Third hand play - No-Trump by Matthias Huberschwiller

Your partner has led and dummy goes down.

You're in the third position. Usually you need to play a high card, but you will need to choose the right one.

In this first quiz, you will defend against No-Trump contracts.

Question 1

Dummy's Hand
♠ A 6 5
♥ 6 5 4
♦ Q 10 9 8
♣ K J 9

Your Hand
♠ J 9 8 2
♥ K 10 7
♦ 6 2
♣ 10 8 7 3

Q: 1 - Your partner leads the ♥3.

Dummy plays the ♥4.

Which card do you play as East?

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	3 NT	Pass
Pass	Pass

A: K♥ - You need to play a high card in the third position.

You need to play the King: If your partner has the Ace, you will make the trick, if not, you will take out declarer's Ace, not allowing him to make a trick with a spot card.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Dummy's Hand
♠ 9 8 7
♥ A J 6 5
♦ K Q 10 2
♣ 8 2

Your Hand
♠ Q J 3
♥ 8 3
♦ J 9 7 4
♣ K 9 7 5

Q: 2 - Your partner leads the ♠2.

Dummy plays the ♠9.

Which card do you play as East?

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	2♣	Pass
2♦	Pass	3 NT	Pass
Pass	Pass

A: J♠ - You need to play a high card, sure, but which one?

The Queen and Jack of Spades are equivalent.

You need to play the smallest of equivalent cards. If you play the Queen, you're denying the Jack. This will help partner to know what you have in the suit.

For instance, if declarer takes your Jack with the Ace, and your partner has the King, he'll know for sure that the Queen is in your hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Dummy's Hand
♠ 9 3
♥ Q 9 3
♦ A 10 6 2
♣ K J 7 6

Your Hand
♠ A 6 5 2
♥ K 10 6
♦ 8 7
♣ 5 4 3 2

Q: 3 - Your partner leads the ♥4.

Dummy plays the ♥3.

Which card do you play as East?

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	3 NT	Pass
Pass	Pass

A: 10♥ - You need to play a high card in third seat, but not the highest in this case.

If you play the King, dummy will later make a trick with the Queen.

If there is a high card in dummy, and you have a tenace (King-10 here), you need to finesse against dummy's honor, by playing the Ten.

If your partner has the Ace-Jack of Hearts, it will be the only way to make all the tricks you can in the suit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Dummy's Hand
♠ A 6 5
♥ K 8 7
♦ 8 7 6
♣ K J 9 7

Your Hand
♠ 8 7 4 3 2
♥ A 3 2
♦ K 3
♣ 8 5 4

Q: 4 - Your partner leads the ♦Q.

Dummy plays the ♦6.

Which card do you play as East?

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	3 NT	Pass
Pass	Pass

A: K♦ - Even though your King of Diamonds is equivalent to the Queen, you need to play it. You must be careful to not block the suit.

If you play low and declarer takes the Ace, you'll have to play the King when you get on lead, and you won't be able to continue the suit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Dummy's Hand
♠ 9 7 6
♥ A 2
♦ K 9 7 6 5
♣ Q 7 3

Your Hand
♠ 8 5 4
♥ 8 7 6 4
♦ 10 3
♣ 8 6 4 2

Q: 5 - Your partner leads the ♠3.

Dummy plays the ♠6.

Which card do you play as East?

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	3 NT	Pass
Pass	Pass

A: 4♠ - Is your 8 of Spades going to force anything from declarer? No!

But your partner might be interested in how many Spades you have.

When you're in third seat and you have no high card to play, you must give count, here playing a low spot card to show an odd number of Spades.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
More informations on our website: www.VuBridge.com

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