Defensive signalling and
reading them correctly, is often one of the toughest areas of the game, but even when the signals
of themselves are not crystal clear, it's worth considering the bidding in case that gives us a clue. The following hand was instructive from that viewpoint:
Game All, Dealer WestBiddingWest North East South1
No 1
No
1NT All Pass
You are North, sat with:
North 
K985
Q
AK9832
86
Eszter, in the North seat, led the
Ace at trick 1, and Dummy went down with
East (Dummy) J103
A1085
105
A1092
North K985
Q
AK9832
86
Partner shows out on the first Diamond and plays the
6. How do you continue? The 6 is not a very clear-cut signal, you might think, but there are a few things which make it an absolutely
definite request for a Spade switch:
- Declarer didn't bid 1 over 1 , so they have a maximum of 3 Spades
- You hold the Queen and can see the 10 & 8 in Dummy, so there are no "higher" even Hearts that Partner could possibly play
- ...and this is perhaps the most crucial clue: Clearly Partner has 5+ Hearts from the bidding, because we can assume Declarer has at most 3-card Hearts or they would have supported them, but Partner is discouraging Hearts. If Declarer had K42 and South had J9763 sat over Dummy's A1085, it's unlikely that South would be discouraging Hearts. It's far far more likely that the 6 is a request for a Spade, therefore, rather than a Club.
We cannot ever beat this contract, but we
can take the first 6 tricks. South was sat with 5 small Hearts and
AQ64. Eszter switched to a Club at trick 2. and even though I
ducked the 9, Declarer got the Clubs wrong, and overtook the 9 with the Queen. Declarer then led a second Diamond to Dummy's 10, but Eszter ducked this trick (rightly).
A small Club followed to Declarer's King and then a 3rd round of Diamonds. Eszter took the
King this time, but instead of switching to a Spade (now that it was utterly clear that the
6 at trick 1 could
not have been asking for a Club), continued with the
9 and Declarer had no problems wrapping up an overtrick.
