Structured Planning the Play of the Hand at Bridge

By Reuven Chiba

This book presents a way of planning in an orderly manner the play of the hand at the bridge game. It may be considered as a road map or a flowchart diagram for the declarer at bridge. The book introduces also a new tabular method to describe the course of the play where in one glance one can observe all the tricks played leaving no room for confusion.
New! Share a hand you played by publishing it in the next revision of this book. Submit an interesting hand you played to the author’s email (find it at www.lulu.com/spotlight/Flowchart4BridgeDeclarer). Originally hands composed by you are welcomed too. Also indicate the chapter in which to add your hand (you may also suggest a new chapter). After passing an evaluation your hand will be published in the next revision of this book mentioning your courtesy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329057968

Book preview

Introduction

After the defender on the left has played his leading card and dummy has spread his cards on the table, the declarer can use several techniques (tools) to make the contract. How should he plan his play and what technique should he use?

This book offers the Bridge fans, starting at the beginning level through the intermediate level and even on for the little more advanced ones, a systematic way of planning their play of the hand by using structured planning. Meaning, planning the play of the hand the way a computer program would plan it: Determining the checking sequence of the suitability of the techniques to the holding of the cards, and stating the different decisions (if…then…else) to be taken throughout the checking process, until the right technique is concluded. Experienced Bridge players while planning their play of the hand actually do it intuitively due to the long experience they have gained and due to their natural capabilities.

Exercising the use of structured planning the play of the hand persistently, will bring finally to applying this system naturally and will produce more achievements to its users.

The system principles:

The techniques should be checked one by one in the sequence brought below. If the technique is found to be adequate it is applied, otherwise the next technique is checked. There is no advantage by applying a later technique throughout the checking sequence if a previous one has been found adequate. The reason is that in most of the cases it will not produce a better result but might endanger the success of the contract. A technique is considered to be adequate when its probability to succeed is 60% at least. Also care should be taken of pitfalls, and mines should be identified which might cause a deviation from different rules in the way the play of the hand is carried out, and might even impose to proceed with the checking process. The meaning of the terms Pitfall and Mine will be explained later.

The first decision in the planning, meaning the checking process, is made according to the nature of the contract: A suit contract versus a no trump contract. For a no trump contract checking of the techniques in the group of a no trump contract below should follow, otherwise checking of the techniques in the group of a suit contract below should follow.

The checking sequence of the techniques in a no trump contract:

1. Promotion

2. Conceding the hand to the defenders

3. Endplay

4. Finessing

5. Squeeze

The checking sequence of the techniques in a suit contract:

1. Promotion

2. Discarding losers

3. Ruffing in the short hand

4. Ruffing in the long hand

5. Crossruffing

6. Loser on loser discarding

7. Elimination

8. Conceding the hand to the defenders

9. Endplay

10. Finessing

11. Squeeze

One can notice that the difference between the two groups of techniques above is that between the promotion technique and the conceding the hand to the defenders technique there are six more techniques for a suit contract. The five equal techniques in the two groups are checked at the same sequence (though the checking considerations of each technique of the five differ between the two groups).

The system's flowchart diagram follows:

PDF Structured Planning the Play of the Hand At Bridge-page-001 - Copy.jpg

The diagram above is an overall diagram. In a more detailed diagram every shape of an action (rectangle) or decision (rhombus) contains several more shapes of actions and decisions.

How the plays go on is described in the book by means of a table as follows:

Tricks sA-page-001.jpg

The small digits to the right of the characters of the cards played, denote the sequence the cards are laid on the table starting with the leading one (¹) and ending with the last one (⁴).

A bold underscore signifies the winning card.

If the reader finds it more convenient to use a deck of cards in order to follow the way the play goes on he is absolutely encouraged to do it.

The play of the hand techniques

Trough the checking processes of most if not all the techniques the number of certain winning tricks is a main consideration factor. Certain winning tricks are a sequence (in dummy and in the declarer's hand) of honor cards starting with the A and going downwards. For example: A, K, Q and J are four certain winning tricks. More certain winning tricks can come from a sequence with gaps. For example: K, Q and J. The A is missing but the declarer still has two certain winning tricks. After one of the three honor cards will lose to the defenders A, the two other honors will become certain winning tricks. Another example: A, Q and J. The K is missing but the declarer still has two certain winning tricks. After the Q or the J lose to the defenders K, the A and the other honor card will become certain winning tricks.

Let us start now inspecting the different techniques.

Promotion at a no trump contract

Promotion is the first technique to be checked. By this technique the number of the declarer's certain winning tricks is counted first. To the certain winning tricks one should add tricks won by small cards that were promoted by playing the longest suit of the declarer (developing the suit). If the number of the certain winning tricks added to the tricks won by the promoted small cards is equal to or greater than the number of tricks needed to make the contract, then the technique is considered as the adequate one. (Otherwise one should proceed checking the next technique).

After concluding that promotion is the right technique to use, the declarer should start playing the top cards of his longest suit in order to promote the small cards of that suit. After completing this step the suit is said to be established. Then the promoted small cards of that suit are cashed. Afterwards the next longest suit is treated the same way or simply the remaining certain winning tricks sequences starting with the A and going downwards are played.

Let's have a look at the following hand:

A632-page-001-b.jpg

The contract is 1 no trump. The leading card is the ♠K.

The declarer has five certain winning tricks with his honor cards: Three with the ♣ suit, one with the