This week’s tip is: Learn the ‘Dummy Reversal’. No, that has nothing to do with transfer bids, but often it is an easy way to create another trick when you have lots of trumps in the two hands. Normally, you would have more trumps in your hand as declarer and fewer in dummy, and you would use dummy’s trumps to ruff any losers you have in your own hand whenever you can.You would use your own trumps to draw out any trumps the opponents might hold. The ‘dummy reversal’ in effect reverses this process, and can thus create the extra trick (or tricks) in certain layouts. This deal, from Monday afternoon play at X-Clubs (Monday 13/10/25), gives us a typical and easy to follow example of a “Dummy Reversal”
Board 14 . Dealer E Nil Vul
It is not impossible that South, with the shorter trumps, becomes declarer in 6S, in effect creating a ‘dummy reversal’ but that will not alter the play in any way. So let’s just say that NORTH is declarer in 6S. East has an obvious opening lead, the king of diamonds. Declarer wins the ace in dummy. Twelve top tricks are certain but a thirteenth can be made via a ‘dummy reversal’: Test the trumps and you find the bad news on the first round. Play ace of clubs and ruff high in hand.
Enter dummy with a trump to the nine and ruff another club in hand and cash your final trump. Lead a heart to the ace and now the queen of trumps takes care of East’s final trump and your hearts in hand are all good. Yes, there were 12 cartain tricks on top and there was a minuscule chance that East had a heart void as well as four trumps. Was it worth showing off your declarer skills? Maybe not since out of 173 NS pairs only 17 bid the laydown 6H and all made six, for over 90% of the match points, and only one bid 7H. This was made, presumably via a dummy reversal, I see no other way to make 13 tricks.
AKJT7
KQJT3
J3
9