DUMMY REVERSAL EXAMPLESHave you ever opened up a score slip and found that most of the players in the game made the same score, but one declarer made an overtrick? That extra trick may have been won by means of a Dummy Reversal, a technique often overlooked by many players.Below are several examples of how to execute a dummy reversal. Some of these hands I made up and others were shamelessly stolen. I offer no apologies. You only have one rule to remember...
Hand 1 Your contract is 6 ![]() ![]() ![]()
Problem If you ruff the second spade and draw trump you will take five heart tricks, three diamonds and three clubs. That's 11 tricks and you need 12. (Yes, the clubs might be 3-3, but maybe not.) Solution You must reduce the number of trumps in your hand to fewer than the number in dummy. You need to ruff three spades, not just the second one. Cross to dummy with minor suit entries in order to do this. Your hand will then have only two trumps after ruffing three times, but that means you will take three ruffs, three more trumps, three diamonds and three clubs to make 12 tricks. You don't need a lucky club break. Hand 2 Your contract is 4 ![]() ![]() ![]()
Problem You can ruff the second diamond and draw trump, but if you do, you will take five spades and four clubs for 9 tricks. With a dummy reversal you can make 10 tricks. Solution Since you need to ruff three diamonds to shorten your trump suit to have fewer than the dummy, cross to dummy with a club at trick three and ruff a second diamond. Next, lead a trump to dummy so you can ruff another diamond. Now your trumps in-hand are fewer than the dummy's, so it's time to draw the opponent's trumps. When you finish, you will take three ruffs, three spades when you draw trump, and four club tricks. That's 10 tricks and your contract. Hand 3 You open the South hand 1NT and your partner transfers to hearts. Your contract is 4 ![]() ![]()
Problem Unless you are lucky enough to find the ![]() ![]() (Yes, I know, the dummy has the long trump suit, but you play it the same way. Maybe this should be called a Declarer Reversal.) Here's the rule again...
At trick two, take the trump lead in your hand and lead a diamond to ruff it in the dummy. Come back to your hand with a spade to the jack. Lead another diamond to dummy for a second ruff. Lead a second spade to the queen and trump your last diamond in the dummy. Now the dummy has only the king of hearts left which you can overtake to draw the remaining trumps held by the opponents. You have taken the ![]() ![]() You will succeed with a dummy reversal only if you reduce the number of trumps in the long hand to fewer than the number held by the short hand, regardless of what the actual dummy holds in trump. Hand 4 Your contract is 4 ![]() ![]()
Problem Three notrump would be easy since there are 9 tricks, but 4 ![]() ![]() Solution Capture the ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Hand 5 Your contract is 4 ![]() ![]()
Problem Yes, you can ruff the first spade trick, but if you draw trump you won't make your contract. Solution After seeing the above examples, you already know the solution, right? How many spades will you have to ruff? (Count your tricks!) But be careful about which hearts you will use to ruff with, as you need a final entry to dummy. Don't get blocked in your hand. Hand 6 Your contract is 4 ![]() ![]()
Problem This is a typical hand you see every time you play, right? The opponents take the first two heart tricks and you ruff the third one. If you draw trumps, you have 5 spade tricks, three diamonds and a club. That's only 9 tricks, but on a good day the diamonds will split and you can score all four tricks in diamonds. What if they don't? Solution You really should be able to do this one by yourself now, but if you want to see the solution, click here. By the way, I hope you didn't ruff that third spade with the ![]() Roy Wilson
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