Contract Bridge

The suit-preference signal is one of the more effective weapons available to the defenders. The signal can be utilized in many different situations, depending on the circumstances of that particular deal.

Consider this case where South wound up in five diamonds after his Blackwood inquiry disclosed that the opponents held two aces. West led the four of clubs, which East had no trouble diagnosing as a singleton, not only because West had led dummy’s suit, but also because the four was the lowest missing club. Had West started with, say, the 7-4, he would have led the seven initially.

When South played the queen from dummy, East played his jack on it! This was intended to show that East had an entry card in spades. Accordingly, when declarer next led a diamond from dummy, West took the ace and returned a spade. East won and led a club, and South went down one.

Note that without the suit-preference signal, West would have been hard-pressed to guess the right suit to return at trick three. As can be seen, a heart return would have handed South the contract.

The signal is easy enough to use. In a potential ruffing situation, the play of an unnecessarily high card is a signal indicating an entry in the higher ranking of the two side suits. (There are ordinarily only two suits to choose from, since the trump suit and the suit to be ruffed are obviously not considered.)

Conversely, the play of a low card indicates a preference for the lower-ranking side suit. Here, if East had held the ace of hearts instead of the ace of spades, he would have played the deuce of clubs at trick one to suggest a heart return.

Tomorrow: Test your play.