Establishing Secondary Cards by Force

When your side holds touching honor combinations, you can set up a trick by force.

You lead a small card from dummy towards the Queen. Jammer plays low, you play the Queen, and flanker wins with the Ace. Now, both the King and the Jack have been transformed from potential tricks into ready tricks, which you can reach at will simply by playing your two.

The same principle applies to weaker holdings, such as J1098 or Jack-Ten opposite four to the nine-eight. Once you force out the three top cards, your remaining high card will stand up. With the weaker holdings, you must have enough cards in the longer hand so that your potential winners won't fall under the other side's control cards.

For example, holding

you can't develop an extra trick because your cards will fall helplessly when they take their Ace, King, and Queen. You need enough cards in one hand or the other so that you have one left after you drive out their stoppers.

Play the Honor in the Short Hand First

It's important that you play the honor from the short hand first. Consider how it goes in the first example if you lead the Jack from dummy. Flanker wins the trick. You get back in and play the Queen. Now, you can't play the King because the lead is in your hand. The suit is blocked. To prevent blocking, even with ready tricks, play the honors in the short hand before those in the long hand.