Last week, we looked at when declarer should ruff or overruff, or discard when he could ruff or overruff. Over the next two weeks, let’s give the defenders a chance to shine in these areas.

First of all, let’s review a defensive technique that should be automatic for any pair out of beginner classes for, say, a year. South is in four spades. West leads his singleton diamond. Surprise, surprise, East wins the trick and returns a diamond for West to ruff. What should West lead next?

In the auction, North is right to make a game-invitational, not game-forcing, response. His hand has the bad 4-3-3-3 hand distribution and eight losers (three spades, one heart, three diamonds and one club), which makes it textbook for a game-invitational sequence. South probably considered slam, but decided that keeping the opponents in the dark was a better idea.

At trick three, West wants to get his partner back on lead so that he can receive a second diamond ruff to defeat the contract. But should he shift to a heart or a club?

As you surely know, East’s diamond return at trick two gives the answer. His card transmits a suit-preference signal. If East has the heart ace, he leads back his highest remaining diamond; here, the nine. Or, if East holds the club ace, he returns his lowest diamond; here, the three.

Now it should be the work of a moment for West to make the correct shift and to receive the lethal second ruff.