Establishing Long Suits
You open 1NT with a balanced 16-count. Partner raises to 3NT. You’ve got 25 high-card points between you. Shouldn’t be hard, right?
Wrong. You’ve got eight top tricks and a five-card suit that could produce three more. The question isn’t whether the suit will set up; it’s whether you’ll ever get to use it.
Establishing long suits is the bread and butter of notrump play and a key skill in suit contracts. It’s also where most contracts go wrong, not through bad breaks but through bad timing and entries.
The Basic Principle
When you have a long suit with high cards, you can often force out the opponents’ stoppers and establish the remaining small cards as winners. A five-card suit missing one honor will usually provide three tricks after you knock out that honor.
Example:
Dummy: K Q J 10 5
Declarer: 6 3 2
You’re in 3NT. Lead the king from dummy (or low to an honor if entries are tight). West wins the ace. When you regain the lead, dummy’s queen-jack-ten are all good.
That’s three tricks from a suit where you only had high cards in dummy. The small cards became winners because the suit was long.
Count Your Tricks First
Before you touch a single card, count:
- Top tricks: What can you cash without giving up the lead?
- Possible tricks: What suits might develop?
- Entries: How many times can you get to each hand?
Contract: 3NT
Dummy:
♠ 7 6
♥ 8 5
♦ A K Q J 10
♣ 9 7 5 2
Declarer:
♠ A K 3
♥ A K 7
♦ 6 4 3
♣ A Q 8 4
Top tricks: Two spades, two hearts, five diamonds, one club = ten tricks.
But wait. Those five diamonds only work if both opponents follow twice. If diamonds split 3-2 (68%), you’re golden. If they split 4-1 or 5-0, you might only get four diamond tricks.
Still, you’re in great shape. Win the opening lead, knock out the ♦ if someone has it (they don’t here), cash your tricks.
When Entries Matter
Now change the hand slightly:
Dummy:
♠ 7 6
♥ 8 5
♦ K Q J 10 5
♣ 9 7 5 2
Declarer:
♠ A K 3
♥ A K 7
♦ A 6 3
♣ A Q 8 4
Looks similar, right? But now the ♦A is in your hand. This is a disaster.
If you cash the ace and cross to dummy to run the suit, you’re fine. But what if opponents hold up the ♦A? No, wait—you have the ace here.
Let me rethink this. The issue is when you DON’T have the ace:
Dummy:
♠ 7 6
♥ 8 5
♦ K Q J 10 5
♣ 9 7 5 2
Declarer:
♠ A K 3
♥ A K 7
♦ 6 4 3
♣ A Q 8 4
Now you have no quick entry to dummy after knocking out the ♦A. You lead a diamond, they take the ace, you regain the lead in hand. How do you get to dummy to cash the K Q J 10?
You don’t. You’re stuck. You have to hope the ♣ finesse works to get to dummy. And even then, you only have one entry.
The Entry-Preserving Play
When entries are precious, you need to play the suit differently. With the example above, you should duck the first diamond entirely if you can afford to.
Lead the 3, play the 5 from dummy. If they take the king or queen, fine. When you regain the lead, play another diamond. Now when the ace appears, dummy’s K Q J 10 is good and you’ve preserved any other entry you might have.
Wait, that doesn’t work either if they have the ace. Let me reconsider.
Actually, if they have ♦A x x, you lead low from hand, play the king from dummy. They duck (holding up the ace). You’re in dummy. Lead the queen, they take the ace. Now you need to get back to dummy. This is the problem.
Solution: Duck the first round completely. Lead the 3, play the 5 from dummy. Even if this loses to the 8, you’ve preserved dummy’s honors. Lead again when you get in, play the 10 from dummy. When the ace appears (or if they duck again), you’ve established the suit and can get there when you have an entry.
The key is preserving high cards in the short hand for later use as entries.
Ducking Plays (Again)
This comes up constantly with long suits. You duck early to preserve communications.
Dummy: A 8 7 6 5
Declarer: 3 2
You need four tricks from this suit. If you play the ace first, you’ll never get back. Instead, duck the first round. Lead the 2, play the 5 from dummy. Opponents win.
Get back to your hand (you need an entry), lead the 3 to the ace. If the suit splits 3-2, you have four tricks. If it splits 4-1, you’re stuck, but at least you tried.
This is why counting entries is critical. You need at least two entries to your hand: one to lead toward dummy the first time, another to get back after ducking.
Timing: When to Set Up the Suit
This is the hard part. Do you establish your long suit immediately, or do you cash your other tricks first?
General rule: In notrump, establish your long suit early unless you’re worried about the opponents’ long suit.
Contract: 3NT, they lead the ♠5 (fourth best).
Dummy:
♠ K 6
♥ 9 7 4
♦ K Q J 10 5
♣ 8 6 2
Declarer:
♠ A 7 3
♥ A K 8
♦ A 6 3
♣ A Q 7 4
East plays the ♠Q on the opening lead.
You have seven top tricks (two spades, two hearts, one diamond, one club, and you can finesse clubs for another). You need two more. Diamonds will provide them.
Should you win the spade and knock out the ♦K (wait, you have the king), the ♦Q… no, you have that too. Let me fix this:
Dummy:
♠ K 6
♥ 9 7 4
♦ Q J 10 9 5
♣ 8 6 2
Declarer:
♠ A 7 3
♥ A K 8
♦ A K 3
♣ A Q 7 4
Now you need to knock out the ♦A or establish the suit if they don’t have it.
Win the ♠A, cash ♦A K, cross to dummy with the ♠K, run the diamonds.
But what if West has five spades? When you give up a trick to establish something, West will cash four spades and set you.
This is the race: Can you establish your tricks before they establish theirs?
Hold-up play: Win the spade on the second or third round (if you can) to cut their communication. Then establish diamonds. Even if West gets in, East will be out of spades.
The Rule of Thumb
- If you’re racing: Establish your suit as fast as possible
- If you have time: Hold up stoppers, then establish your suit
- If you’re worried about entry: Plan the whole suit carefully before touching it
Transportation Problems
Sometimes you can set up the suit but can’t get there to enjoy it. This is a transportation problem.
Dummy:
♠ 7 2
♥ 6 5
♦ 7 4
♣ K Q J 10 9 8 6
Declarer:
♠ A K Q
♥ A K Q
♦ A K Q
♣ 7 5 4 3
You’re in 6NT (someone got excited). You have nine top tricks. Clubs will provide the rest, but you need to get to dummy.
You don’t have a dummy entry. You’re going down in a slam with 33 high-card points.
The fix (if you’d planned): Don’t cash all your side suit winners. Cash two spades, two hearts, two diamonds. Knock out the ♣A. When you regain the lead, cash your last high card in spades, hearts, or diamonds to get to dummy’s clubs.
But you need to think about this at trick one. Cash your side winners carelessly and you’ll strand dummy’s suit.
Unblocking
Sometimes the problem is cards in the way.
Dummy: K Q J 10 5
Declarer: A 9 8
You need five tricks from this suit in notrump. Should be easy, right?
Play the ace from your hand. Both follow. Now you’re stuck. The 9 8 are blocking the suit. You can’t cash the king from dummy without winning with the 9 or 8, and then you can’t get back.
Solution: Play the 9 under the ace on the first round! Or the 8. Get rid of your blocking cards early. Then you can cash the ace and run dummy’s suit.
This is called unblocking, and it’s one of those things that looks obvious when someone shows you but you’ll still forget at the table.
In Suit Contracts
Establishing long suits matters in suit contracts too, but for a different reason: discards.
Contract: 4♥
Dummy:
♠ A 6
♥ K 8 3
♦ K Q J 10 6
♣ 7 5 2
Declarer:
♠ K 7 3
♥ A Q J 10 9
♦ 5 4
♣ A Q 4
You have one spade loser and two club losers. But if you can establish dummy’s diamonds, you can pitch your spade loser.
Win the opening lead, draw trumps (assuming they split reasonably), knock out the ♦A. When you regain the lead, cross to dummy’s ♠A, pitch your spade loser on a diamond, lose two clubs. Making four.
If you don’t establish diamonds, you lose a spade and two clubs. Down one.
When NOT to Establish the Suit
Sometimes you have better options:
Take a finesse: If a successful finesse gives you enough tricks immediately, that’s safer than establishing a suit and hoping you can get back to it.
Ruff losers in dummy: In suit contracts, ruffing might be faster and safer than setting up a long suit.
Cash out: If you have nine tricks in notrump and establishing the tenth requires giving up the lead to dangerous opponents, sometimes you should just try the squeeze or endplay instead.
Common Mistakes
Playing too fast: You cash the ace of your long suit without thinking about entries. Plan the whole suit first.
Not ducking when you should: When entries are scarce, duck early to preserve communications.
Cashing all your side winners: In notrump, leave one high card in each suit to get back and forth. Don’t strand yourself.
Setting up the suit too late: In notrump races, establish your suit early before opponents establish theirs.
Forgetting to unblock: High cards in the short hand block the suit. Pitch them under honors from the long hand.
The Entry Count
Before you play to trick one, count:
- How many times do I need to get to dummy?
- How many entries do I have?
- What will happen if they duck their stopper?
- Can I afford to lose the lead?
If the math doesn’t work, you need a different plan. Maybe a finesse, maybe a squeeze, maybe conceding down one.
Practice Hands
Hand 1:
Dummy: K Q J 10 9 (diamonds)
Declarer: 4 3 (diamonds)
You need five tricks and have only the ♠A as an entry to dummy. How do you play?
Answer: Lead the 3 to the 9 (or 10), ducking the first round. If the ace doesn’t appear, lead again to the jack (or queen). This maximizes your chances of getting all five tricks with only one entry.
Hand 2:
Dummy: A 8 7 6 5 (clubs)
Declarer: K 3 (clubs)
You need four tricks. Plan?
Answer: If you have two entries to hand: Cash the king, cross to hand, lead to the ace, hope for 3-2 split. If you only have one entry: Cash the ace, lead small from dummy toward your king, hope the Q J are doubleton.
Hand 3:
You’re in 3NT with a five-card spade suit in dummy (K Q J 10 9) and the ♠A in hand. Opponents lead hearts. You have two heart stoppers.
Plan: Hold up the heart ace until the third round (if you can), cash the ♠A, cross to dummy’s spade king, run the suit. Don’t give up the lead until you have to.
The Bottom Line
Establishing long suits is about:
- Counting tricks
- Counting entries
- Timing (when to attack the suit)
- Preserving communications (ducking, unblocking)
Get these right and you’ll make contracts with 22 points that other players fail with 26.
Plan the suit before you play it. Count your entries. Think about what happens if they duck their stopper. And don’t cash all your high cards carelessly—you might need them to get back and enjoy that lovely five-card suit.