Defensive Signals in Bridge

Bridge signals are the agreed meanings defenders give to the cards they play when they are not trying to win a trick. The card you choose can tell partner if you like a suit, how many cards you hold in it, or which other suit you want led. Defenders need this more than declarer does. Declarer sees dummy and knows every card the partnership holds, while each defender sees only his own hand and dummy, and the cards themselves are the only legal way to share the rest. Used consistently, signals let each defender build a picture of partner's hand.

There are three kinds of signal, and every card you play when following suit or discarding is read as one of them.

The rule that decides which one you are giving is simple. On partner's lead, signal attitude. On declarer's lead, signal count. Use suit preference only when the situation makes attitude and count meaningless. "High" and "low" are relative. The 6 is high from 6-2 and low from K-9-6.

When partner leads a suit and you cannot or should not win the trick, your card says if you want the suit continued. An attitude signal with a high card encourages, and a low card discourages. Encourage when you hold an honor that makes the continuation good, or a doubleton that will let you ruff in a suit contract.

Signal with the highest card you can afford, which is often more than the first card above the 2. From Q-7-6, encourage with the 7, not the 6. When your spare cards are all middling, partner reads the signal by checking which lower cards are still missing.

When declarer leads a suit, partner rarely needs to know if you like it. What partner usually needs is its length. A count signal tells partner. Play high then low with an even number of cards, and low then high with an odd number. Count matters most when dummy has a long suit and no other entry, and partner holds the ace and must decide when to take it.

West's 8 starts a high-low, so West has an even number: two or four. Four would leave declarer with a singleton, which a 2NT opener is very unlikely to have. So West has two and declarer three. Duck the first two rounds and take the ace on the third, when declarer has no diamond left to reach dummy. Dummy's long diamonds never score.

A suit preference signal points to one of the two side suits other than trumps and the suit being played. A high card asks for the higher-ranking of them, a low card for the lower-ranking. The classic case is a ruff. Partner leads a singleton club against 4♠, you win the ♣A and return a club for partner to ruff. The club you return tells partner how to get back to your hand. The ♣J (a high club) asks for a heart, the higher of the two remaining suits, and the ♣3 (a low club) asks for a diamond. Partner can then find your entry and ruff again.

Suit preference also applies when dummy's holding makes attitude pointless, for example when dummy has a singleton in the suit led and continuing it would only give declarer a ruff. Keep it for clear cases. If a card can be read as attitude or count, partner will read it that way.

Standard signals use high to encourage and high-low to show an even number. Upside-down signals reverse both: low encourages and high discourages, and low-high shows an even number. Many experienced pairs prefer them for a practical reason. When you want a suit continued, you can rarely spare a high card, so encouraging with a low card wastes nothing. Upside-down attitude and count (often called UDCA) is a common agreement. Neither method is wrong. Both partners must use the same one and mark it on the convention card.

The first discard

When you cannot follow suit, your first discard is your best chance to tell partner what you want. In standard methods it is an attitude signal, so a high card in a suit asks for that suit and a low card says you do not want it. Two common alternatives are Lavinthal (the suit you discard is the one you do not want, and the card's rank shows a preference between the other two) and odd-even (an odd card encourages the suit, an even card shows preference). Whichever you use, take care not to throw away a card you need. Signal with a card from a suit where you have length and nothing to protect.

• Signaling attitude on declarer's lead. Partner reads count when declarer leads. A high card there says even, not "I like it".
• Signaling with a card you need. Never throw a winner or break a holding to signal. If you have no spare card, play the card that does least harm.
• Reading every card as suit preference. Use it only when attitude and count are already known or meaningless.
• Giving count when it only helps declarer. If partner does not need the count, a true signal can help declarer more than partner.
• Forgetting to look at what partner did not play. If partner played the 4 and you can see the 2 and 3, the 4 is partner's lowest card.

Signals start from the opening lead. Third hand reads the lead with the rule of 11, and the leader reads third hand's signal. Leads like MUD and good signals together let both defenders count the hand early, which is how defenders beat endplays and squeezes. The Lead Trainer gives you real auctions to practice the first card of the defense.

What are signals in bridge?

Signals are agreed meanings for the spot cards a defender plays, used to tell partner about the hand. The three types are attitude (if you want a suit led), count (how many cards you hold in it) and suit preference (which of the other suits you want led). Attitude is normal on partner's lead and count on declarer's lead.

What does a high-low signal mean?

In standard count, playing a higher card followed by a lower one shows an even number of cards in the suit. With upside-down count it shows an odd number.

What are upside-down signals?

They reverse standard signals. A low card encourages and a high card discourages, and low-high shows an even number of cards. Many pairs prefer them because they let you encourage without wasting a high card.

When should I give a suit preference signal?

Mainly when returning a suit for partner to ruff, and when dummy's holding makes attitude and count meaningless. A high card asks for the higher-ranking of the two remaining side suits.

What does my first discard mean?

In standard methods it is an attitude signal. A high card asks for that suit and a low card discourages it. Partnerships using Lavinthal or odd-even discards read it differently, so agree on one method.