Defence

Active defense attempts to establish tricks quickly before declarer can discard. Passive defense avoids giving away tricks, waiting for declarer to fail.

When dummy has a long running suit, declarer will discard losers as soon as they get in. Count, then take your winners first.

Before playing to trick two, subtract the contract's trick target from 14 to see exactly how many tricks you need to defeat it. Then, plan where those tricks will come from.

When dummy has a long suit and no outside entry, holding up your ace until declarer has run out can cut the suit off completely.

When dummy has a long suit and few entries, hold up your stopper until declarer runs out of the suit, so dummy's winners can never be reached.

When forced to discard, never throw away cards from a suit that matches dummy's length. Throw cards from suits where you have no defensive role.

When the opponents make an artificial bid (like Stayman), doubling it is not for takeout—it tells partner to lead that suit.

By repeatedly leading a suit that declarer is void in, you force them to ruff. This shortens their trump holding, eventually leaving you with more trumps than declarer.

When you and dummy hold most of a suit and partner leads it, the lead is often a singleton. Win and return the suit so partner can ruff.

A squeeze forces you to discard a winning card or unguard a vital suit. Learn how to protect your stoppers by watching partner's signals and maintaining parity.

When an honour is led from dummy or declarer, play a higher honour to promote partner's lower cards into winners.

Opponents open 1NT. Do not sit quietly—use suit distribution and the Landy convention to enter the bidding safely.

Leading against 3NT requires aggressive long-suit establishment to win a race. Defending 1NT requires patience and passive leads to avoid giving away cheap tricks.

Defending suit contracts requires active trick-taking. Lead top of sequences or safe suits to take winners early.

Leading fourth-best against No-Trump contracts sets up long-suit tricks and gives partner vital clues to calculate missing cards.

Holding K-Q-J or Q-J-10? Lead the highest card to give partner complete clarity and deny higher honours.

When dummy hits the table, stop playing. Use this crucial pause to count declarer's points, evaluate dummy's threats, and agree on a defensive strategy.

When you are forced to discard, the first card you throw away is not random—it signals your attitude. A high discard encourages the suit; a low discard discourages it.

When discarding a suit you do not want, a Lavinthal discard uses the size of the card to ask partner to lead one of the other two remaining suits.

Blindly continuing your opening lead can give declarer free tricks. Learn to read dummy and partner's attitude signals to find the lethal suit shift.

When partner leads a long suit, playing your high honour card instead of a low card prevents you from accidentally winning the lead when partner needs to run their suit.

High card means 'I like this suit, keep leading!' Low card means 'I hold no honours, switch to something else.'

High-low shows an even number of cards. Low-high shows an odd number of cards in the led suit.

When giving partner a ruff or cashing top cards, direct their next lead using high and low card suit preference signals.

Against No-Trump contracts, playing high-low (an echo) on the suit declarer leads tells partner that you like the opening lead and want it returned.

Leading the suit partner bid is the default defensive action. Only abandon partner's suit if you have a rock-solid sequence of your own.

When partner is on lead, they should target suits where dummy holds broken honours (like K-J-x). This traps dummy and promotes your cards.

Leading the highest card from a weak suit (like the 9 from 9-7-4) tells partner not to expect honours, helping them defend safely.

Combine the auction's point range with what you can see in your hand and dummy to place the missing high cards before you choose your defence.

An uppercut involves deliberately ruffing a trick with a middle trump when you know declarer will overruff. This forces declarer to spend a high honour, promoting partner's trump.

If dummy reveals a long, established suit, declarer will usually use it to discard their losers. You must take your defensive tricks actively before those discards happen.

Doubling an opponent's 6 or 7-level contract commands partner to make an unusual lead to defeat the slam.

Subtract partner's lead rank from 11 to calculate how many higher cards remain in the other three hands.

A hold-up only works if it cuts declarer off. When dummy has another entry, or when you need the lead now, take your ace.

If declarer ruffs a trick with a high trump honour, overruffing can sometimes cost you a trick. Discarding instead can preserve your trump tenace and guarantee a winner.

Partner leads low, dummy plays low. As third hand, play your highest card to win the trick or force declarer's top card.

When declarer leads from a sequence of touching honours, do not cover the first one. Wait and cover the last touching honour to build winners for your side.

Finessing isn't just for declarer. As a defender, you can trap dummy's honours by waiting for partner to lead through declarer, or by leading through dummy yourself.

Leading a trump cuts down declarer's ruffing power. Use it when defending against a sacrifice or when the auction suggests declarer will crossruff.

Against No-Trump, lead your longest suit. Against suit contracts, leading a short suit can be highly effective if you have trump control, but dangerous if you do not.

Jumping in with high cards second to play ruins defensive tricks. Play low to make declarer guess and save your honours.

As a general rule, returning the suit partner led is the safest path on defense. Learn how to read dummy to know when to stick to the plan and when to switch.

Cash the winners that can disappear before the ones that cannot, and play high from the short side so the suit does not block.