Trumping

♠ ♥ ♦ ♣

Trumping losers

example 1

Dummy
♠ K 8 7 6
♥ Q 6 3 2
♦ Q 6 5 4
♣ 5

You
♠ Q 2
♥ K J T 5
♦ A K 2
♣ 8 7 4 3

The opening lead is the ♣K. No one plays the ♣A, so the ♣K wins the trick. The highest played card in whatever suit is led wins the trick.

Unless...

When a contract is played in a trump suit, that suit beats all other suits. On this deal, you are playing with hearts as trump. This is called "playing in hearts."

After winning the opening lead with his ♣K, your left-hand-opponent (LHO) continues with the ♣A. You are required to follow suit if you can, but dummy has no more clubs, so you may play any card you want. In this case, you choose to play dummy's ♥2. The ♥2 wins the trick because it is a trump. Even the lowest trump beats all non-trumps.

That worked really well. You won a trick with a spot card – a trick you would have lost playing in notrump. In fact, it worked so well you decide to do it again. So you lead a club from your hand, intending to trump it with dummy's lowest heart.

But your LHO speaks up and says...

He says, "You can't lead from your hand. You won the last trick in the dummy."

example 1 (repeated)

Dummy
♠ K 8 7 6
♥ Q 6 3 2
♦ Q 6 5 4
♣ 5

You
♠ Q 2
♥ K J T 5
♦ A K 2
♣ 8 7 4 3

LHO is correct. You put the club back in your hand, and you start to plan ahead. How many clubs do you have left in your hand?

Yes, you have 2 left, and they both look like losers. That's why you want to trump them in the dummy.

Oh, oh... not 3.

You started with 4, but LHO has led them twice. You trumped the second one.

You have two clubs left, and they both look like losers. That's why you want to trump them in the dummy.

Oh, oh... not 4.

You started with 4, but LHO has led them twice. You trumped the second one.

You have two clubs left, and they both look like losers. That's why you want to trump them in the dummy.

If you can cross the lead over to your hand, you can lead a club and trump it. So...

What suit do you lead from dummy?

Leading spades may not work out so well.

Your opponents have the master spade. Every time they get the lead they can lead trump. Every trump you play from dummy on heart leads is a trump you cannot use for trumping your club losers.

Leading trump may not work out so well.

You have three losing clubs to trump in the dummy. So you can only lead hearts once. The other three hearts are needed for trumping clubs.

But your opponents hold the master trump, so they can win your trump lead and lead another one. You then won't have enough trumps left in the dummy for your club losers.

Diamonds are a fine choice. Lead a spot card and win it in your hand. Then lead one of your club losers from your hand and trump it in the dummy.

Clubs?!?! I hope you're just kidding. You don't have any clubs left in the dummy. That's why you're allowed to trump them. You'll have to lead something else.

After trumping the third round of clubs, you once again cross to your hand with a diamond and lead your last club. You trump with dummy's ♥6, and... disaster! RHO is also out of clubs and he too plays a heart – the ♥8.

When two trumps are played on the same trick, the higher one wins. I guess you should have trumped with dummy's ♥Q.

It should be noted that LHO made a mistake with his defense. After his opening lead of the ♣K, he could see that dummy was poised to trump clubs. So instead of continuing with another club, he should have led a trump.

example 2

Dummy
♠ 6
♥ Q 6 3
♦ A 6 5 4 3 2
♣ Q T 7

You
♠ A 7 4
♥ K J T
♦ T
♣ A K J 9 8 6

You and your partner bid accurately to a contract of 6♣.

You're missing the ♥A, so that's a sure loser. You have to play the rest of the suits without another loser.

What are you going to do with your low spades?

You will trump your low spades in the dummy.

You have two spades to trump, so you can only lead trumps once before doing your trumping. Otherwise, dummy won't have enough trumps left for the trumping you need.

Your opponents' opening lead is a club. You allow dummy's ♣7 to win the trick. Now you need all the rest of dummy's trumps to take care of your spade losers.

What card do you lead from dummy?

Yes, you cross to your hand with the ♠A, clearing the last spade from the dummy.

No, no, no... You will lose this trick, which gives the lead to the bad guys. When they lead a second trump, you won't have enough trumps in the dummy to trump your low spades.

Ack, no! You need your trumps in the dummy to trump your spade losers. If you lead trumps, they will be gone.

After crossing the lead to your hand with the ♠A, what do you lead next?

Yes, lead a spade and trump it in the dummy.

Leading a heart is a mistake. You will lose the lead, and your pesky opponents will lead a trump, which will mess up our plans.

You crossed to your hand so you could trump spades in the dummy.

We'll get to the diamonds soon enough. But not yet.

No, not the ♣A.

You need your trumps in the dummy to trump your spade losers. If you lead trumps, you won't have enough of them left.

After trumping a spade in the dummy, dummy has the lead. How will you get the lead back in your hand so you can lead your last spade for dummy to trump (again)?

This is a page about trumping.

Lead the ♦A, clearing the last diamond from your hand. Then lead a second diamond and trump it in your hand.

Pulling trump

example 3

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

You
♠ Q 7 4 2
♥ K Q 7
♦ A 8 6 2
♣ A 3

You arrive in the contract of 4♠. (Spades are trump.) You need 10 tricks to succeed, so you can only afford three losers.

How many losers do you have (without trumping)?

Count one suit at a time.

For example, in hearts you have three cards. You also have the ♥A, ♥K, and ♥Q, so you have no heart losers.

In spades you have all the big cards except the ♠A. One loser.

Continue the same way for diamonds and clubs.

1 spade.

0 hearts.

3 diamonds.

1 club.

Dummy will follow suit to two rounds of diamonds. Then you can trump your third and fourth diamonds. This turns two diamond "losers" into winners – as long as your opponents don't over trump. Can you prevent them from over trumping? Let's figure that out...

How many trumps do your opponents have?

No, they don't have 2. You have 4 and dummy has 5. That's 9, leaving them 4.

No, they don't have 3. You have 4 and dummy has 5. That's 9, leaving them 4.

Yes, they have only 4.

You have 4 and dummy has 5, for a total of 9. But the question was how many do THEY have?

How many times will you have to lead trumps for them to have none left?

If their 4 trumps split 2 and 2, leading trumps twice will be enough

But not if they split 3 and 1, or 4 and 0.

If their 4 trumps split 3 and 1, it will take three leads.

But not if they split 2 and 2, or 4 and 0.

You will have to lead trumps four times only when they split 4 and 0.

Usually you get a 2-2 or 3-1 split.

checkmark Leading trump until your opponents run out is called pulling trump.

checkmark Pulling trump prevents them from trumping any of your winners.

checkmark Pulling trump is similar to establishing skaters in that you lead the suit until they run out.

example 3 (repeated)

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

You
♠ Q 7 4 2
♥ K Q 7
♦ A 8 6 2
♣ A 3

I've repeated the diagram for this deal so you won't have to scroll up to see the cards.

Their trumps split 3-1 (I've peeked at their cards), so it will take three spade leads to pull trump.

That leaves you with two trumps in the dummy – just the right number for trumping your third and fourth diamonds.

Pulling trump elliminates the possibility of having your diamonds over trumped. It makes your ten tricks safe.

example 4

Dummy
♠ 6 4
♥ K J 8 6 3
♦ Q 9 5 4
♣ 7 5

You
♠ Q J T 9
♥ A Q T 4 2
♦ 8
♣ A K 6

Hearts are trumps. Good, you've got lots of them, including all the big ones. So you'll have no trouble pulling trump.

If you pull three rounds of trump, will you have enough trump left to do the trumping you want? Let's see...

How many of your spades do you need to trump in the dummy?

You're getting good at this.

After driving out the ♠A and ♠K, your remaining spades will be the masters. You will not need to trump your own winners.

No, not one. In fact, none.

After driving out the ♠A and ♠K, your remaining spades will be the masters. You will not need to trump your own winners.

Actually, you won't need to trump any of them.

After driving out the ♠A and ♠K, your remaining spades will be the masters. You will not need to trump your own winners.

You have to follow suit to two spade leads. So it's not legal to trump 3 of your spades.

And besides, after driving out the ♠A and ♠K, your remaining spades will be the masters. You will not need to trump your own winners.

How many diamonds can you trump in the dummy?

You have to follow suit in the dummy when you lead your only diamond, so you can't trump any diamonds.

How many clubs can you trump in the dummy?

Dummy has to follow suit to the first two club leads, so you can only trump one club. Trumping turns your low club "loser" into a winner.

So you will lose 2 spades and a diamond, winning 10 tricks.

But suppose your spades were ♠8752 instead of ♠QJT9. Would you be able to trump your low club and also your third and fourth spades after pulling trump? (Hint: you have to figure out how many trumps dummy will have left after pulling trump.)

You will have the 3 trumps you need if their hearts split 2-1, but not if they split 3-0.

plush toy bear Go to the next topic:

The Advantage of Playing Last

Bridge Bears is run by a retired teacher and ACBL life master who has 35 years teaching experience and who's been playing bridge for over 50 years. I don't claim to be one of the top players, but I do understand how slowly beginners need to go when they are trying to learn how to play bridge.