Declarer Play

Discarding Losers

It’s not always possible to get rid of losers by ruffing them in the short trump hand. So the second way we look for is discarding them - either on dummy’s high cards at the start of the hand, or by establishing winners in dummy’s long suit for discards later on. When we say ‘dummy’ here, we are referring to the short trump hand, as that is most often the case, and saying ‘the short trump hand’ every time is a bit cumbersome.

Try some hands

Hand 1

Spades are trumps, and your target is ten tricks (4♠ contract). You have a fair few losers in the minor suits, as well as the king of trumps to think about. Can you make good use of dummy’s assets to secure the contract?

Hand 2

Another ten trick target, this time with hearts as trumps (4♥ contract). The defence very rudely start by taking the first three tricks, so you can’t afford to lose any more. Think carefully about how you might set up a means of discarding your little club loser, not forgetting how you plan to get from hand to hand.

Hand 3

Once again, you’ll need to make ten tricks in 4♥. The defence seem to have slipped up by not winning a lot of spades immediately, so can you take advantage of it? And will you even need to discard losers from hand if the club finesse works at trick one?

Hand 4

Another 4♠ contract, so you can only lose three tricks at most. You will be able to discard a loser, but you must think about the order in which you do things.

Back

Discarding Losers

Helpful high cards and long side suits in the short trump hand can often offer a way to dispose of losers from the long trump hand. Watch the video and learn how to spot the clues.

Question 1/3

Hermia is in a rather ambitious 4♥ contract, but it’s her lucky day, and the defence have not led a club, which would have given them three tricks right away. How should she proceed?

Hermia will need to take the heart finesse at some point, but if she does this straight away, and loses to the king in Helena's hand, the defence will cash their three club tricks and defeat the contract. She has an opportunity to throw away two of her three club losers on dummy's high diamonds, bringing her club losers down to one. If she plays ♥A first, and then discards her club losers, she will still make the contract, but she will miss out on the extra trick if Demetrius has ♥K.

Hermia is declarer in 4♠, and luckily, the defence have not found their ideal lead of a heart. What is her best hope of making the contract?

If Hermia tries to set up a club ruff by losing the second round of clubs, the defence can cash three heart tricks and defeat the contract. Similarly, if she ducks the first club and the defence are awake, they won't play a second club, but will switch to hearts and take three tricks. Her best chance is to win the first trick, take her two top diamonds (leaving the defence with just two of the six they started with) then play a third diamond and ruff high. If the remaining diamonds split 1-1 she will have two diamond winners in dummy on which to discard two of her three heart losers, so she will just lose one heart and one club. She can draw trumps ending in dummy for access to all of these winners.

Hermia is declarer in 4♥. She has four losers in the long trump hand (one spade, two clubs and a diamond). What is her best plan to bring that number down to the three she can afford?

Hoping that Demetrius has both missing spade honours is a doomed strategy (unless he has exactly QJ doubleton): Even if he does have both, he can play the jack on the first round, forcing the king, then play small under the ace and preserve his queen as a winner. Hoping that the defence will discard a diamond is also a pretty weak plan - they can see the long diamonds in dummy, so they will hold on to their diamonds if they have any sense. If Hermia draws trumps, wins her two top diamonds and then loses a diamond trick, however, then on a 3-2 diamond split the defence will now be out of diamonds. They can cash their two club winners but Hermia has carefully preserved the ♠A as an entry to dummy so she can now win a spade trick there and throw her last spade on an established diamond winner.

These links will take you to Bridge Training, where you can have a go at playing some hands to practice discarding losers. You won’t need to bid – the trick target and trump suit are displayed, so just have a go and see how many tricks you can make.