Learn · Lesson 3
Ruffing losers in dummy
Use dummy’s trumps to ruff your losers before you draw trumps.
Step 1
The idea
A trump in dummy is worth an extra trick when it ruffs one of your losers in a suit where dummy is short. Your own trumps are winners anyway.
So if you draw trumps first, dummy’s trumps fall on your winners and the extra tricks are gone. Take the ruffs first.
- Use it when
- Dummy is short in a suit where you have losers, and has trumps to spare.
- How
- Ruff first, draw trumps afterwards. Get back to your hand with side-suit winners, not trumps.
- Not when
- The defenders can overruff dummy, or you need dummy’s trumps to draw theirs.
Step 2
Plan the hand
You are South in 4♠. West leads the K♥. Before you play a card, work through the checklist: try each question, then check your answer.
1♠ – Pass – 2♠ – Pass – 4♠
Lead: K♥
Step 3
Watch it done
Before you play it yourself, see the whole hand played: the plan first, then one trick at a time. Nothing moves on until you tap Next.
Step 4
Play it yourself
Now it is your turn. Play the hand yourself, every card, against defenders who never make a mistake. It is a practice hand: no clock, no score, nothing on the ladder.
Use Hint if you are stuck and Take back to try again. If you play a card that loses the contract, you will be told why.
Tip: on a phone, turn it sideways to play. When you finish, Back to the lesson brings you back here to finish the lesson.
Remember
- Count: Eight top tricks; two more must come from ruffing hearts in dummy.
- The danger: Drawing trumps first uses up dummy's three trumps, leaving nothing to ruff with.
- The plan: Win the ♥A, ruff both small hearts in dummy, then draw trumps.
Now try it for real
Hand 2 of Challenge 4 in Declarer Challenge uses the same idea, with new cards. It is timed and scored, and goes on the ladder.