s count signal shows three clubs. When should you take your ace?

2. Partner leads the ♥7 (fourth highest). Dummy has ♥ K 10 3, and you have ♥ A 9 5. How many hearts higher than the 7 does declarer hold?

3. Dummy is 4-3-3-3 with no long suit, and declarer will have to find tricks. Should you defend actively or passively?

4. Partner leads a suit in which you and declarer are both void. You hold ♠ Q 4 in trumps, and partner has shown ♠ J 9 x. Declarer has the ♠ A K and the rest. Do you ruff low or high?

Answers

1. Partner has three clubs, so declarer has two. Duck the first club and take your ace on the second round, when declarer plays their last club. Declarer can’t get back to dummy’s remaining clubs.

2. 11 − 7 = 4 higher cards outside partner’s hand. You can see K, 10, A and 9 = four. So declarer has no heart higher than the 7.

3. Passively. Lead safe cards and let declarer find their own tricks. Breaking new suits is more likely to give a trick away.

4. Ruff with the ♠Q: an uppercut. Your queen would otherwise fall under declarer’s ace and king. If declarer overruffs, partner’s J 9 can win an extra trump trick. If declarer doesn’t, your queen wins the trick.

Words to know

Term	Meaning
Active defence	Attacking quickly to set up and cash tricks before declarer can discard losers
Passive defence	Leading safe cards and letting declarer find their own tricks
Attitude signal	A card that encourages or discourages the suit
Count signal	A card that shows whether you hold an even or odd number in the suit
Suit preference	A card that asks for a higher- or lower-ranking side suit
Uppercut	Ruffing with a high trump to force declarer to overruff with an honour
Trump promotion	Making a trump trick by forcing declarer to ruff or overruff high
Hold-up (by a defender)	Delaying taking your ace to cut declarer off from dummy’s long suit
Encrypted signals	Signals whose meaning is hidden from declarer; not allowed under ABF regulations

What next?

Agree your signals with your partner and write them on your system card.
At your next session, count declarer’s points on every hand you defend, before playing to trick one.
Move on to Module 10: Matchpoints, IMPs and teams, where the scoring method changes what the “right” decision is.