This is part of a series of Declarer Play articles that build on one another. For the best understanding, it’s recommended to read them in sequence.

One of the first tasks as declarer is to count your winners. Most hands won’t initially have enough winners to fulfill the contract, so you’ll need to find ways to create additional tricks.

In this section, we’ll focus on suits where you aim to take extra tricks using smaller cards. To achieve this, you’ll need to play the suit enough times to exhaust the defenders’ cards, leaving your remaining cards as established winners.

Testing for Skaters

Example 1

Dummy
♥ 4 2
You
♥ A K Q 8 6 5

How many winners? 

Correct. With a favorable 3-2 split, you will have 6 winners. But you don’t know the split yet, so you can only count your ♥AKQ as winners.

With a favorable 3-2 split, you will have 6 winners. But you don’t know the split yet, so you can only count your ♥AKQ as winners.

When you start playing your masters, watch to see when someone discards.

If someone discards on the first round, what is the split?

5-0

If someone discards on the second round, what is the split? 

4-1

If no one discards on the second round, what is the split? 

3-2

How many of your masters will you have to cash to confirm that you do indeed have 6 winners?

No, even if both opponents follow suit to your first heart winner, there could still be a 4-1 split, leaving you unable to win the fourth round. At that point, you won’t yet know how many additional tricks you can establish.

Yes, well done on the counting. If both opponents follow suit, it indicates a 3-2 split. Your third high card will capture their last heart, and your three remaining spot cards will become additional winners, giving you a total of 6 heart tricks. However, if one opponent discards on the second round, you’ll immediately know that you don’t have 6 winners.

Oops… no luck this time. In fact, you’ll know the answer before the third round. If both opponents follow suit to your first two high cards, you’ll have 6 winners. However, if one of them discards during either of the first two rounds, you won’t have 6 winners.

Example 2

Dummy
♠ K 4 2
You
♠ A Q 6 5 

How many winners?

3 winners

Is there any hope for a skater?

Yes. If their 6 spades split 3-3, you will have a fourth round skater.

How many of your masters will you have to cash to confirm that you have a skater?

All three of them. If they follow suit to the first two of them, you won’t know if the split is 3-3 or 4-2.

Testing this suit for additional tricks isn’t without risk. If the spades don’t split evenly after three rounds, their remaining spade could still be higher than your ♠6. In other words, playing your ♠AKQ might inadvertently establish a winner for the opponents—ouch!

Even with a 4-2 split, there’s still a chance to create an extra trick. But it requires a bit of patience and subtlety. Since your four-card holding is hidden in your closed hand, it’s often wise to delay playing this suit. This could prompt the defender with the four-card holding to mistakenly discard one of their spot cards. That changes the original 4-2 split into a 3-2 split, allowing your three high cards to clear the suit. As a result, you could establish an extra trick that wasn’t achievable earlier in the play.

Example 3

Dummy
♦ K 4 3 2
You
♦ A Q 6 5  

This example is almost the same as the last one. I’ve given Dummy an extra spot card.

You have 3 winners, and you want to know if you have an additional fourth round skater.

The best spot card to save for the fourth round is your ♦6. However, if either defender holds four or more diamonds, their highest card will be higher than yours. This means you won’t have a fourth winner if either defender has a 4- or 5-card holding in this suit.

Count how many diamonds they have. What are the possible splits?

5-0, 4-1, and 3-2. A 5-0 split means no skater. A 4-1 split means no skater. But a 3-2 split is good news.

How many of your masters must you cash to confirm that there is a 3-2 split so you will have a skater?

Just 2. If no one discards when you cash your first high card, it eliminates the possibility of a 5-0 split. Similarly, cashing your second high card without seeing a discard rules out a 4-1 split.

When both opponents follow suit for two rounds, the distribution must be 3-2, meaning your third high card will capture the final outstanding card. Then your ♦6 can become a winner in the fourth round—paired with a spot card from Dummy for an extra trick.

Many players prefer to focus on counting cards rather than analyzing suit distributions.

In example 3, the defenders hold 5 diamonds. If both follow suit when you cash your first high card, that accounts for 2 of the 5. When you lead another high card and they both follow suit again, that adds 2 more, bringing the total to 4. This leaves just one remaining card from the original 5, which will be captured by your third high card.

Example 4

Dummy
♣ A K Q J 4  
You
♣ 7

Dummy has a nice club suit – 4 winners.

The defense holds more clubs than you do. But what about your fifth round ♣4? Might that be a skater? 

Exactly! If the remaining clubs are split 4-3, there will be none left by the fifth round. At that point, your low spot card will become a winner.

What are the possible splits for their 7 cards?

-0, 6-1, 5-2, 4-3

How many of your master cards must you play to be sure you have 5 club winners? 

Three. If no discards occur during the first three rounds, the defenders will have played six clubs, leaving only one remaining. Your fourth high card will remove that final card, making your ♣4 an additional winner.

Another way to reach the same conclusion is by process of elimination:

  • Rule out a 7-0 split if there’s no discard on the first round.
  • Rule out a 6-1 split if there’s no discard on the second round.
  • Rule out a 5-2 split if there’s no discard on the third round.

The only remaining possibility is a 4-3 split.

A short cut…

When you’re hoping for a favorable split that gives you skaters, think of the numbers for the split you want (3-2, 3-3, 4-2, etc.). The smaller number is how many rounds of the suit must be played to confirm you get what you are hoping for.

  • If you want a 4-3 spit, you must play the suit 3 times.
  • If a 4-2 split is good enough, you must play the suit 2 times.
  • If you need a 3-3 split, you must play 3 rounds.
  • If you need a 2-2 split, you must play the suit 2 times.

Following this shortcut does not create skaters. It just tells you whether or not you have them. If the suit doesn’t split as you hope, you don’t have the skaters you want.

Losing Tricks to Create Skaters

Example 5

Dummy
♥ 9 8 6
You
♥ 5 4 3 2  

A very weak heart suit.

No honey in this suit… or is there?

Is there any chance you could develop a skater?

Yes! If their six hearts split 3-3, your fourth round ♥5 will be a winner.

Can you test for skaters?

In our first four examples, “testing for additional tricks” focused on cashing high cards in a suit while watching for discards to confirm whether the expected split matched our assumptions.

With this weak heart holding, you’ll lose the lead each time you play the suit. You’ll then need to regain the lead, depending on what suit the opponents play, before continuing with hearts.

However, if you hold enough high cards in the other suits to maintain control, you can focus solely on trying to establish one heart trick without any major concerns.

Example 5

Dummy
♥ 9 8 6
You
♥ A 4 3 2  

I’ve added a winner to our lousy heart suit.

Since you have the master card, you can choose when to win a trick.There is an advantage to winning at a specific time – the round when you know if you have a skater or not.

When should you win your ♥A?

This choice does not stop them from cashing all the winners they have when you lead a second heart.

After this second heart trick, you don’t know if you have a heart skater. Then when you lead a third heart, you cannot stop them from cashing all their heart winners.

Exactly, well done. On the third round, you’ll find out if the suit splits 3-3. If it does, you’ll retain the lead to cash your extra trick. If it doesn’t, you’ll still have the lead to explore other options.

If you maintain control and never lose the lead again, the opponents won’t be able to cash their fourth-round heart winner. Alternatively, if you’re fortunate and only lose the lead to the defender who doesn’t hold the remaining heart winner, they won’t be able to lead it. In either case, you avoid losing that final heart trick.

For the question you just answered, I didn’t give you a choice to win your ♥A on the 4th round. Why would the 4th round be an awful time to win your ace?

Winning the 4th round with your ♥A means you’ve deliberately chosen to lose the first three rounds. If the suit splits 3-3, your ♥A becomes an extra winner. However, you could have won an earlier round with your ♥A and established a spot card as the extra winner instead.

Just imagining this difficult choice of holding onto your ace until the fourth round makes me crave a little comfort food. How about some toast and honey? Would you like some too?

When you intentionally lose a trick by playing low cards from both hands, it’s called “ducking.” For this hand, the suit is played as follows:

  1. Duck the first round. Watch for a discard. If no discard…
  2. Duck the second round. Watch for a discard. If no discard…
  3. Win the third round with your ♥A.
    • If no discard (a 3-3 split), cash your skater.
    • If someone discards, abandon hearts and hope they never cash their remaining heart winner.

Example 7

Dummy
♥ 9 8 6
You
♥ A K 3 2

I’ve improved our heart suit with a second winner.

Think about what you learned in example 6. The worst time to win one of your masters would be the fourth round. That would waste a master card when a spot card might be a skater.

So we’re going to win our two masters before the fourth round. That means we’re going to duck once.

Would it be OK to duck the first round and win the next two? 

Yes. You will keep the lead on the third round and be able to cash your skater if there is a 3-3 split.

Would it be OK to duck the second round, winning the first and third rounds?

Yes. You will retain the lead on the third round and be able to cash your skater if there is a 3-3 split.

Would it be OK to duck the third round, after having won the first two rounds?

You need to win your final high card on the third round. That’s when you’ll determine who holds the extra trick in the fourth round. If it’s yours, cash it immediately. If it belongs to your opponent, be glad you still have the lead, preventing them from cashing it. You can also hope that the opponent with the extra heart trick never gains the lead to use it.

Example 8

Dummy
♠ A Q 8 4 2  
You
♠ 6 3  

How many winners?

Just one.

How many cards do the defenders have?

You have 7, so they have 6.

You want to win the trick on the round that confirms you have skaters. Which round should you win your ♠A? 

You find out if the split is 3-3 on the third round, so that’s when you win your ♠A.

If you have entries to the dummy in other suits, it doesn’t matter whether you duck the first or second round. Naturally, you will lead toward your ♠AQ and attempt a finesse before the third round.

When ducking or cashing your ♠A, you can lead from either hand. However, when finessing, you must lead from your own hand. If the lead is already in your hand, it makes sense to start with the finesse and then duck the second round.

If the lead is in the dummy, start by ducking.

What is the maximum number of winners you might get from this suit? 

Four. ♠A, ♠Q, and 2 skaters. No matter how lucky you are, you must duck at least once to establish skaters.

What is the minimum number of winners you might get from this suit?

Just one. If the ♠K is off sides, and there is a 6-0 or 5-1 split, all you can win is your ♠A.

Many suits are like this, where you can’t tell how the opponents’ cards split, so you can’t tell how many winners you can develop.

Example 9

Dummy
♣ A Q T 6 4 3
You
♣ 8 2

How many winners?

Just one.

Is it possible to have a lucky lie of the cards where you could win all six club tricks?

Yes. A 3-2 split, with both the ♣K and ♣J on sides, would allow you to finesse twice and win six tricks – three of them skaters.

How should you play the first club trick?

Lead low to Dummy’s ♣10. If you finesse with your ♣Q on the first round, you will always lose at least one trick because the opponents would still have two high clubs, leaving you with only the ♣A to counter them.

Instead, you need to hold onto your ♣A to capture their ♣K and your ♣Q to capture their ♣J. If both of their high honors are well-placed, you can win the first trick with Dummy’s ♣10.

Example 10

Dummy
♠ A J T 3
♥ Q 7 2
♦ K 9
♣ A J T 5
You
♠ K
♥ A K J 9
♦ A Q 6 5 3  
♣ Q 9 4

How many winners?

2 spades, 4 hearts, 3 diamonds, 1 club = 10 winners

Your contract is 6N. How many more tricks must you develop?

2 more tricks

How many extra tricks might you get from each suit? (Try to work it out before peeking…) 

You can gain 2 extra tricks, but it would require exceptional luck for the ♠Q to be singleton or doubleton, allowing it to drop when you cash your ♠AK.

No extra tricks. You already have 4 masters.

2 extra tricks, if there is a 3-3 split.

3 extra tricks, by repeating a winning finesse.

You have three options: play for an honor to drop in spades, aim for a 3-3 split in diamonds, or attempt a finesse in clubs. Any one of these approaches could secure your 6NT contract if successful..

However, one option ensures you make your contract, even if all three attempts are unsuccessful.

Reassess your winners, assuming the ♠Q doesn’t drop, the diamonds don’t split, and the club finesse fails. One option still guarantees 12 tricks—provided you choose it first. Which one is it?

Take the club finesse first. After it loses, you will have 2 spade winners, 4 hearts, 3 diamonds, and 3 clubs =12 tricks. And if the club finesse wins, you will make an overtrick.

What could go wrong if you first try spades and the ♠Q doesn’t drop, and then you take the club finesse?

If the opponents win the finesse with their ♣K, they could cash their ♠Q and defeat your contract. The same outcome occurs if you test diamonds first and they don’t split before attempting the club finesse—then they can cash their diamond winner as the setting trick.

To guarantee your contract, you must take the club finesse first.

You might say, “I enjoy going for overtricks. The club finesse could give me an extra trick.”

While overtricks are rewarding, it’s important not to jeopardize your contract in pursuit of one.

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