Dummy Type 1: Limited Entries and How to Pressure It

One very important tool is ducking, lets look at some example dummys

Consider ducking a winner when dummy has a source of tricks, with no entries in the side suits.

This spade suit is a good source of tricks, but it should be very clear that dummy has no entries outside of the spade suit itself. 

Lets put it into a deal

Partner leads the  ♥5 (playing 4th highest), to your King and declarer's Ace. On the next trick declarer plays the  ♠10, partner follows with the 7, 9 from dummy, what do you do?

Key point - this is the dummy type where we want to deprive declarer of entries, with the key tool being the "duck". Partner has shown an odd number of spades (playing reverse count). So partner has either 1, 3 or 5 spades. If partner has 1, it won't matter much what you do, you'll win your King eventually. Lets say we rule out 5 spades, since he probably would have led that. In that case, partner has three spades. So the distribution of the spade suit is 4-3-3-3. As scary as it might feel, you need to duck smoothly twice!

So after you duck the 10, you need to also duck when declarer plays low to the Queen. This might feel risky, but its more costly to release the King and allow declarer to get three tricks in the suit. Once you realise that giving declarer three tricks in the suit will cost you the world, you will more comfortably take the "risk" of ducking twice. If all goes well, declarer will come back to hand, finesse one more time, and lose to your King. Dummy is now dead, and declarer has only make two tricks in the suit. 

A brief point about tempo. When dummy comes down its important to work out what you are going to do when spades are played, before they are played. So, at trick one I would play the King of hearts, and then wait a little while before turning over my card. Its completely fine to think in this time about the hand generally. I like to think along the following lines.

"Ducking the spade looks correct for this dummy type. If declarer has four or more spades, its not relevant what I do. If declarer has two or three spades, I need to duck. If declarer has two spades, partner will have four and the count signal will be even (low if you are playing reverse carding). If partner has three, the card will be high. If the card is high, I need to duck twice, if the card is low, I need to duck once. So the plan overall is to duck the first one smoothly, and be ready to duck the second one smoothly if partner's first card is high".

Sometimes the thinking is a bit more in depth than that, because "high" isn't enough, for example the 7 then the 8 is now not "high", partner played low in fact.

The thinking above is the key to these sorts of hands. Identifying the dummy type, focusing on the key elements of the hand, and then doing the thinking at the right time, so you can play in tempo at the critical moment. If you hesitate with your King, declarer will know that you have it, and the whole thing is over.

Example 2. 

Partner leads a 4th highest  ♠3 against 3NT. Your King loses to declarers Ace, and declarer tables the  ♦J. What do you do?

Its a slightly trick question, because as mentioned above, you don't turn over your first card till you know what you are going to do with the diamond suit. 

This is another time where a smooth duck is very likely to be correct. The only risk is when partner only has two diamonds, so declarer has three. In that case, after the first diamond holds, there would be no reason to take another finesse. In that case, look out to see if partner plays a low card. (again low is relative, a separate article on reading count cards will come in the future). If partner plays say the ♦2 on the first trick and is giving reverse count, then you need to take your Queen. So, game plan is to duck unless partner plays a very low diamond. 

So overall, these ducking plays are particularly useful when dummy has no outside entries. So the goal is to try to identify those dummy types, and have the ducking play ready to go. Take a look at this hand in a boring 1NT contract.

Declarer may not realise that dummy has no side entries, but you do, since you can see the  ♦A sitting over the King. For that reason, ducking spades twice may be called for. 

Overall - ducking a winner when declarer plays dummy's suit is often a good idea when dummy has no entries outside of the suit. So keep your eye out for this dummy type!

Where to next

• -> Next: Dummy Type 2: Strong Trick Source and How to Disrupt It
• -> Related: Defence Basics: Build a Plan at Trick One
• -> Back to Defence Articles Hub