June 2008 - 41

PLAY BRIDGE

Conventional
Wisdom
Filling out the convention card - part 23

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DeFensive CarDing
vs SUITS vs NT
Standard:
Except
________________________
________________________

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Upside-Down:

count
attitude

FIRST

DISCARD
Lavinthal
Odd/Even
_____________
OTHER CARDING
Smith Echo
Trump Suit Pref.
Foster Echo

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Standard
"Standard" methods look like this:
* Attitude: a high card in a suit signals encouragement, while a low one is discouraging.
* Count: playing a high card followed by a low
one in the same suit typically shows an
even number of cards in that suit. Lowhigh shows an odd number. (Note that most
standard players reverse this scheme in the
trump suit.)
* Suit preference: playing a low card shows a
preference for the lower-ranking non-trump
suit. Against notrump contracts, a low card
shows interest in the lower-ranking suit if
declarer/dummy has a known strong suit.
Relevant exceptions should be described in the
lines provided after the "Except" box.

DeFensive CarDing
This section allows your opponents to see at a glance what your defensive
carding methods are. It is arranged in two columns: one for suit contracts and
one for notrump contracts. This is because you may wish to use one defensive
strategy versus suits and a different one versus notrump declarers.

First Discard
You may use your first opportunity to discard to carry a
message to partner. Here are two popular approaches:
* Lavinthal: Discard the suit you don't like, but a
low discard says you like the lower-ranking of the
remaining non-trump suits, while a high discard says
you like the higher-ranking one. If spades are trumps,
for example, a high heart discard would say you like
diamonds.
* Odd/Even: An odd discard (the 3, 5, 7 or 9) says you
like the suit you just discarded from, while an even
one says you don't.

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SPECIAL CARDING

Special Carding, Please Ask
If you have any other unusual agreements or have special
defensive methods that you don't have enough room to describe
elsewhere on the card, check this box. (Note that the ACBL
convention charts permit only certain types of carding schemes.
If you're unsure if your methods are permitted, consult the
appropriate chart before play.)
June 2008

PLEASE ASK

Upside-Down
* Attitude: a low card in a suit signals encouragement, while a high one is discouraging.
* Count: playing a low card followed by a
high one in the same suit typically shows
an even number of cards in that suit. Highlow shows an odd number.
* Suit preference: most upside-down practitioners use standard suit preference for
simplicity and logic: low cards correspond
to lower-ranking suits, high cards to higher-ranking suits.



You may use any combination of standard
and upside-down that you wish, as long as you
clearly indicate your methods on the convention
card. For example, you may play standard count
and upside-down attitude.

Other Carding
Here are some other common, but advanced, techniques:
* Smith Echo: In this method, either defender shows
encouragement for the suit initially led by "echoing"
(playing high-low) on declarer's run of a long suit in
dummy or in his hand. Failing to echo means you'd prefer a switch
to a different suit. This assumes that you do not have to give count
in the suit declarer plays on, in which case the Smith echo would not
apply.
* Trump Suit Preference: If you play a high trump the first time declarer
plays the suit, it shows interest in the higher-ranking non-trump suit.
A low trump indicates preference for the lower-ranking suit. If hearts
are trumps, for example, and you play the 10 from 10-6-2 when
declarer plays the A, it shows that you like spades.
* Foster Echo: Some defenders agree to play that the partner of the
opening leader follows suit with his second-highest card when he
can't beat dummy's card or the card that was led.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2008