Jean-Pierre DESMOULINSThe Switch
32 deals to master the switch
The switch refers to the choice of the card to return in defence when you regain the lead. Its purpose is either to counter a predictable declarer’s plan or to cash tricks quickly before the declarer can organise communications or discards.
This decision is not limited to immediate effectiveness: it also has a crucial signalling dimension, allowing partner to understand the direction of the defence, the suit to develop, or the tempo to adopt. When well executed, the switch turns partial information into a coherent defensive plan shared by both defenders.
Principles
Identify the declarer’s likely plan. Before making any decision, you must understand what the declarer is trying to do: establish a suit, organise discards, or preserve communications. A switch only makes sense as a reaction to that plan.
Choose between active and passive defence. If there is urgency (a dangerous suit, imminent discards), an active defence is required to cash tricks quickly or to fight the declarer’s plan. In the absence of urgency, a passive defence helps avoid giving away free tricks.
Determine the suit to return. Once the strategy is defined, you must choose the relevant suit: the one in which the defence can establish tricks, cut communications, or force declarer’s honours.
Select the technical card. The card returned is never neutral: low encouraging, high discouraging, odd-even from the remaining cards, or a preference card are tools used to maximise tricks and to guide partner precisely on the continuation.
Give useful information to partner. Any effective switch must be readable: the card played should convey a clear message about the defensive plan, so that both defenders act in a coordinated way.
Level 1 | Taking the initiative in defence
These deals introduce the basic switch: identifying the dummy’s dangerous suit, understanding the urgency to act before the declarer gains the lead, and attacking the right suit to establish quick tricks. The emphasis is on simple active returns and the use of the low encouraging card.
Level 2 | Steering the defence through signalling
At this level, the switch relies on reading partner’s signals: preference discards, direct encouragement, and the choice between active and passive defence. The deals show how an apparently innocuous card can locate a re-entry and identify the suit in which the declarer is vulnerable.
Level 3 | Count, communications and ducking
These deals develop a more structured defence: analysing suit length, using odd-even from the remaining cards, and ducking to cut communications. The switch is no longer just about taking tricks quickly, but about choosing the right timing to deprive the declarer of theirs.
Level 4 | Defensive plan and tempo control
The final level addresses expert switching: anticipating the declarer’s future discards, avoiding dangerous returns, and retaining the lead at the critical moment. Defence is conceived as a global plan, where the slightest tempo error hands the contract to the opponents.
FAQ
All links are active: each button opens a deal in a new tab.