Module 3 Reference — Reading the Cards

The Three Counts

Count	What it tells you
Shape	Declarer's cards suit by suit — you know 26 from trick one; each card played forces the rest
Tricks	How many he can make — this count alone decides whether you attack or defend
Points	Your HCP + dummy's + what he's shown = what partner must hold

Anchor the points count to your side's 1NT range. A weak no-trump is 12–14 (e.g. Modern Acol); a strong no-trump is 15–17 (e.g. SAYC) — the same auction places a very different hand with partner depending which you play. Run all three counts from trick one; they cross-check each other.

Taking Charge of the Defence

Principle	Detail
Whoever knows more steers	Not about skill — about who, right now, has counted more of the hand
Prevent, don't diagnose	If partner would face a guess, take it away — lead the suit yourself, or discard the card that removes the guess
Overtake to protect	Keep the lead in the hand with the fuller picture, even at the cost of partner's honour scoring
Message before the crisis	A vigorous suit-preference signal, played early, steers partner through a squeeze he can't yet see

Honour thy partner — the Bols Coup. Any lead, discard or return whose only job is to solve partner's problem for him. Deceive your OWN partner only when you've counted the whole hand and know the single winning defence.

Second Hand Low

Play	When
Low — the default	Second to a led suit: rising spends your honour at declarer's chosen moment and shows where it sits
Win cheaply	Bare ace over a lead you can't otherwise beat — no patience to reward, take it
Clock against you	If ducking lets declarer establish winners first, rise and take your trick while it's yours
Trump / ruff at stake	Rise to protect a trump trick or to stop declarer ruffing a loser
Split equal honours	K-Q over a lead — playing one can beat a finesse a plain low card would let succeed

Second hand low — unless the clock says no. The mirror of Play Low From Dummy (Course 6), seen from the defender's chair.

Third Hand High

Layer	Detail
Default	Play high enough to win — no higher. "Low to be safe" hands declarer tricks he was never owed
Which high card	A message: low with a marked doubleton; the jack from Q-J-10-x; the bold Q or K when you need speed
The jack from K-J-x	Discovery + safety + deception — learn if declarer holds A-Q or the bare ace, and tell partner whether a later underlead is safe
Finesse against PARTNER	With A-Q or A-J, finesse the lower honour — keep the ace as a later entry to partner's suit

High enough to win, low enough to say something. Finessing against partner is a tool for a shape, not a habit — only with control elsewhere and a reason the entry matters.

Covering Honours

Question	Answer
Why cover	An honour led towards you — cover to promote a lower card (yours or partner's) into a winner
Promotion impossible?	Don't cover — you'd only hand declarer a card he didn't have. Count what remains first
Unsupported single honour	Nothing waiting to be promoted — don't cover
Trick one, unclear	Declining to cover can be the active choice — it lets the defence's own distribution reveal itself for free

Cover to promote, not to be busy. No card of yours or partner's actually stands to grow → no cover.

Getting Out of the Way

Point	Detail
You can block your own suit	Top card in your hand, length in partner's, no way back = his winners stranded
Unblock early	Play your high card before it's strictly needed, so the suit runs from the long hand
Discard in order	Shed first the card you couldn't get rid of later; keep the ones that cost nothing to hold
Ask least of partner	Prefer a defence that works whatever he holds over one that needs him to guess right
Stretch: hold up J-x	Over a long, entry-short dummy suit, ducking smoothly can kill it — K, Q, J are equal here, so the hold-up card is the one that best deceives

Clear the road before the traffic arrives. Unblock and discard with the whole suit in mind — a winner you can't reach is worth nothing.