Card Play (Declarer - In Trump Contracts)
A. After the Auction - THINK - who was bidding, where are the points, where are the honours?
- L. After the Opening Lead - Take your time - was it a quick easy / slow difficult lead, why that particular lead?
- L. Count your Losers when Dummy goes down. How many tricks are likely to be achievable? Count your partnership points. Calculate Opposition’s points.
B. Builders and Bankers
Count your Bankers
Determine how many extra tricks you need from your Builders
Where are they are going to come from?
Can you establish a second suit?
C. Card Play
- Cover an honour with an honour
- Lead into an honour
- Keep control
- Be careful to keep a trump if you have losers in the end game
- Ruff in the shorter hand, not the longer hand of trumps
- Rectify the count in 8 card suits
D. Drawing Trumps. There should be a good reason for not clearing trumps
- Trump losers in the short hand before clearing trumps.
- Do not draw to the remaining master trump without good reason - RULE OF ONE
E. Entries. Think about how to manage entries between the Dummy and Declarer hands. If you have set up a long suit in Dummy, make sure you can get back to it.
F. Forcing Extra Tricks
- Force - Use sequences
- Finesses - Finess with 8 trumps but not with 9
- Length - Low from Longest