Second Hand Play

Second hand play is more difficult than third hand play.

We will still rely on general guidelines for choosing most of our plays, and that's simple enough. But difficulties arise because there are more exceptions to second hand guidelines than there are for third hand play.

General guidelines for second hand play

1. Cover an honor with an honor
2. Play Second Hand Low

For example...
Dummy leads... ♠ Q 5 2	Cover the honor... ♠ K 9 7
Dummy leads... ♥ Q 5 2	Second hand low... ♥ K 9 7
Dummy leads... ♦ J 8 6	Cover the honor... ♦ K 5 3
Dummy leads... ♣ J 8 6	Second hand low... ♣ K 5 3
Dummy leads... ♠ 8 2	Second hand low... ♠ Q T 6 3

As you can see, our two guidelines are easy enough to follow. Following them results in the best plays most of the time, but an understanding of WHY they are best will help us figure out when a specific hand is an exception. It all boils down to how many tricks declarer can take...

example 1

	Partner ♥ T 8 6 4
Declarer ♥ A J 3		Dummy ♥ Q 5 2
	You ♥ K 9 7

Declarer leads the ♥Q from Dummy. You are in second seat, and our guideline advises you to cover the honor, even if you expect Declarer to have the ♥A.

If you cover, how many tricks will Declarer win?

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If instead you don't cover, how many tricks will Declarer win?

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Whether you cover or not, your ♥K will not win a trick because it's poorly placed with Declarer's ace ready to capture it. But if you cover the honor played from Dummy, you can hold Declarer to only two heart tricks. Covering the queen forces Declarer to play two of his honors (♥Q and ♥A) on the same trick, promoting Partner's ♥T to a third round winner.

At the table you cannot see Declarer's cards, so you might hope he doesn't have the ♥A. If that's the case, would it be better to play or withhold your ♥K?

Let's move Declarer's ♥A into Partner's hand and take a closer look...

example 2

	Partner ♥ A T 6 4
Declarer ♥ J 8 3		Dummy ♥ Q 5 2
	You ♥ K 9 7

If you squish the ♥Q, Partner's ♥A-T plays after Declarer's ♥J. There will be no tricks here for Declarer.

But if you fail to squish the ♥Q, Partner will have to play his ♥A on the ♥Q, and Declarer will later make a trick by leading toward his ♥J.

Comparing examples 1 and 2, we see that it doesn't matter whether Declarer or Partner holds the ace. Either way it's best to cover the honor.

example 3

	Partner ♣ T 5 4
Declarer ♣ A J 8 3 2		Dummy ♣ Q 6
	You ♣ K 9 7

Once again Dummy leads an honor.

Suppose you suspect that Declarer has the ace.

What card do you play?

show answer

example 4

	Partner ♦ ?
Dummy ♦ Q 7 2		Declarer ♦ 4
	You ♦ K T 3

This time Dummy is on your left, and Declarer leads low toward the ♦Q. You can be sure of winning the trick if you rise with the ♦K.

Is that a good idea? show answer

Why is it best to play low? You want to give Partner a chance to squish the ♦Q, and you want to retain the chance to squish Declarer's ♦J, if he has it. Covering honors promotes lesser honors, and – good news – you own the ♦T!

The next diagram reveals Declarer's actual holding.

example 5

	Partner ♦ A 8 5
Dummy ♦ Q 7 2		Declarer ♦ J 9 6 4
	You ♦ K T 3

You play low on the first round, and Declarer puts up Dummy's ♦Q, losing to Partner's ♦A.

After Partner's ♦A captures the ♦Q, how many additional diamond tricks can you win?

show answer

If instead, you win the first trick with your ♦K, Partner's ♦A will be the only future diamond trick for the defense. So sad. Partner will then scribble a note on her scorecard, reminding herself to ask you later why you didn't play Second Hand Low with your ♦K. You will have no good answer...

Exceptions to the cover an honor guideline

example 6

	Partner ♠ ?
Declarer ♠ ?		Dummy ♠ Q J 9
	You ♠ K 5 3

This is our first exception to the general rule cover an honor with an honor.

Exception: When Declarer leads from equal honors, cover the last one.

Declarer's ♠Q and ♠J are equal honors, so play low now and cover the second one.

If declarer leads from three honors (like ♠ Q J T 6), play low for the first two honors and cover the third one.

example 7

	Partner ♥ ?
Dummy ♥ A Q T 2		Declarer ♥ J
	You ♥ K 5 3

Declarer owns the ♥Q, ♥J, and ♥T. But this is NOT leading from equal honors. None of the equal honors are in the hand he is leading from.

Why is it correct to cover? Well... to figure that out, try to imagine what cards Partner could hold so covering promotes a future winner for her.

If you cover the honor, Dummy will hold the heart masters for three rounds of the suit.

But what about the fourth round? What must Partner hold to win the fourth round?

show answer

This hand illustrates an important truth about second hand play. You should make the right play even though it may not matter.

Partner may not hold the cards you are hoping for. But you cover the honor anyway, just in case she does. If Partner turns out not to hold ♥9xxx, you lose nothing by covering because Declarer was going to make four heart tricks no matter what you play. But you would lose both a trick and Partner's trust if you play low and it turns out that Partner does indeed hold the promotable ♥9xxx.

example 8

	Partner ♠ ?
Dummy ♠ A 8 7 4		Declarer ♠ J
	You ♠ Q 5 3

Now let's move on to our next exception to the general rule cover an honor with an honor.

Exception: Don't cover when Declarer owns all the promoted honors.

If you cover the honor, what cards that you can't see are promoted?

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Suppose Declarer has opened the bidding with 1♠, promising 5+ spades. What is the maximum number of spades Partner could then hold?

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Do you cover the honor? show answer

Our second exception tells us to play low. Don't cover the ♠J.

There are two ways playing low might save a trick. First, if Partner holds a singleton ♠K, you won't crash your two honors under Dummy's ace. That would be embarrassing!

Second, if Partner holds only a spot card, Declarer might decide to go up with the ♠A, planning to cash the ♠K next. Declarer's hope is that the 4 outstanding spades divide 2 and 2 with the ♠Q dropping. On this deal, he will be disappointed – as long as you don't cover.

Exceptions to the play low guideline

example 9

	Partner ♦ ?
Declarer ♦ ?		Dummy ♦ Q 7 4 3
	You ♦ A 9 6

So far we have treated our examples as if they were the only suits in each deal. When you learn to play bridge, that's a good way to begin.

But sometimes considerations of the hand as a whole are more important than what's best for just one suit.

Our guidelines suggest that you play low when Dummy leads the ♦3, waiting to play your ♦A later when you can capture Dummy's ♦Q. If diamonds were the only suit that mattered, that would be correct. It would save a trick whenever Partner holds a diamond honor that can be promoted. And you'll be able to take your ♦A later if it turns out that Declarer holds all the other diamond honors.

Now let's put this diamond suit into a whole hand...

example 10

	Partner (N) ♠ A Q 8 7 4 2 ♥ Q 6 4 ♦ J 5 2 ♣ 2
Declarer (W) ♠ K 6 3 ♥ A K ♦ K T 8 ♣ A Q J 5 3		Dummy (E) ♠ T 5 ♥ J 7 5 2 ♦ Q 7 4 3 ♣ K 7 6
	You (S) ♠ J 9 ♥ T 9 8 ♦ A 9 6 ♣ T 9 4

Partner opens the bidding with a weak two, promising a 6 card suit, and West decides to guess that he can make 9 tricks in notrump.

Partner	East	You	West
2♠	P	P	3N

Partner leads a spade, won by Declarer with the ♠K.

The second trick is a club to Dummy's ♣K, and the ♦3 is led from Dummy. Our guideline says to play low. But consider the hand as a whole before playing.

How many tricks can Declarer take if you play low?

show answer

How many tricks can Partner take if you fly with the ♦A and return his long suit?

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Hmmm... Follow the play low guideline and Declarer takes 9 tricks. Or, fly with your ♦A and Declarer only gets 7 tricks. That's an easy choice.

Exception: Don't play low when you can take the setting tricks.

Splitting honors

example 11

	Partner ♣ ?
Declarer ♣ ?		Dummy ♣ 9 7 2
	You ♣ K Q 6

If you need to make two club tricks, follow the general guideline and play low.

But if you need to capture the lead before Declarer scores two club tricks and makes his contract, play one of your honors.

This is called "splitting your honors." When you split honors, choose your card as if Partner had led the suit (lowest of equals).

Some partnerships don't make the agreement to split with the lowest of equal honors. They either split high or vary their play based on table position or specific honors held. I believe "splitting low" is best for beginners because it can be played the same way in all circumstances, and it's easy to remember. That's important for beginners.

example 12

	Partner ♥ ?
Declarer ♥ ?		Dummy ♥ 7 3 2
	You ♥ Q J T 6

Your honors are strong enough to play one even though Dummy has led a spot card.

Which one do you play? show answer

example 13

	Partner ♠ ?
Dummy ♠ A T 7 4		Declarer ♠ 5
	You ♠ Q J 6

If Declarer has the ♠K, there is a danger than he will insert the ♠T, winning a trick cheaply and dropping your ♠QJ when he later cashes his ♠AK.

How can you prevent that? show answer

The only flaw in this plan is if Partner holds a singleton ♠K, splitting would crash two of your honors, and make only one trick when you should have made two. So when The ♠5 is led, you must consider what you know about the hand and judge the likelihood of Partner holding a singleton ♠K.

example 14

	Partner ♣ ?
Dummy ♣ A 9 7 4		Declarer ♣ 5
	You ♣ Q J 6 2

This is similar to example 13, except Dummy has the 9 instead of the T. In addition, you have a four card holding.

If you split your honors you will make certain of one trick because your remaining honor will play after Declarer's imagined ♣K.

But splitting gives Declarer an easy path to three tricks whenever he holds the ♣Kxx. He'll win the ♣A, win the ♣K, and lead toward the ♣9 (Partner being then void).

Now suppose Partner's doubleton includes the ♣T. How can you prevent Declarer from making three tricks?

show answer

The differences between examples 13 and 14 are subtle. A beginner may not solve such positions the first few times they arise at the table. But if you play through them carefully here, the correct patterns will take root in your memory.

example 15

	Partner ♦ ?
Dummy ♦ A J 8		Declarer ♦ 4
	You ♦ K T 9 3

Suppose Partner holds the ♦Qxx. The danger is that Declarer will insert the ♦8, forcing the ♦Q, and later finesse your ♦K for two tricks.

How do you prevent this? show answer

And if Declarer holds the ♦Q, splitting your honors holds him to two tricks instead of three.

example 16

	Partner ♥ ?
Dummy ♥ A 8 7 4		Declarer ♥ J
	You ♥ Q 6

This is the trump suit, so you know Declarer holds a 4 or 5 card suit.

He would not lead the ♥J if he didn't also have the ♥T, so you know he can finesse your ♥Q.

Would covering the ♥J give you or Partner a chance of making a trick from a promoted honor?

show answer

In general you should assume that Declarer holds the immediately promoted honor whenever he leads a Q or a J toward Dummy's A or K. And you should wait to cover the second honor, not the first one.

example 17

	Partner ♠ ?
Declarer ♠ ?		Dummy ♠ J 4 2
	You ♠ Q 6

This looks like example 16, except the lead comes from the Dummy.

Do you cover? show answer

You should cover whenever you can't see the promoted card. Your hope is that partner holds it.

Unlike example 16, it would be silly to assume the lead comes from equal honors. One look at the Dummy confirms that's not true.

Summary for second hand play

Go to the next topic:

Declarer's Plan

Or see all articles in the Bridge Defense for Beginners series.  +