Defence

Signals and Discards

Imagine that, as a defender, you could tell your partner about what was in your hand. How much better would your defence be? Well, there are ways to communicate certain aspects of your hand that are within the rules of the game, but you need to know how to use them and how to read them. This module will reveal all.

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Signals and Discards

Find out the (legal!) ways in which you can help your partner to know more about your hand and what you would like them to play.

Question 1/6

On his partner's lead of ♦A against this 4♠ contract, Lysander has these three diamonds in his hand. Which should he choose to play?

The lead of an ace asks for an attitude signal (A is for Attitude). Lysander should say that he likes the lead if he can win the third round of the suit. As he has neither the queen, nor a doubleton, he does not like the lead, so he should give a High=Hate signal by playing the nine.

Same contract, same opening lead. Which card should Lysander play this time?

This time, he has the queen, so he can win the third round, after Hermia takes her ace and the king that she is presumed to have. Lysander should therefore give a positive signal: Low = Like, by playing the three.

And again, the lead is ♦A against the 4♠ contract. Which card should Lysander choose this time?

Here again, Lysander can win the third round, but this time it's because he will have run out of diamonds and will be able to trump. He should encourage Hermia to carry on with the suit by giving a Low = Like signal, playing the three.

A new contract - 3NT - but the same old lead. What should Lysander signal, like or hate?

Although his holding is the same as in the previous question, a doubleton is no use in a NT contract because there is no ruffing potential. Lysander should discourage by playing a high card, High = Hate. Hermia does not have to follow her partner's guidance in any of these cases, and she may choose to carry on anyhow, but she has the information she needs.

Here we are again in 3NT, and Hermia has led ♥A this time. Lysander has a bunch of small hearts to choose from. Which one should he play?

Although he does not have a high card in the suit, the fact that Lysander has four hearts is helpful. Hermia will be leading a long suit against NT, so the fact that Lysander also has length in the suit means that declarer cannot have very many (looking at dummy, it seems likely that she has only two) so they should continue playing hearts. Lysander should give a low = like signal by playing the two.

Three tricks have already been played in this 4♥ contract, and Lysander is now out of hearts. Which card should he discard in order to help Hermia to find the best lead next time she wins a trick?

With his ace and queen sitting over dummy's king and jack of spades, Lysander would very much like a spade lead. It’s not completely obvious that ♠5 is his lowest, but he should hope that it is clear enough to be seen as a low = like card (especially with the ♠4 visible in dummy). The ♣10 would say ‘don’t lead a club’, which is fine, but Hermia would still have to guess whether to play a spade or a diamond, so the low spade is a better choice.

There are no practice hands for this module, as the quiz enables you to practice finding the right signals.