This weeks tip by Claire Jones
What do I do when partner leads the Ace, promising Ace/King and I hold the queen? I certainly like partners lead and want them to continue.
If I held Q,9,3 I would play the 9, a high card telling partner to continue. In a trump contract if I held the doubleton 9,3 I would also play the 9, the start of a high/low showing 2 and hoping to get a ruff.
Now for the problem…….. What do I play when I hold the doubleton Q,3? The answer is the 3. But why??????????? Aren’t you always supposed to high low with a doubleton!!!!
There is a special rule for playing the queen. When partner plays the Ace promising Ace/King if you play the queen you are promising one of two things:
- In the first case you held the queen and the jack so playing the queen promises the jack and partner can safely under lead their king.
- The second case is you held a singleton queen and the queen was the only card you could play…….
And that is why the queen is a special lady.
If you are interested, here are all the previous Tips of the Week