Here you will learn the first of the 3 fundamental bridge techniques to become a trick-making machine: establishing.
Establishing honors
Imagine you have these Hearts:
You play the King:
- either the opponent takes with the Ace and you will make a trick later with the card that became a winner,
- or they don't play the Ace and you make a trick right away.
Learn more: King
You can also play the Queen, these are called "equivalent cards".
At No Trump, North has QJ10 in a suit and South has 432. The opponents have the Ace and the King. If the communications allow you to replay the suit, what is the minimum number of your three honors you can establish?
Section quizOne suit only at No Trump; useful communications are available. Other suits are not evaluated.
This works in all the following situations:
Honors in both hands
For 2 tricks to establish, the Queen and the Jack
Play the Ace and the Queen, you establish one trick
By playing the suit 3 times, you establish 1 trick: Ace-King-Queen will have fallen, or they will have let you make a trick along the way
Establishing by length
So far, we have established honors: by dropping all the higher cards, yours have become winners.
But you can also establish by length, that is to say end up making small cards because... just nobody has any left after playing them so many times!
Look at these Clubs, I'll show you all four hands:
They have AKQJ10! But if you play it 3 times, nobody will have any left except North. And he will make his two small cards.
Learn more: two small cards
Be sure to drop the trumps if needed first, otherwise they will ruff, that would be a shame...
At No Trump, you have six cards of one suit in dummy and two in hand. The opponents have three and two. They have the five highest cards. Once three rounds are played, how many master cards will remain in dummy, if you can return to it?
Section quizFind the right contract and establish everything you can! You're going to become a machine.