K Q 6 5 
7 
Q 2 
A Q 10 9 8 5 Q 8 6 5 7 Q 2 A K Q 10 8 5 This document is divided into a few parts:
Other than being dummy, declarer play is probably the easiest part of bridge. Memory and practice will make you a good declarer. Suit contracts and no trump contracts play quite differently, so they are treated in separate sections.
As declarer in a suit contract, you should keep track of the following things:
When the opening lead is made and the dummy puts down his hand, you must resist the temptation to immediately start playing. Instead you must study the hand for 1-2 minutes and determine the following:
In general, the strategy of declarer is
Usually you are helpless until your opponents stumble into a lead that lets one of your high cards win. Fortunately this often happens quickly. In general, play with the "second hand low, fourth hand high" strategy.
In those sad cases where the opponents begin to ruff before you get the lead make absolutely sure that you count the trumps, and also that you remember which opponent is out of which suit. Losing track of the trumps or accidentally leading so an opponent can ruff will lose you the game.
In general, once you get the lead, you want to pull trumps. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however.
If you or dummy has a singleton or a void, and you can create a ruff or two without losing the lead, then you may crossruff. However, do not do this if you have counted your losers and expect to "make exactly" and there is any chance that an opponent will also be void and overruff.
If you discover you have fewer than 8 total trumps, then do not pull trump. Instead try and win a few tricks with crossruffs. If your opponents get the lead and begin to crossruff (or if you expect that it is imminent they will do so), then pull a round or two of trumps, but hold a few. (Exception: if declarer has 6 trumps and dummy has 1 or none, pull at least a couple rounds of trump, since you get "two for one".)
If, while pulling trumps, you discover a bad break (4-1, 5-0, 4-0) and this seems to prevent you from making the contract, then stop playing trumps and search for an alternate strategy. If there are high trumps sitting after the opponent with the trumps, try to finnesse the trumps out of him by leading winning cards in a side suit that both he and the hand after him are out of.
Assuming you can get trump out of the way, then win tricks in your side suits. Feel free to lose losers, setting up winning cards for future tricks. As the hand winds down, ensure that you've got sufficient transportation to the hand with the winning side tricks--there's nothing sadder than going down when you lead a 2 of diamonds to an ace of clubs on the last trick.
Try to lead low cards to high cards. When in doubt, second hand plays low, third hand plays high. Cover an honor with an honor. Avoid leading aces (unless there is a singleton across from it), as you want your aces to take opponent's kings and queens. When given a choice of finesses, finesse through the opponent who showed the most points in the bidding (unless you've already seen the points come out of his hand).
As declarer in a no trump contract, you must have a good memory, as you need to keep track of
To begin play, study the hand and count your sure winners. If you have enough sure tricks, you may simply take them and run. However usually you don't, so you must pull extra tricks out of your hand. Fortunately there are many ways to do this.
The biggest worry you have in no trump is running out of stoppers in a suit. Typically the suit played on the opening lead is going to be your big worry. Ensure that you always have at least one stopper in each suit. If you spend your last stopper and the opponents get the lead, you can do nothing but sit back and watch them take tricks in that suit, sometimes with 3s and 2s.
As a result, in order to build up extra tricks, it is good to lose your losers early. Let the opponents win their aces and kings when it makes your kings and queens set up. When necessary and available, finesse. Putting the opponents on lead often forces them to finesse each other and wins you a trick.
One common source for extra tricks in no trump is a running suit. If, for example, you hold AQxxx of a suit, and dummy holds Kxx, then you can probably win five tricks in that suit. Play the AKQ, and get the lead in your hand. After three rounds, it is probable that there are no more of that suit out against you (you know for sure because you are counting!) and thus your xx become good tricks.
Occasionally when you have a distributional hand, you need to make an unblocking play. For example, suppose you hold a singleton king in a suit, and dummy has AQJxxxx. Furthermore, suppose dummy is weak in the other suits, and cannot get the lead there. You must lead your king to the dummy's ace! Then the dummy can run down the suit. If instead you do not overtake the high cards in your hand with those in dummy, you will be unable to get the lead to dummy, and his QJxxxx becomes useless. (Expert defenders sometimes also make unblocking plays.)
As defenders in a suit contract, your main weapon is the opening lead. Thus you must choose it wisely. Good opening leads include
A note should be made about touching honors. With KQ lead the K. With QJ lead the Q. But with AK lead the king--partner will deduce you have the ace by inference when your king wins the trick. In the rare case where you have an ace-king doubleton, you should lead the ace first, and then the king, so that partner knows you are then void in that suit.
Once you have made the opening lead, (hopefully) won a trick or two off the top, and perhaps lost the lead to declarer, it is not the case that your plays become futile. At this point you should signal to your partner which suits you want led should he obtain the lead. Signal via discards. When following suit (especially partner's lead) discard with a high card (as high as you can without sacrificing a winner) to say "please continue to lead this suit!" Signal with a low card to express dislike with the suit. When you cannot follow suit and cannot trump, play a high card in the suit you would like led (though don't sacrifice a winner), or a low card in a suit you don't want led.
Signals are only useful if they are noticed! As defender, pay careful attention to cards your partner discards to read any signals. Then, if you can get the lead, follow his signals, unless you can see a better play looking at your own hand.
The general strategy is to pick a side suit (almost always the suit played on the first trick) and lead it at every opportunity. The opening lead should often be the fourth highest card in leader's longest suit. His partner then can evaluate the chances of scoring tricks in that suit. 3rd hand should almost always play his highest card, which hopefully wins the trick, and then return the suit. Note that if leader has a three card honor run (or very close), he should lead the top of the run instead: lead K from KQJxx or KQ10xx, lead Q from AQJ10x or QJ10xx or QJ9xx, J from AJ108x, etc. 3rd hand should often play high (overtake, or play the missing 3rd card of a run) to help partner know what honors are missing and to unblock.
If leader doesn't have a great suit, or if by leading his best suit is likely to finesse himself badly, then an alternative is to lead "top of nothing". That is, a lead of a 9, 8, or 7 could be the top of a worthless two- or three-card suit. Partner should be able to read that is is not your 4th highest, and then use judgement to decide what suit to return.
You point count, both in terms of high card points (HCP) and distribution points gives a relatively accurate evaluation of the strength of your hand. However there are a lot of subtleties that can make two hands with similar point counts very different from one another. Knowing whether you have a "good ten points" or a "bad ten points" can make the difference between bidding yourself into the right contract or a hopeless one. Here are some general tips for hand evaluation that go beyond the numbers.
A solid suit can be an asset in both suit contracts and no trump contracts. Consider both of these hands:
| K Q 6 5 7 Q 2 A Q 10 9 8 5 |
Q 8 6 5 7 Q 2 A K Q 10 8 5 |
The hand on the right is a lot better than the hand on the left, despite the fact that they have the same number of points. This is true for both a suit contract and a no trump contract.
In a clubs contract, the hand on the right is virtually guaranteed not to lose a trump trick. With the hand on the left, declarer may need to finesse the king of clubs. If it is offsides (held by LHO), a trump trick will be lost. Additionally, if RHO is short-suited, another trick could be lost, as the enemy gains control before trump have been pulled, and may win a ruff.
In a no trump contract, the advantage is even greater. (It should be noted that neither hand is well-suited to play in no trump, but with strong support in the red suits from partner, it can be done.) The hand on the right has six sure tricks in clubs alone! The hand on the left, on the other hand, could have as few as three tricks in clubs, if the KJ are held by LHO and there are transportation problems. Indeed, a long strong minor suit often provides a no trump game (with suppport on the outside from partner).
Since it only takes four of a major suit to make game, and five of a minor, major suits are "better" in some sense. Additionally, since the auction order has majors higher than minors, they're also better. (That is to say, if your opponents can make 2 of a minor, but you can make two of a major, you will win the auction.) Thus hands with major suit holdings are usually better than those with minor suits.
| K Q 6 5 A J 5 4 7 3 K 3 2 |
7 3 K 3 2 K Q 6 5 A J 5 4 |
Here, the hand on the left is better, since there is a strong chance to find a fit with partner in a major suit. The hand on the right has good support for minors, but there is a decent chance opponents can outbid you in a higher suit, or that you'll not have the extra points for a minor game.
K Q 6 5 A J 5 4 7 3 K 3 2 K Q 6 5 A J 5 4 7 3 K 3 2 The contracts 4H, 4S, and 3NT are the "nice" games. If there is any chance for a game, you prefer one of these contracts. Search first for an 8-card major suit fit (5-3, 4-4, or 6-2); barring that, go to 3NT if you have the stoppers and the points.
Given these goals, one general principle holds: Always strive to show major suits. If you have a six-card major, bid it twice (unless you opened a weak two). If you have a four-card major, bid it at the one level with an overcall or a response, or use a negative double if available. Once you find a major suit fit, don't abandon it to bid other suits unless you are exploring for a possible slam.
Imagine an auction where your partner opens with a pass, and RHO bids
one heart. You hold:
K Q 10 9 7 5 3 2
3
7 3
7 4
Now is the time to sacrifice! Bid 4 spades without hesitation. The
opponents almost surely have a game in hearts. While you cannot expect
to make 4 spades off your weak hand, you are almost assured of making 2
or 3 with any help at all from partner. If your partner is totally
broke, then you make it exceedingly hard for the opponents to bid their
slam.