Saturday,
November 19, 2005 3:53 PM
Hand
Evaluation - The Trump Echo ( Suit Ownership )
PITBULLS:
In the early days of Bridge , playing the opponents trump suit in an unusual order meant you wanted to ruff
something. Eventually this fell out of favour due to
lack of frequency & better uses defined for that particular signal. When
the opponents open 4 of a major or
5 of a minor or obtain the auction by virtue of a long solid trump suit
, you may as well have a meaning assigned to the order you play their trump suit. In low level partials , you probably
need your trump spots so signaling is not a consideration. When the opponents own their trump suit from the bidding , trump signals by your side should come into play.
Playing
their trump suit in the normal up the line order , means
that you have nothing to say. With
3 trump or two trump you have the option of signaling
information to partner. They open 4♥ , partner leads a club
& they win. Declarer immediately draws trump & you hold the 10 3 of
their trump . Giving count in trump is silly as who
cares so assign a meaning depending on the
context of the particular hand. If your play in their trump suit can be interpreted as suit
preference , it is suit preference. Partner is playing the trump suit out
of order for a reason. The 10 of trump played
first means I have the higher ranking
of the two suits in dummy.
With
3 trumps is when you can get really creative.
Playing the middle card just means a signal is coming so be on your toes. The
last card of the 3 trump is the signal. You play the 7 , the 9 & finally the 3 of the suit. The 3
is the suit preference for the lower of the remaining suits. This method of
signaling assumes they really own their trump suit & are drawing all your
trumps. If trump spots can grow up
to be tricks , all bets are off.
Granovettors discuss the “obvious
shift principle” when signaling. You change signals depending on
context of the dummy if an obvious switch stands out..
Playing their trump suit out of order
could mean I like the obvious switch ,
if & when you get in. Say the opponents are in 5♣ , the board comes down with ♠Qxxx ♥KQJ10 ♦xxx ♣xx . Partner leads a diamond , declarer wins & starts drawing trump. Suit
preference is not applicable here as the heart suit is the theme of this hand. Switch the meaning of the trump
echo to show count in that “key”
suit is an idea you can consider.
If you play their trump in the normal up the line order ,
you have an odd number of hearts
so if you trump echo , you have an even
number. Partner had Axxx so now knows not to duck as
declarer only has a singleton. Quite a deep understanding but … An established partnership should define something
for the trump echo – be creative.
Define
a use for a trump echo in
situations where the opponents “own their
trump suit”. It cannot hurt
& might be critical for the defense. Discuss
with partner.