DO YOU SIGNAL TO YOUR PARTNER?

Usually, to find the best defense you need help from your partner in the form of signals.

There are three signals: attitude, count and suit-preference. When expressing attitude, a high card says that you like a suit. When giving count, a low card shows an odd number in the suit. Don’t worry about suit-preference today.

You should give partner the signal he needs. If he doesn’t need to know anything — or doesn’t watch your cards — don’t signal!

If that sounds complicated, here are some guidelines. Normally, when partner leads an honor, signal attitude. Show whether or not you hold an equivalent honor — a touching honor — to the one led. However, if attitude is already known (perhaps the equivalent honor is in the dummy), signal count.

Of course, this doesn’t automatically produce perfect defense, but it is a good start.

In an auction where no one held back, South ended in four hearts.

West led the club king (king from ace-king and king-queen in a suit bid and supported by the defenders), and, seeing the queen in the dummy, East dropped the eight, showing an even number of cards. This had to be from four following his two-club raise. What should West have done at trick two?

To cash the club ace establishes dummy’s queen. But would the discard be of use to declarer? Maybe, but probably not. Here, cashing the second club trick was the only way to defeat the contract. Eventually, East scored the diamond king.

If West had switched at trick two, declarer would have discarded his second club on the third round of spades.