Why Not Go Third Hand High

Inevitably there will be times you don't want to go high third hand. And that's the way it should be. You don't want a game where you simply follow this rule or that one, do you? Common sense, the ability to count to 13 and a wee bit of intelligence should always trump any rule you've ever heard (including the rule that one should never say "always" or "never" in regard to bridge).
Here are the reasons for not wanting to go up:
  • When dummy has an honor you want to cover (and declarer doesn't play it):
    K 7 5
    10 A J 9

    You want to cover the king and not jump on that first trick with the ace, allowing declarer a trick with both the king and the queen. Sometimes it won't be a case of one or two tricks, but of one or no tricks. The lead of the 10 makes that improbable, but if you partner leads a low card, he might hold the queen, and you should simply want to win the trick as cheaply as possible. You can't continue the suit, but you can hold off and prevent declarer from finding any winners there.

    Are there any dangers? You betcha. Suppose declarer has a stiff queen, and by not going up, you allow him to escape without any losers in the suit. Even there, it might not cost a trick, since going up and dropping the queen would leave the king high, and declarer might use it to sluff a loser from another suit. And then again, perhaps declarer couldn't use the king and not going up has cost a trick.
    Suppose that's a singleton my partner is leading. And he wants a ruff. Even there, it might not cost anything to go low and hold the tenace over dummy's honor. For even if you give your partner a ruff, you've established an extra winner for declarer in order to take it away on your next lead. If that's a natural trump trick, you've actually cost your side a trick.
    As usual, no one can lay down an inviolate rule. But I would say that if you're nervous about letting a trick ride where you hold an ace over a king or queen in dummy, you're going to give up far more tricks than those who occasionally let a stiff king or queen in the closed hand win. It's not by and large a time for going up.
    But it isn't necessarily the ace you want to save in order to cover an honor. You might want to cover the queen or jack
    J 6 5
    Q 8 6 4 K 10 2
    A 9 3

    West leads the 4 and declarer goes low. East should play the 10 and look to reserve his K for covering the J. Note how an unthinking "third hand high" generates a trick for declarer, who wins and now leads low to the jack. The play of the 10 gives the defense two tricks in this suit.
    And note this interesting layout:
    Q 10 4
    J 8 6 5 K 3 2
    A 9 7

    Your partner leads the five and dummy goes low. You might get nervous. Could my partner have underled the ace? This is unlikely in a suit contract, not so unlikely in no trump. Anyway, you'll note that if you go up, declarer can pick up three tricks in the suit. But if you go low, regardless of how cheaply declarer can win this first round, he will have a later loser in it -- provided declarer has to initiate the second round. If the defense initiates that round also, declarer has an opportunity for a third winner it it, though he'll have to guess right. You would cover the queen if led, go low on the ten.
  • A second reason for not going up is to deny declarer an entry:
    J 7 3
    K 6 2

    My partner has just led the 8 in this side suit. It looks like top of nothing. Could it be from Q 10 8? It's not a likely lead. And if top of nothing, that places declarer with A Q 10 9. Declarer has one entry to dummy.
    My king's a goner. I don't think it will win a trick. But if I have another honor I won't want declarer to finesse past, then I think I'd better duck and let him win with the 9. He can use that lone entry to pick up my king in this suit or he can finesse pass my other honor, but he can't do both.
    Incidentally, this is another reason for Covering an honor. If declarer does use his lone entry and lays down the jack of this suit, then I must play my king. For that lone entry, he gets this suit. If I fail to cover the jack, I have simply given him another entry, and now he can finesse past my other honor and later drop my king.
    So you have two reasons for wanting to hold off and wait to cover an honor in dummy, one because you want to prevent that honor from being a winner, and secondly, to deny declarer an entry. Here is a situation rather beloved of bridge columnists:
    Q J 5
    K 6 2

    Against three no, your partner leads, call it the 10. Declarer plays the queen, and you cover with the king as declarer wins with the ace. You have now given declarer an entry to dummy. Declarer now unblocks an A K Q in another suit where he holds 5 pieces in dummy, and uses that entry to pick up 5 tricks in the suit. You've got to duck that queen and now make sure you cover the jack. Declarer has no entry in this suit, though of course he might in others. But then, (the columnists tell us) declarer should go low on that lead, win with the ace, unblock that 5-3 suit, and then with two leads to the Q J, he's assured of an entry to dummy. To be sure, he must have at least two low kickers in the closed hand and cannot be wide open in another suit so that the entry does him no good.
    But this doesn't have to be no trump. While I abandoned this entry for a few days, I came across the following on my computer:
    K Q J 5
    J 10 5 4
    J 6
    Q J 7
    9 7 5 3 10 8 4 2
    A 7 6 K Q 9 8
    7 4 Q 8
    10 9 6 4 K 8 5
    A
    3 2
    A K 10 9 5 3 2
    A 3 2

    Opening lead against 5 diamonds was tbe 10 of clubs, covered by the queen, king and ace, giving me an entry to dummy. Diamonds fell in two round, and now unblocking the spades, I made use of my entry and was able to sluff all losers, pulling home 13 tricks. You'll note that had East declined to cover the queen, well, yeah, I have an entry at that point, but it does me no good, since I need that entry after unblocking spades. Nor would it work to play low in dummy so as to be assured of a later entry on two leads to the Q J, since the defense could cash two quick hearts and I couldn't use my powerful spade honors anyway after unblocking and getting that entry!
    You'll note that I can't even make five diamonds without that cover, much less 13 tricks. I'll eventually have to lose two hearts and a club.
    When entries are extremely exiguous, you'll want to give serious thought to inhibiting an entry rather than blindly following "third hand high". See Third Hand King for a really disastrous case of blindly going up rather than preserving an honor to cover dummy's honor and inhibit an entry.
  • You also want to be very cautious about going third hand high when declarer doesn't seem to have the stuff to pick up your king or perhaps queen. There are two ways that might be: because declarer lacks entries to dummy and because he lacks enough cards in the suit to lead it often enough.
    8 7 5 2
    6 K 9 4 3
    A Q J 10

    Your partner leads the six. Here it's obvious that you wouldn't want to go up on your partner's lead. The only question, of course, is, did my partner lead from low spots, "top of nothing", or did he lead from an honor I must promote by going up with my king? There are no easy answers. You can only weigh the implications of your partner's lead and the availability of entries to dummy. A low card traditionally is more likely to betoken an honor than a high spot. But you can't be sure, especially when your partner is leading a singleton looking for a ruff. And further, some players like 3rd and 5th leads, so from 8 5 2, they lead the deuce.
    If your partner bid the suit, of course you would want to go up and promote (presumed) honors in his suit. But absent such an obvious indication, I can only say, there are no obvious guidelines and you'll have to play it by ear. Here I am only pointing out one reason for not going up.
  • Another reason for not going up concerns only the trump suit, that most special of suits in any trump contract. Unless you have at least a strong suspicion that going up with promote a trump in your partner's hand, you'll want to hold onto any trump higher than dummy's, so as to overruff, or perhaps only to make declarer fear an overruff.
    9 8 5
    7 10 6 3

    Your partner's opening lead is the 7 of spades in a four spade contract. Now, you've got to figure that the 10 isn't going to promote anything. Your partner doubtless doesn't have enough trump to promote, and declarer almost surely has a solid suit in the closed hand. Your 10 can't win a trick on a straight drawing of trump, but if you're short in the same suit where dummy's short, you can prevent a winning ruff in that suit. Declarer will love you for going up, letting him ruff, call it, the third round of clubs with the 9, while you can only tamely sluff off.
    It might not even be obvious where declarer has a sluff coming:
    10 7 5
    K 6
    8 5 4
    10 9 8 6 3
    9 J 3 2
    J 5 3 2 10 9 7 4
    J 9 7 3 2 K 10
    K J 7 A Q 4 2
    A K Q 8 6 4
    A Q 8
    A Q 6
    5

    West doesn't like any lead against six spades, but figures from the bidding that South will have a solid trump suit. Sitting East, you would seem to be long where dummy is short and which might as induce you to go up with the jack for whatever good it might do. You'd better think again. After winning the first round of trump, declarer tries another, then goes to his king of hearts, finesses the queen of diamonds, cashes the ace, then cashes two hearts sluffing a diamond. Ah! So the suit he wants to ruff is diamonds, not hearts.
    It should be apparent that declarer can choose to go down either by picking up your jack of spades and later losing a diamond to your partner's jack, or by ruffing the third round of diamonds and watching you overruff. He will doubtless choose the latter route, since the fall of your king may be a false card. But it doesn't matter. You've just fended off a slam whatever declarer does.
    If you go high on third hand, however, in a forlorn hope that the jack will promote something, declarer will have no problem ruffing the third round of diamonds with the ten, conceding a club and claiming. I might point out that I could have given West the 4 of spades for the 9, in which case I would have said, Let declarer with the trick with the six! Your task is to keep a trump higher than dummy's best, for whatever good that might accrue. You don't know who has the jack of diamonds, and if declarer has it, your play won't matter. But it might, and if that guy on your left has bid this suit strongly, you've got to know that going up with the jack can't promote anything.

    For further illustrations in play, go here