Bridge - Advanced 1

• You must master the first system bids which are the NT openings and their NT responses, as well as the 1 of a major opening and its support responses. These bids are described on the Beginner 3 page.

• Here you will discover the first signaling techniques. They will allow you in defense to exchange information with your partner and make very nice plays. The Beginner 3 level is more than sufficient to play all the games presented here.

• When it's your turn to play, the program allows you to review the last trick by right-clicking on the table. Take advantage of it, because the perception of a signal often escapes us when we are not used to it. Don't play too fast, analyze the last trick carefully, and by doing so, learn to spot your partner's signals.

• In the prepared games accessible below, a short comment on a yellow background will appear at the end of each deal, so that you can verify that you have adopted the right signaling technique and found the right line of play.
  

  If you want this comment to appear only after the comparison, open the General preferences on the Play page and check the box In a prepared game, display the comment only after the comparison. Note that even if the comment is not visible, clicking the message bar at the bottom of the window can display it if needed.

Suit preference signal when giving a ruff

You have the hope or the certainty to give your partner a ruff, and would like him, after having ruffed, to return a precise suit, either to be able to give him a second ruff, or for any other tactical reason. This is possible thanks to what is called the suit preference signal.

The suit preference signal always works on the same principle. There are always 2 suits that the player who ruffs has no interest in returning: the trump suit (if he wants to ruff again), and the suit he ruffs (since he has no more cards in it). He therefore has the choice between the 2 other suits which are called the remaining suits. When you give your partner a ruff:

• A high card shows interest in the higher-ranking remaining suit.
  • If the remaining suits are ♠ and ♦, a high card asks for ♠ (the highest).

    A card is considered high if the player can have at least 2 lower cards (or if he is known to have a lower card).

• A low card shows interest in the lower-ranking remaining suit.
  • If the remaining suits are ♠ and ♦, a low card asks for ♦ (the lowest).

    A card is considered low if the player cannot have more than 1 lower card (or if he is known to have a higher equivalent card).

• On partner's singleton

  If your partner opens the lead with a singleton or the AK doubleton (see further on), it's because he has great hopes of ruffing. Several cases may then arise:

  • If your partner is going to win the trick, show him by a suit preference signal which suit to return. The 2 suits to exclude are the trump suit and the opening lead suit. A high card asks for the higher-ranking remaining suit, a low card for the lower-ranking one.

  • If the opponent is going to win the trick and in third seat you have no role on the trick, use the same principle to tell your partner which suit to return if later he gets the lead.

• On opponent's singleton

  If your partner opens the lead with the top card of an honor sequence (the Ace with AK, King with KQ, etc.) and he will keep the lead, he may be stopped in his game plan by an opposing singleton (often in dummy). He will then look for another suit to lead, and you can help him in his choice:

  • If there is some urgency (ruffing tricks to make on your side, enough tricks to defeat the contract, etc.), show him by a suit preference signal which suit to return.

  • If there is no urgency, look for a suit where you have a tenace over dummy, or a suit where you have tricks to establish. And ask your partner for the right return by a suit preference signal.

  Opening the lead with the King from AK doubleton

  It is a standard opening lead: with the Ace-King doubleton, lead the King. Your partner will locate your doubleton when you play your Ace. It is on your Ace that he will make his suit preference signal.

  Warning: if the Queen is in dummy and you open the lead with the King, your partner will make his suit preference signal on your King, because he is perfectly aware of the situation (he knows that you have the K singleton or the AK doubleton).

Another signaling technique is often used when following suit (playing a card of the suit led). It consists in showing to your partner if you have an even or odd number of cards just before playing. This is called giving the count. The principle is simple:

• With an even number of cards, you play them in decreasing order (high then low).
  • Playing the 8 then the 3 shows that before playing you had 2 cards, or 4, 6, etc.

    So, with 2 cards, play the highest. With more cards, play the 2nd best. Of course, you should avoid playing cards that may have a role later. Note that sometimes a single card can be enough to fully inform your partner, if obviously it is a high one.

• With an odd number of cards, you play them in increasing order (low then high).
  • Playing the 5 then the 6 shows that before playing you had 3 cards, or 5, 7, etc.

    With an odd number of cards (3, 5, 7, etc.), always play the lowest. Note that sometimes a single card can be enough to fully inform your partner, if obviously it is a low one.

Giving the count is generally reserved for the team's suits as it would not be wise to inform declarer about the distribution of the other suits. However, there is one situation where giving the count is essential for the defense. This is when declarer is trying to establish a solid long suit without the Ace. Here is the classic situation that is discussed on this page:

• The opposing long suit is in dummy with no outside entries.

  The defender who has the only master card that declarer is missing must then play it at the right time. Once the master card has dropped, declarer must no longer have a card to get back to dummy and cash his tricks established. It is during this suit establishment that the partner of the defender with the master card will have to make a count signal.

A final signaling technique to be known is the attitude signal. This signal is generally reserved for the tricks won by your team, so as not to facilitate the declarer's game plan. It is used when following suit or discarding, and works as follows:

• A high card in a suit encourages to play that suit.

  If there is some urgency (enough tricks to defeat the contract, urgency to cash tricks, etc.), a high card encourages partner to play that suit. If the card is unusually high, it also informs him of an urgency he may not have analyzed yet. If there is no urgency, a high card shows an interesting value in the suit.

• A low card in a suit discourages to play that suit.

  If there is some urgency (enough tricks to defeat the contract, urgency to cash tricks, etc.), a low card discourages partner to play that suit. If there is no urgency, as the player has to follow suit or discard, a low card may show a lack of interest in the suit, but it will not necessarily affect partner's play.

What to know before practicing

• When replaying and studying a deal, you may want to display the explanation of the decisions made by each player, or their visualization of the hands when playing their card. Doing so, you can watch the signals made by the two defenders.

  	Explanation of the decision (Shortcut E)
  	This button allows you to display the explanation of the player's decision. For example, the following explanation may be displayed: "Preference signal when giving a ruff. A high card to ask for Hearts".
  	Player's visualization (Shortcut V)
  	This button allows you to display the player's visualization when it's his turn to play. As far as signals are concerned, the display conventions are as follows: {1} The player still holds an odd number of cards (or none) in the suit. {2} The player still holds an even number of cards (or none) in the suit. The player is interested in the suit (establishing the suit or ruffing is possible). The player may be interested in the suit, but it remains uncertain (ex: 1 Club opening). The player is momentarily interested in the suit (useful honor or possible entry to get the lead). This interest will vanish when he gets the lead. The player shows his lack of interest in the suit. The player discourages his partner from continuing the suit.
  	The least reliable signals are displayed in the player's visualization at 70%. A signal may be interpreted as a count signal at 90%, and as an attitude signal at 70%. Players use their visualization at 70% in situations with urgency.

• The prepared games are never counted in your statistics. You can therefore play them and replay them without fear of altering your statistical results.

• At the end of each deal, you can replay the deal by the Replay deal normally button of the primary toolbar.

  Replay deal normally button or shortcut F3.

• At the end of each prepared games, you can replay the game or only certain deals, using the Return to the prepared game button (bottom right of the screen).
  

If you want to practice random games with the signaling techniques described above, you must first play full bridge, with the Bridge - Five-card Major button pressed. It is in this game mode that you will have the high-level options.

In full bridge mode, open the rule preferences and check if necessary that the bidding conventions are the ones you are used to. Each preferences page has a Help button that describes the different options available. Then, on the Signaling page, enable the following options:

Button to open the rule preferences (shortcut Ctrl+R).

• Signals / On opening lead page
  • Opening card in No Trump: Advanced
  • Opening card in a suit contract: Advanced
  • On opening lead in No Trump: Advanced
  • On opening lead in a suit contract: Advanced

• Signals / When leading a suit page
  • Leading a suit for partner to ruff: Suit preference signal

• Signals / When following suit page
  • Following suit on partner's lead: Advanced
  • Following suit on opponent's lead: Count signal

• Signals / When discarding page
  • No Trump contract: Attitude signal
  • Suit contract: Attitude signal

Direct link to this page, that you are free to use: