Defense 101 – Lesson 7

Interfering with Declarer - Answers

Exercise 1 – The Defensive Holdup

1) 7 & 2; 3 & 4

2) 2 & 3; A & 6

3) 8 & low; 6 & K

Exercise 2 – Attacking Entries

1) King

2) 2

3) Jack

Exercise 3 – Watching Your Discards

1) 4; 3

2) 4; 3

3) 3; 3

Exercise 4 – Practicing Counting

1) Five

2) Three

3) 5-1-3-4

4) Clubs

Exercise 5 – Defending against Finesses

1) 3; 2

2) 7; 3

3) 5; Q

Exercise 6 – Defending against Trump Suits

Declarer has six losers (1 spade, 4 hearts, and 1 club). Declarer plans to ruff heart losers in dummy. The defender can stop declarer from ruffing two hearts in dummy by leading trumps right away. East will have to overtake the first heart and lead a spade. If declarer takes the spade finesse, West should win the ♠K and lead another spade. If declarer wins the second spade and leads the remaining heart, East should play low to let West win the trick and lead another trump. With careful defense, the defenders end up with 1 trump trick; 4 heart tricks and the ♣A.