Defensive Card PlayOur final conventions have to do with defensive tactics. The convention card:
DEFENSIVE CARD PLAY
Opening lead vs. SUITS: 3rd best [ ] 4th best [ ] 5th best [ ] Other__
Mark card led: x x x AKx KQx QJ x J10 x 10 9 x
K J 10 x K 10 9 x Q 10 9 x x x x x x
Opening lead vs. NT: 3rd best [ ] 4th best [ ] Other ____________
Mark card led: x x x A K J x A Q J x A J 10 9
A 10 9 8 K Q J x K Q 10 9 K J 10 9 K 10 9 8
Q J 10 x Q 10 9 8 J 10 9 x 10 9 8 x x x x x x
Special Carding _____________ Frequent Count Signals [ ]
What do your defensive leads and signals mean ?
This is an important section because there are many Lavinthal (suit preference) forms of signals and leads popular nowadays. Many pairs use 'Odd-Even' or 'Upside-Down' signals and/or attitude; Journalist Leads, etc.
The printed card shows the 'standard' lead in bold type. If you would lead something different, circle it. If you use anything different than what's printed on the card, you must place a red dot in the circle shown - they are available at tournaments and clubs. This is so your opponents will notice that you do something non-standard and are advised to look.
If you lead the Ace from an Ace-King combination with other cards, circle the A in the AKx section. Otherwise, you must always play King from Ace-King.
The special carding line is where you describe any other carding conventions, and, if you do count signals most of the time, check the Frequent Count Signals [ ] box.
Our Card For Defensive Card Play:
DEFENSIVE CARD PLAY
Opening lead vs. SUITS: 3rd best [X ] 4th best [ ] 5th best [ ] Other_ Ö _
Mark card led: x x x AKx KQx QJ x J 10 x 10 9 x
K J 10 x K 10 9 x Q 10 9 x x x x x x
Opening lead vs. NT: 3rd best [ ] 4th best [X ] Other _________________
Mark card led: x x x A K J x A Q J x A J 10 9
A 10 9 8 K Q J x K Q 10 9 K J 10 9 K 10 9 8
Q J 10 x Q 10 9 8 J 10 9 x 10 9 8 x x x x x x
Special Carding __FIRST SLUFF ENCOURAGES__ Frequent Count Signals [X]
Ace or King? We always lead Ace from Ace-King except when we have exactly the doubleton Ace and King. In that case, we lead the King and then the Ace.
We must indicate on our card that our first sluff encourages the lead of the suit being sluffed, regardless of size. This is because the sluff of a low card, a 2 or 3 for example, is considered a discouraging signal. Apparently, our usage is old-fashioned enough to require special notification on the convention card. It works well for us, though -- we sluff the suit we want lead. Period. Simple.
We constantly do count signals, so we check the Frequent Signals [ ] box.
Our other leads and signals are as indicated in the box. They have proved to be as worthwhile as other systems, and we have studied most of them. If we find an easy one that is better, we'll use it. Until then, 'standard' works fine for us.
(c) Robert D. McConnell, 1998 All Rights Reserved