Defensive Discarding
| Bridge defense is about communication with your partner,
which is of course
one of the most important parts of bridge. Remember, when you are
defending
it is two against one. If you are able to understand what cards your
partner
holds and what your partner would like you to do, you will be at a
great
advantage.
When you are defending a contract your discards give you a great opportunity to communicate information about your hand. Your first discard is particularly important. If you discard a high card in a suit, you like that suit and if you discard a low card in a suit, you dislike that suit. Discards (standard) |
| Dlr: S |  A 7 3
|
|
| Vul: None |  7 6
|
|
 K 7 6 5 3
|
||
 J 7 5
|
||
| Q J 9 5 |
10 8 6 2
|
|
| A Q J 3 |
10 9 4 2
|
|
| 8 |
Q J 4
|
|
| 9 8 4 3 |
10 6
|
|
| K 4
|
||
| K 8 5
|
||
| A 10 9 2
|
||
| A K Q 2
|
| South | West | North | East |
| 1 |
Pass | 2 |
Pass |
| 3 |
Pass | 5 |
All pass |
| Contract: 5 by S |
| When the opponents pull trump you will have to discard on the
second round. This gives you an opportunity to tell partner which suit
you like best. Make
your discard as clear as possible (without giving away any tricks.)
Discard
Q so that partner will know to
shift to a heart when they get the lead. You
will then beat the contract by taking one and two tricks. |