40 English Bridge February 2016 www.ebu.co.uk

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Signalling when dummy has a dead suit in a

trump contract

If a card is led in a side-suit and dummy has no

losers in the suit:

A or A-K or A-K-Q

With no associated small cards we can expect to

take no tricks in the suit, since dummy will be able

to ruff. Again it is deemed to be a dead suit and

partner's signal should therefore be suit preference

rather than attitude or count.

Signalling when dummy has a singleton in the

suit led vs trump contracts

If partner leads an honour card and dummy has a

singleton in this suit signals revert immediately to

suit preference in place of attitude or count.

• A high card - suggests values in the higher

remaining suit

• A low card - suggests values in the lower

remaining suit

• A middle card - encourages a continuation

of the suit led. This can be quite

important, since on occasion it might be

vital to reduce/force the dummy early.

• An honour card - this is not always a suit

preference message. It is often vital simply

to clarify a solid holding between the

partnership so that the opening leader can

judge whether to continue the suit and it

allows them to place the values more

accurately around the table.

I HAVE always found that the use of the suitpreference

(sp) signal spells chaos and confusion for

many pairs at all levels of ability and experience.

There seems to be an inconsistency - due essentially

to a lack of organisation and structure to their

defensive thinking.

A quick recap of what we have looked at in the

last two articles may help:

Count or attitude depends upon the situation.

Attitude is virtually always when partner has led to

the trick, whereas count is more usually when

declarer has led to the trick. This is a generalisation

of course but useful nonetheless.

Signalling when dummy has a 'dead' suit in

No Trumps

If partner leads a suit in no trumps and dummy

turns up with A-K-Q-x, or something similarly

solid, it should be clear that there are no defence

riches coming from this suit! This is known as a

'dead suit' for the defence.

In this situation the partner of the opening leader

should play a card at trick one which is suit

preference. It is neither attitude nor count when the

suit led is deemed to be a dead suit.

N

W E

S

The Suit-preference Signal Part 3by Neil Rosen

Advanced Defence

Advanced Defence

click

link

Count or attitude?

• In 'obvious ruffing situations' the SP

signal should certainly apply.

• We have an established order of

preference

a) Attitude

b) Count

c) Suit Preference

This can vary for specific partnerships -

many pairs prefer count as their first priority

• a) having given attitude our next signal

is count.

b) having given count our next signal is SP.