Jean-Pierre DESMOULINSSuit combinations
32 deals to master suit combinations
Suit combinations lie at the heart of card play. They consist in choosing the exact order in which the cards of a given suit are played, in order to turn potential tricks into actual tricks.
A good suit combination always depends on its objective: most often, trying to achieve on average the maximum number of tricks, but other objectives are possible, such as guaranteeing a minimum number of tricks.
The declarer must take several factors into account: the possible location of the opponents’ honours, the likely distributions, the available entries, and the overall plan of play. There is therefore no automatic rule, but it is still possible to identify general principles to guide you.
Principles
Preserve your honours for as long as possible. Playing towards your honours rather than leading from them helps to preserve them for as long as possible. For example, with A52 opposite Q73, play towards the queen.
Preserve your tenaces. Play in a way that keeps a tenace intact for as long as possible. For example, with AJ9 opposite Q62, lead from the queen: if an opponent plays the king, the J9 tenace against the 10 is preserved.
Apply the 6 / 8 / 10 principle. Take the finesse against the jack with up to 6 cards in the suit in total, against the queen with up to 8 cards, and against the king with up to 10 cards. For example, with 9 cards such as AKJ1073 opposite 62, do not finesse against the queen: cashing ace and king gives the best chance of making all the tricks.
Level 1 | Discovering suit combinations
These deals introduce the basics of suit combinations, with no specific information about the opponents’ cards. They illustrate simple situations where you learn to play towards your honours, preserve a tenace, or choose between cashing top honours and a simple finesse. The objective is to understand how to maximise the number of tricks taken.
Level 2 | Choosing the right combination
These deals explore suit combination choices in greater depth when no specific information is available, comparing finesse versus cashing honours, applying the 6 / 8 / 10 principle, and preserving tenaces. They show how an apparently minor order of play can significantly increase or reduce your chances of making the maximum number of tricks.
Level 3 | Combinations and safety
These deals highlight situations where the optimal combination is no longer the one that maximises expected tricks, but the one that protects against a bad break. They cover safety plays, restricted lines of play, and the trade-off between maximum return and securing the result.
Level 4 | Advanced and combined suit play
These deals present more complex suit combinations, where several techniques must be combined and anticipated. They involve double suit combinations, conditional plays, and a progressive reading of the opponents’ distribution, closely linked to the overall plan of play and entries between the hands.
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