This is part of a series of Declarer Play articles designed to build on one another. For the best learning experience, I recommend studying them in sequence.
Introduction
Once the bidding concludes, calculate the number of tricks required to fulfill your contract.
The declarer always needs six tricks (referred to as a “book”) plus the number of tricks bid. In the chart below, no-trump is used as an example, but the numbers are the same for suit contracts.
1N → 6 + 1 = 7 tricks
2N → 6 + 2 = 8 tricks
3N → 6 + 3 = 9 tricks
4N → 6 + 4 = 10 tricks
5N → 6 + 5 = 11 tricks
6N → 6 + 6 = 12 tricks
7N → 6 + 7 = 13 tricks
You can determine your goal—the number of tricks you need to fulfill your contract—before the opening lead is made and before you see Dummy’s hand. Don’t let your opponents rush you; if they lead quickly, take your time to calculate your goal while they wait.
Bridge is a game of strategy and thought. It’s perfectly acceptable to take a moment to think things through. If it helps, you can even place your hands in your lap and count on your fingers.
When the dummy is revealed, your first step is to count the winners you already have (explained below) and compare that number to what you need. Most of the time, you won’t initially have enough winners to fulfill your contract. Don’t worry—this is completely normal.
Fortunately, the defense usually won’t have enough winners to defeat your contract right away either.
Both sides will need to work on developing additional tricks.
If you can develop and cash enough tricks to make your contract, it won’t matter how many tricks the defense later establishes—they won’t have enough remaining to undo your success. Similarly, if the defense manages to cash enough tricks to set your contract, there won’t be enough tricks left for you to recover, no matter how many winners you develop later.
This dynamic is why no-trump contracts are often described as a race. You need to develop and cash enough tricks to secure your contract before the defense can develop and cash enough to defeat it.
A large part of declarer play in no trump is about counting. You’ll count to determine your goal. You’ll count the tricks you’re guaranteed to win, the tricks you can develop, and the tricks the defense is likely to win. You’ll also count to assess whether you can cash enough tricks before the defenders can cash theirs.
The counting involved isn’t particularly challenging, but you’ll need to do it frequently, updating your calculations as the hand progresses.
Let’s dive in and get started.
When the dummy comes down, count winners
What do we mean by winners?
Winners are cards that are guaranteed to take a trick if you lead them. They’re often referred to as “master cards,” “certain winners,” “sure winners,” “cashable tricks,” or simply “tricks.” The terminology doesn’t matter—as long as they are cards that cannot be beaten.
Example 1
| You ♠ A Q ♥ A K 3 ♦ K Q J T ♣ 5 4 3 2 |
♠ – 1 winner. If you lead the ♠Q, it can lose to their ♠K. Even if you lead toward the ♠AQ and finesse, it could lose.
♥ – 2 winners
♦ – 0 winners. Any diamond you lead can lose.
♣ – 0 winners
Yes, you can force out the ♦A and create 3 diamond winners, but you haven’t done that yet. Therefore, don’t count your diamonds as winners at this point. Instead, consider them as 3 potential winners.
Example 2
| Dummy ♠ 7 5 2 ♥ A K 8 ♦ K J 4 2 ♣ 9 8 6 |
| You ♠ Q T 9 6 ♥ Q 6 4 ♦ A Q ♣ Q J 7 3 |
When counting winners, combine your high cards with Dummy’s.
♠ – 0 winners
♥ – 3 winners
♦ – 4 winners (be careful; they’re blocked)
♣ – 0 winners
To unblock your four diamond tricks, cash the ♦AQ first. Then cross to the dummy with a heart, so you can lead the ♦KJ.
If Dummy didn’t have a winner in another suit, you might need to cash the ♦A and then overtake your ♦Q with Dummy’s ♦K. This overtake would transfer the lead to Dummy, allowing you to cash the ♦J. If this is necessary, count only 3 diamond winners since two of your honors would be “crashed” in the process.
Example 3
| Dummy ♠ A K 7 ♥ A K 8 ♦ K J ♣ K T 6 5 2 |
| You ♠ Q J 6 4 ♥ Q J 4 ♦ A Q ♣ Q J 9 3 |
Master cards are usually winners. But not always.
In this example, you have 12 master cards:
♠AKQJ, ♥AKQJ, ♦AKQJ
But you cannot win 12 tricks with your 12 masters.
How many winners do you have in each suit? Count for yourself before peeking…
Example 4
| ♠ 7 6 ♥ K J 8 ♦ A 7 3 ♣ Q T 9 7 3 |
| You ♠ K 2 ♥ Q T 4 3 ♦ Q 8 4 2 ♣ A K J |
How many winners do you have?
Example 5
| Dummy ♠ K T 7 4 ♥ A J ♦ K J T 9 8 ♣ K 6 |
| You ♠ Q 5 ♥ K Q T 3 2 ♦ A 7 2 ♣ A Q J |
How many winners do you have in each suit?
Do we ever count skaters as winners?
Yes, sometimes…
Start by counting how many cards the opponents hold in your suit. If you have enough high honors, you can force them to follow suit to your winning cards until they run out completely. At that point, even your smallest cards will become winners. By counting, you can determine if this strategy is guaranteed to succeed before you begin cashing your high honors.
Here’s an example…
Example 6
| Dummy ♣ 8 7 4 3 |
| You ♣ A K Q 6 5 2 |
You have 10 clubs, so they have only 3.
With three top honors, even a 3-0 split doesn’t stop you from cashing all 6 clubs.
So you can count 6 winners.
Example 7
| Dummy ♣ 8 7 4 |
| You ♣ A K Q 6 5 2 |
I’ve taken away one of Dummy’s spot cards. (My wife says that’s mean.)
Now they have 4 clubs, including the ♣J.
If you play your ♣AKQ and the clubs are split 4-0, the opponents could win the fourth round with their ♣J, preventing you from cashing additional club tricks. Therefore, you cannot count your smaller cards as guaranteed winners.
In reality, there’s a strong chance the clubs won’t split 4-0. You could play one round of clubs to check if both opponents follow suit. If they do, you can rule out a 4-0 split and count 6 winners.
However, there are three reasons why this might not be the best approach:
- The most important reason is that it can lead to a bad habit of cashing tricks before fully planning your declarer play for the entire deal.
- Secondly, you may need to preserve your three high clubs as potential entries later in the play. Without a complete plan, you won’t know if these high cards will be critical for maintaining control.
- Lastly, by keeping your club strength hidden, you increase the chance that your opponents might misjudge the distribution of honors and adopt a less effective defensive strategy.
A well-thought-out plan may start with testing how the clubs are divided, but be sure to create your plan first.
We’ll delve into planning soon, but for now, remember not to assume that long cards are winners unless a bad split wouldn’t impact the outcome. Additionally, by keeping your club strength hidden, you might cause your opponents to misjudge the distribution of honors and opt for a weaker defensive strategy.
Example 8
| Dummy ♦ K 9 8 |
| You ♦ A Q 6 5 3 |
You have 8 diamonds.
How many diamonds do they have?
When you’re aiming to establish extra tricks, count the opponents’ cards and consider how they might be distributed between the two defenders. Additionally, by keeping your club strength hidden, you may prompt the opponents to misjudge the placement of honors and adopt a less effective defensive strategy.
How many diamond winners do you have?
You can aim for 5 winners, but achieving that would depend on a 3-2 split. Since you don’t know the actual distribution, you cannot count on having 5 winners yet.
You could cash two of your high cards to check if both opponents follow suit. If they do, only one diamond would remain, and you could then count 5 diamond winners. However, I strongly recommend not cashing tricks until you’ve created a clear plan.
Next, we’ll examine a hand where we count and plan before making any plays.
A simple declarer’s plan for a no trump contract
Once you’ve counted your winners, compare that number to the requirements of your contract to determine how many additional tricks you need to create.
Next, examine each suit to identify where you can develop the extra tricks necessary to fulfill your contract.
Example 9
| Dummy ♠ Q T 8 ♥ J 9 4 2 ♦ J T 6 ♣ 8 7 3 |
| You ♠ K J 5 3 ♥ Q T 8 ♦ A K Q 4 ♣ A K |
The opening lead is the ♣5.
How many winners do you have?
Your contract is 3N. How many tricks (winners) do you need to develop?
Where might you get more tricks?
Now we’re ready to make a plan.
- Win the opening lead in clubs with your ♣K.
- Lead spades to establish 3 additional tricks, bringing your total to the 9 tricks required for your contract. If the opponents don’t take their ♠A on the first round, continue leading spades until you’ve secured 3 spade winners.
- When they win their ♠A, they will likely lead another club. Just as you’re working to establish tricks in spades, they will be trying to do the same with clubs. Win this second club lead with your ♣A.
- Cash your 9 tricks to fulfill your contract. Avoid attempting overtricks by leading hearts, as doing so would allow them to win with their ♥AK, along with their ♠A and 2 or more clubs—enough tricks to defeat your makable contract.
The plan for this hand is very straightforward. It could be summarized as:
- win the lead
- establish the tricks you need
- get the lead back
- cash your tricks
Notice how the number of winners changed during the play. You began with 6 winners and quickly increased to 9 by establishing spades.
At the same time, the defense started with 3 winners (♠A and ♥AK) and added more by forcing out your two club high cards.
They were unable to cash their newly established clubs because you cashed your tricks first.
This is the essence of a strong plan—a logical sequence of plays that allows you to cash enough tricks to fulfill your contract before the opponents can cash enough tricks to defeat it. Creating such a plan requires careful counting of winners.
Example 9 (repeated)
| Dummy ♠ Q T 8 ♥ J 9 4 2 ♦ J T 6 ♣ 8 7 3 |
| You ♠ K J 5 3 ♥ Q T 8 ♦ A K Q 4 ♣ A K |
You might ask, “Didn’t you say playing hearts isn’t a good idea? But if we play both spades and hearts, couldn’t we get 5 extra tricks—3 from spades and 2 from hearts? That would give us overtricks, and I like overtricks!”
You’re right that those tricks would lead to overtricks for us. However, if you play hearts, the opponents will cash their winners before you can regain the lead to cash yours.
Once they force out our ♣AK, they’ll have 2 or more club winners to cash (the exact number depends on how the clubs are divided between the defenders). Combined with their ♠A and ♥AK, that gives them enough tricks to defeat our 3NT contract.
You were only counting your own tricks. You need to count their tricks as well.
Example 10
| Dummy ♠ A J T 5 ♥ A Q 7 2 ♦ K 9 8 ♣ 8 7 |
| You ♠ K 7 3 ♥ J T 9 ♦ A Q 6 5 3 ♣ K 9 |
This hand highlights the importance of cashing your tricks before the defense has a chance to cash theirs.
Once again, you are declaring a contract of 3NT.
The opening lead is the ♣3.
The third hand plays the ♣Q, and you win the trick with your ♣K.
How many winners do you currently have?
You need two additional winners to make your contract.
How many winners do the defenders need to defeat your contract? Five.
Having seen their cards, I can tell you that with your ♣K already played, they now have 4 club winners ready to cash. They only need one more defensive winner to set your 3NT contract. This means you cannot afford to lose the lead while developing additional tricks in the other suits.
Where can you find the two extra winners you need?
- You can try a finesse in spades. If the ♠Q is on your left, you can repeat the finesse and gain two additional winners. However, if the finesse fails, the opponents win with the ♠Q and follow up with 4 club tricks, leaving you down one. Quite disappointing.
- You could also finesse in hearts. If the ♥K is on your left, you can repeat the finesse three times and even make an overtrick. This is a better option than spades because of the potential overtrick. However, if the finesse fails, the opponents will win with the ♥K and then cash 4 club tricks, leaving you down one again. Same disappointment.
- Another option is to play diamonds and hope to establish two winners, just enough to make your contract. However, if you attempt to cash a fourth diamond and the suit doesn’t split evenly, the opponents will win the diamond and take 4 club tricks, leaving you down one once more. Hmm… this is beginning to feel like a frustrating pattern.
This brings us to an essential point: YOU MUST COUNT their diamonds as you play your high diamond cards. Counting allows you to test for potential winners without giving up the lead. This way, you can plan to cash your diamond winners only when your diamond spot cards are truly established as winners.
You might say, “Uncle Smokey uses binoculars to spot bees going in and out of holes in trees. That way, he only climbs the trees that actually have honey. I think Uncle Smokey would be great at bridge.”
Me: sigh…
Example 10 (repeated)
| Dummy ♠ A J T 5 ♥ A Q 7 2 ♦ K 9 8 ♣ 8 7 |
| You ♠ K 7 3 ♥ J T 9 ♦ A Q 6 5 3 ♣ K 9 |
After winning the opening lead with your ♣K, consider your options for playing each of the other suits. Evaluate each suit carefully before proceeding. Take a moment to make your decisions about each suit before reviewing the suggested approach.
Summary of the plan:
- Win the opening lead with your ♣K.
- Test the diamonds.
- If the diamonds split 3-2, cash your 9 winners (no finesses).
- If the diamonds don’t split, finesse in hearts.
If the diamonds don’t split 3-2, there may be situations where taking the spade finesse is a better choice than the heart finesse. For instance, if your right-hand opponent (RHO) has shown 5 or more hearts during the bidding, you would know the heart finesse is likely to fail and might prefer to attempt the spade finesse instead. You would be aware the heart finesse would lose because you counted the hearts and realized your left-hand opponent (LHO) has none left.
The key skill for successful declarer play is counting.
This was a challenging hand for beginners. I recommend reviewing it carefully before moving on.