Are Your Honors Well Placed?

Knowing which of your honors are well placed and which are not often helps you decide what to do during the play of the hand.

The following is a simplified method of determining the value of your honors' location. Simplifications are a good way to begin learning.

A defender has a more difficult time evaluating his aces than declarer. He isn't allowed to peek in partner's hand, so he has to make do with inferences based on his own hand and what he sees in the dummy.

example 1: Well Placed Ace

	Partner ♠ ?
West ♠ ?		East ♠ K 4 2
	You ♠ A 5 3

Your ♠A is a well placed ace because you play after the ♠K. Maybe you'll get the chance to squish the ♠K.

There's an old bridge maxim: "Aces were made to put on top of kings."

example 2: Poorly Placed Ace

	Partner ♠ ?
West ♠ K 4 2		East ♠ ?
	You ♠ A 5 3

Your ♠A is poorly placed because you cannot play it on top of your opponents' ♠K.

If East were to lead toward his partner's losing honor (♠K), hoping the ♠A is on sides, he will be pleased to see that you have the ace and not your partner. West's ♠K is worth a trick because you can't squish it with a poorly placed ace.

You may have to visualize declarer's king, and make an assumption about the value of your ace's location.

example 3: Well Placed Ace

	Partner ♠ ?
Dummy ♠ 6 4 2		Declarer ♠ ?
	You ♠ A 5 3

If declarer holds the king in the closed hand, your ace is well placed when declarer is on your right.

You are in position to squish declarer's imagined king.

example 4: Poorly Placed Ace

	Partner ♠ ?
Declarer ♠ ?		Dummy ♠ 6 4 2
	You ♠ A 5 3

Your ace is poorly placed when you can't see the king and declarer is on your left.

You are not in position to squish declarer's imagined king. If he has the king, it will take a trick when he leads toward it.

example 5: Well Placed Ace

	Partner ♠ ?
Declarer ♠ Q 7 6		Dummy ♠ K 4 2
	You ♠ A 5 3

...he will view these two honors as equals – and so should you. Your ace cannot capture both of declarer's honors. Capturing either one is equal to capturing the other one.

Therefore your ace is well placed if you can capture either declarer's king or his queen.

example 6: Well Placed Ace

	Partner ♠ ?
Declarer ♠ K 7 6		Dummy ♠ Q 4 2
	You ♠ A 5 3

I've switched the king and the queen, but since these are equal honors, you should view it as no different from example 5.

Your ace is well placed. If you squish the queen, declarer will get only one trick in this suit.

example 2 (repeated): Poorly Placed Ace

	Partner ♠ ?
West ♠ K 4 2		East ♠ ?
	You ♠ A 5 3

I've repeated the first example of a poorly placed ace (example 2).

Note that the addition of the queen to the right of your ace would change this to a well placed ace, as in example 6.

If declarer has the Q you can't see, your ace is well placed.

If partner has the Q you can't see, your ace is poorly placed.

example 7: Q on your left

	Partner ♠ ?
Dummy ♠ Q 4 2		Declarer ♠ ?
	You ♠ A 5 3

Somebody has to have the K.

If declarer has the K, you will be able to play your ace on top of it, and your ace is well placed.

If partner has the K, he will be able to play it on top of declarer's only high honor. Your ace and partner's king are equals. Partner's well placed king (capturing the Q) is as good as you having a well placed ace.

So you might as well view your ace as well placed.

example 8: Q on your right

	Partner ♠ ?
Declarer ♠ ?		Dummy ♠ Q 4 2
	You ♠ A 5 3

You will be able to play your ace on top of declarer's Q, so your ace is well placed regardless of who holds the K.

If partner has the K, declarer will get no tricks in this suit.

If declarer has the K, your well placed ace will prevent him from winning two tricks with his two honors.

example 9: KQx on your left

	Partner ♠ ?
Dummy ♠ K Q 2		Declarer ♠ ?
	You ♠ A 5 3

Now let's consider positions where the K and Q are in the same hand. Such positions follow the same general rule as when only one honor is visible.

That rule is: if you can play your ace on one of declarer's honors, that's good. Your ace is well placed.

In this diagram, where the KQx are on your left, your ace is poorly placed. If declarer can lead repeatedly from your right through your poorly placed ace, he will make two tricks with his two honors.

example 10: KQx on your right

	Partner ♠ ?
Declarer ♠ ?		Dummy ♠ K Q 2
	You ♠ A 5 3

When the KQx are on your right, that's good. Your ace is well placed because you will be able to play it on one of declarer's honors, holding declarer to only one trick for his two honors.

When do you PLAY your ace?

example 11

	Partner ♠ ?
Dummy ♠ K 4 2		Declarer ♠ 6
	You ♠ A 5 3

When declarer leads a spot card toward his K, play low from your ace. This matches the general bridge guideline of "second hand low."

There are good reasons for this guideline.

If declarer holds the Q...

...you need to preserve your ace over it so he will not make TWO tricks with his K and Q. That's why you must play low when he leads toward his K. The K will win this trick, but your ace will then be "well placed" over the Q.

If declarer does not hold the Q...

...he is leading toward his marginal honor (the K), hoping to find the ace on sides. Your "poorly placed" ace is exactly what he wants. He will win a trick with his K -- either now if you play low, or later if you play your ace. You play low to protect yourself against the possibility that declarer does indeed hold the Q.

When he doesn't hold the Q, you cannot stop him from making a trick with his K. It's OK for him to get the first trick in this suit, while you get your ace later.

If declarer has led a singleton...

...and you play low, you may never get your ace because declarer may trump it.

At first this seems like a bad thing. Sometimes it is. But often it makes no difference if you play low or if you take your ace on the first round. If you take your ace, declarer's K becomes an extra winner in dummy on which he can discard a different loser – a loser he can't get rid of if you still hold your ace.

So even when declarer has led a singleton, it usually comes out even when you play low.

If declarer also holds the Q, it's so important for you to play low, that you should always play low to protect yourself against this possible holding.

If you somehow KNOW that declarer has led a singleton, you can take your ace. Otherwise, play low!

example 12

	Partner ♠ ?
Dummy ♠ Q 4 2		Declarer ♠ 6
	You ♠ A 5 3

When declarer leads a spot card toward his Q, play low from your ace. The reasons for this are even more compelling than when declarer leads toward a K in the dummy.

If declarer holds the K...

...you need to preserve your ace over it so he will not make TWO tricks with his K and Q. Play low and let him win with dummy's Q, while you retain your ace "well placed" over his K.

If declarer does not hold the K...

...he is leading toward his marginal honor (the Q), hoping to find both the ace and the K on sides. Partner's "well placed" K will be a disappointment to him.

You play low to protect yourself against the possibility that declarer holds the K. When partner has it instead, playing low still leads to a good result for your partnership.

If declarer has led a singleton...

...and you play low, you will not lose your only chance to win the trick. Partner will win the trick with his K. The K has to be somewhere, and if declarer holds a singleton, it must be partner who has the K.

If declarer also holds the K, it is so important for you to play low, that you should always play low to protect yourself against this actually being declarer's holding.

Unlike when declarer leads toward the K, there is no danger that he will steal a trick if he holds a singleton.

example 13

	Partner ♠ ?
Dummy ♠ K Q 2		Declarer ♠ 6
	You ♠ A 5 3

Declarer leads a spot card toward his KQx combination in the dummy. Your ace is poorly placed. Declarer can make certain of two tricks from his two honors by repeatedly leading towards them.

If you play your ace, declarer can easily cash his two tricks. It's not good to make things easy for declarer, so you play low. (Does this sound familiar?)

What have you gained by playing low on declarer's first lead?

Declarer wins with his Q, and now has the lead in the dummy. He wants to lead toward his K again, but the lead is in the wrong hand. He must use up a hand entry (a winner in his own hand) to lead another small card toward his "losing honor." Sometimes there just aren't enough hand entries to do everything one wants to do. If declarer runs out of crucial entries, it may cost him a trick.

Play your ace on declarer's second lead.

If declarer "crosses to his hand" (you make him do this when you play low from your ace) and again leads a small card toward his remaining K, play our ace.

Why do you play your ace on the second lead?

You hope to make it difficult for declarer to cash his second trick in this suit. He needs either a third card in this suit to lead from his hand, or he needs a side suit entry in the dummy to enable him to lead his now established winner.

Taking your ace on the second round may make declarer use extra entries from both of his hands.

What have you risked when you play low on the first round?

If declarer started with a singleton in this suit, you may never get a trick with your ace.

example 14

	Partner ♠ 4
Declarer ♠ 3		Dummy ♠ K Q 2
	You ♠ A 7 5

When the KQx is on your right, you have a well placed ace. You should be able to capture one of declarer's honors with our ace, holding him to only one trick for his KQx combination.

Declarer hopes for your ace to be in your partner's hand – "on sides" from declarer's point of view. In that case his KQx would take two tricks. Finding the ace in your hand will be a disappointment to him.

When declarer leads a spot card toward dummy and plays the Q, it's often best to play low. That may seem odd. Is there a better use for an ace than to capture one of declarer's honors? No there isn't. But don't worry. You will capture one of declarer's honors – the next one.

What do you gain when you play low on the first round?

Declarer still doesn't know which defender holds the ace. He may use up an entry to his hand so that he can again lead toward his remaining Kx, hoping partner holds the unplayed ace. When you then capture his second honor, he has used a hand entry to try something that failed. Maybe he won't then have enough hand entries for something else that would have worked for him.

What do you risk when you play low on the first round?

If declarer started with a singleton in this suit, you may never get a trick with your ace.

If you are able to play your ace on top of one of declarer's honors, your ace is well placed. It not only wins a trick; it also prevents one of declarer's honors from winning a trick.

That means lesser honors are promoted.

This is a very important concept. So far we have only looked at the ace, K, and Q, while ignoring the J and T. Holding promoted honors means you will be able to take more tricks. If declarer holds the lesser honors, he is the one who will take more tricks.

This is the last article in the How To Win Tricks folder. If you haven't already read the previous articles in this folder, I recommend doing so now. Otherwise you can move on to Bidding or Bridge Defense or Declarer Play.

See all articles in the How To Win Tricks series.  +