While bidding is a form of communication between partners, declaring is a one-man show. In many ways, it is the most difficult part of the game.

There are several things that all good declarers do. First, they count their winners and then they count their losers.  After this, they take in the entire hand and develop a plan for making their contract.

Good declarers never just cash tricks randomly. They plan the play and follow their plan. They try to anticipate any happenstance that might throw a monkey wrench into their plans.

Lesson: Always be prepared for whatever develops.

Here are some guidelines for becoming a better declarer:

Playing Suit Contracts:

Count your losers. Don't give up even if you have too many losers to bring home your contract. There are always ways to try to

turn losers into winners.

First, you may be able to develop long suit winners on which you can pitch some of your losers.

Second, you may be able to trump some of your losers.

Third, you may be able to finesse your opponents out of some of their winners.

Lesson: Every suit contract hand is different. Always count your losers and look for ways to turn them into winners.

Always look for ways to develop extra tricks. Consider which suits you want to attack first and develop your plan.

Lesson: It is usually best to pull trumps first so the opponents can't ruff in while you are setting up your tricks.

Once you have developed a plan, count your winners. Be sure your plan has a chance for success.

As you are playing the hand, be sure to keep an accurate count of the opponents' trumps as they are played. You must know how many cards are outstanding in the trump suit to successfully declare any hand in a suit contract. You can stop drawing trumps if there is only one trump out and it is a winner.

On some hands, you will need to score all of your trumps separately. On those hand, do NOT draw trumps. Set about making your contract on a cross-ruff. To do this, you must cash your winners first, and then start ruffing out as many of your losers as possible.

While you are planning your offense, be sure to check both hands for necessary entries. You will need these winners for transportation between your hand and dummy. Also, include in your

Too bad, pard. That was an unlucky grand slam.
The ace of trumps was off side.

Bill Pavlichek