INTRODUCTION TO DEFENSIVE PLAY"I'm sure we could have beaten that contract…" Does that sound familiar? Do your opponents make too many contracts against you? Defense is by far the toughest aspect of the game, but it is also the most enjoyable when you get it right. Bear in mind that you will also be defending twice as often as you are declarer. Maybe you just want to play at a local club or in a social group, or meet with friends for a game online, or perhaps you have aspirations much higher than that. In any event, you will enjoy your game much more once you have mastered the basic techniques of defensive play.
LESSON ONE PLANNING THE DEFENSE Defense is frequently tagged the most difficult aspect of the game, but it can also be the most satisfying. Inexperienced players tend to view defending as a chore to be done when they don't manage to win the auction. Indeed, writers encourage this view: most books for novices start with bidding and then move on to declarer play. The few pages on defense can be found hidden at the back, as if they were an afterthought. That's not the way to view defense -- as the poor relation. When you think about it, unless you bid like a maniac you will be defending twice as often as you become declarer. Remember, half the time your side wins the auction, you will be dummy. There have been many top class players whose bidding could be described as basic (or perhaps lacking in refinement), but a moderate defensive player has little chance of attaining expert status. As an inexperienced defender, you make mistakes because your mind is not trained to think along the right lines. During this course, and those that follow, we will provide you will the tools to defend well. You will learn to count and to draw inferences. You will acquire the basic defensive techniques (and basic in this context does not always mean simple). Knowing these basics won't make you a good defender, but you cannot defend well consistently without them. Experts also make mistakes in defense, but those are usually due to lapses in concentration, rather than faulty logic or the inability to follow the correct line of reasoning. To defend accurately you must pay close attention at all times, even when you seem to have a worthless hand. The vast majority of players defend in a fog. By that, we mean that they follow a set of well-known rules such as "cover an honor with an honor" without really asking why. To lift your head above the clouds, you must develop a plan, much as you do when you are declarer. Planning the defense begins before the opening lead. Should you attack? Should you defend passively? Do you lead trumps? To answer these questions you have to form the outline of a defensive plan, using just the information contained in your own hand and that provided by the bidding. Of course, once dummy appears you may have to revise that plan, as that new information will often change the shape of the jigsaw puzzle you are building in your mind. You must also learn to think in terms of your combined partnership assets. Here is a simple question. If the opponents bid 1NT-2NT-3NT, how many points does partner have? You can assume, whatever strength the opponents' notrump, that they have approximately 25 HCP between them. By adding your own points to that 25 you can judge partner's strength fairly accurately. If you have a 13-count, then adopting a defensive campaign that requires partner so show up with a couple of kings is clearly pointless It may seem obvious, but the first question you should ask yourself when trying to form a defensive plan is, "How many tricks do we need?" To illustrate, here is a simple hand:
What do you lead against a notrump contract? This not a fair question, of course, since you also need to know how many notrump. Obviously, the bidding will also affect your choice, but if you are defending 6NT after one of the opponents has shown a long club or spade suit, you might well choose the ©K as your opening lead. Against 1NT, you would almost certainly lead a diamond. If you are defending 3NT and declarer has bid diamonds or shown strength in the suit, you might select a club, or perhaps even the ªA. Whichever choice you make, it is because you have a plan. Let's go through each of these plans. Against 6NT, you need two tricks. You can see one already (the ªA) and you can develop a second trick by leading a heart. True, leading a diamond may develop lots of tricks if partner has something like A-x-x, but that's wishful thinking rather than planning. Against 1NT, you lead a diamond because your plan is to set up that suit, hopefully before declarer can knock out your major suit honors and thus develop his own source of tricks. Against 3NT, if declarer has shown length and strength in diamonds, you might lead a club with the intention of setting up tricks in partner's hand, or perhaps a spade hoping partner has length there. In each case, you have a plan to acquire the required number of tricks. Forming a plan involves answering many questions. What have you discovered from the bidding? If you lead your long suit, can you set it up and do you have entries to cash it later? Perhaps partner has bid -- do you lead his suit or your own? Of course, when defending a suit contract, there are even more considerations. Should you lead a trump? Should you play for a ruff? Can you give partner a ruff? Once the opening lead has been made and dummy has appeared, both defenders will have more information. When your partner has led, the first question you should address is, "What does partner's lead tell me?" If you decide to win the first trick, you must decide whether to return partner's lead or shift. There is no point to blindly following a preordained set of rules such as "always return partner's lead," if doing so will not defeat the contract. You must always form a plan of attack that will allow the defense to prevail. Work through how the play is likely to go if you take a particular action. As each trick is played, so you garner more information, and you must learn to revise your plan. You should always be aware of how many tricks you need. Perhaps you can see some sure tricks in your own hand. You should always be asking yourself, "where are our other two, three, four, etc. winners likely to come from?" Before playing to any trick, always consider the overall picture. How many tricks do you need? How many can you already see? How can you make up any shortfall between the tricks you can see and the number you need? HAPPY BRIDGINGJ
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