Drawing trumps: a simple habit that saves tricks
One of the very first declarer lessons we get is on how to draw trumps. The idea is a great one, the opponents only have a few trumps and often removing them is a good idea - before they can make tricks with them by ruffing your winners! But of course, removing their trumps usually comes at the cost of removing dummy's trumps.
The simple question to start with is - do I need Dummy's trumps? One of the most common reasons you need dummy's trumps is to ruff your losers in dummy. So, our thinking should concretely be - do I have a suit I can ruff in dummy? (check if dummy has a singleton or doubleton - that is the starting condition to be able to ruff, a shortage. After you play 2-3 rounds of the suit you can ruff!).
It is straight forward thinking but its something that has plagued bridge players for generations - drawing trumps too early or not drawing trumps at all. In order to be good at this, we have to turn it into a conscious process - should I simply draw trumps or not? I suggest starting with - do I need to ruff anything in dummy or not? If not, its probably a good idea to draw at least some trumps.
The basic idea
When dummy comes down, ask:
- How many trumps do we have?
- How many trumps do they have?
- Do I need dummy's trumps for ruffing first?
If you do not need to ruff losers first, drawing trumps early is usually right.
How do we count trumps?
It is important that we are able to keep track of them and know how many our opponents hold at any given time, and of course know when they have none left.
You are in 4 hearts.
- You have 5 hearts in hand.
- Dummy has 3 hearts.
That is 8 trumps for your side, so defenders have 5 trumps.
This is a habit worth remembering: count how many trumps defenders started with in the suit.
If you want to sharpen that habit, try Treadmill in Practical Learning.
When to delay drawing trumps
Drawing trumps is often right, but not always immediate. One of the best rules is to ruff in dummy before drawing trumps when that is your trick source.
N North
♠ 9872
♥ 4
♦ 7543
♣ 10982
S South
♠ AK1063
♥ A873
♦ A10
♣ A7
Declarer is in 4♠. K♥ lead.
This is a great example of how useful Dummy's trumps can be. Dummy is the weak North hand, it has 4 trumps and a short heart.
Important: when you see a shortage in dummy (here the singleton heart) ask yourself, can I ruff in dummy? If so, it is probably a great idea to delay drawing trumps, and rather use those trumps for ruffs!
Here Declarer should win the king of hearts with the Ace, and immediately play another heart. Then, focused on getting more ruffs, return to hand with either the Ace of clubs or Ace of diamonds, and ruff another heart! Determined to continue with the play, return once again with the remaining Ace and ruff a 3rd heart! Dummy has 0 points but produced potentially three tricks! That is the power of ruffing.
A common reason to delay is simple: you need to ruff losers in dummy first.
If you draw too many trumps too early, dummy may run out of trumps and lose the chance to ruff your losers.
Rule of thumb: ruff what you must ruff first, then draw trumps.
Common mistakes
- Drawing only one round, then forgetting to finish. Defenders may still have trumps and can still ruff.
- Not counting trumps. Declarer feels safe too early and gets surprised by a ruff.
- Drawing trumps when dummy needed them for ruffs. You kill your own plan.
One sentence to remember: Draw trumps early unless you have a clear reason to delay.
Try this at the table
Before trick one, ask:
- How many trumps are out?
- Can I just draw trumps?
- Or do I need ruffs in dummy first?
If you build that habit, your declarer results will improve quickly.