Defensive Ducking
Growing up, I was always short for my age. This meant that I perpetually lost physical fights with my older sister, but it also meant that I could hide pretty easily.
One of my favorite activities was to crouch behind a couch or chair and then pop out to surprise my sister (and then run away very quickly).
In bridge, one of the things that you can do to really upset declarer is to duck a trick and surprise them later on.
There are situations where ducking is a given.
If dummy has a long suit and no side entries, you should duck your winner for as many rounds as you think declarer has cards.
| West | North | East (YOU) | South |
|---|---|---|---|
2 | Pass | 3NT | |
| All Pass |
KQJ1095 43 76 987 | |
| A6 95 A985Q10543 |
Partner leads the 6 to your 9 and declarer's Q. Declarer plays the 7 and partner plays the 2 and dummy the 9. Do you win it or duck?
You should hold up on this round. Partner's two should be a count signal, showing an odd number (3). That means that declarer has 2 spades. Hold up this time and win the second time.
What if I switch two cards?
| AQJ1095 43 76 987 | |
| K6 95 A985Q10543 |
The play starts the same (a heart to the 9 and Q). Again, declarer leads the 7, partner plays the 2, and declarer plays the J. Now do you think we should hold up in spades? Yes! Declarer is going to go back to their hand and play low to the J to finesse the suit again. While this play would be safe if we had three spades, we don't always get dealt that. If we duck smoothly, declarer is going to be in trouble.
The full deal:
| Vul:None Dlr: N | AQJ1095 43 76 987 | |
| 842 K10862 432 A2 | K6 95 A985 Q10543 | |
| 73 AQJ7 KQJ10 KJ6 |
There are many other scenarios where a well timed duck can lead declarer into lots of trouble.
One common scenario is when dummy has KQ10 and you hold Axx behind dummy. Declarer leads low to the K. If you win, then the next time, declarer is likely to finesse the 10 (if declarer holds the J, it's unlikely that your play matters). If you duck, now declarer might return to their hand and then lead to the Q, only to experience the sky fall down. You must do this IN TEMPO (without thinking a long time) or else declarer will figure out what you are doing.
Finding these ducks will improve your game. It's possible that you'll occasionally give up a trick, but putting that fear into your opponents will pay dividends.