Bridge
14 November, 2026
Suit preference while giving a ruff
Against the opponents' suit contract, partner leads a card that appears to be a singleton.
Against the opponents' suit contract, partner leads a card that appears to be a singleton. To your delight, you can win the trick! You are now going to give partner a ruff … but wouldn't you like to be able to give partner more than one ruff?
For that to happen, you have to be able to tell partner what suit to return after she has ruffed. The way to achieve that is by returning a high card if you have an entry or potential entry in the higher-ranking outside suit, and vice versa.
Correctly interpreting the suit preference signal would have paid off handsomely on this deal:
South opened 1❤️ and West made a pre-emptive jump overcall of 3♣️. North-South arrived in 4❤️ and West led ♠️9. East won the ace and, figuring that West must have led a singleton, played back ♠️4. West ruffed and, noting that East had asked for a club return via the suit preference card, returned ♣️3. She hoped East had ♣️A – but to her surprise East ruffed this. Two more ruffs followed, so the contract was two down!
Note that if East fails to continue with a low spade or West fails to interpret this correctly, North-South can make 4❤️. On a diamond return from West, declarer wins and can then play ace and another heart, crashing the missing honours. He subsequently discards three clubs on dummy's high spades, losing just a spade and two trump tricks.
Understanding the significance of the card partner returns when giving you a ruff can help you to find the best defence.
Rakesh Kumar
The Southern Highlands Bridge Club runs three duplicate sessions every week (Mon 1:00 pm, Wed 6:30 pm, Sat 1:00 pm) at the East Bowral Community Centre. Highlands players and visitors welcome!
For more information: https://shbc.bridgeaustralia.org
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