A ship can have but one captain. In the navies of the world, the worst crime is mutiny. It is hanging offense. But in the zany world of Spades, mutiny can be a blessed relief. Captaincy is a voluntary position. The declaration of captaincy is only a suggestion.

Overruled

The captain is not always right. The strategy that seems right from one hand may not be the most effective. If the captain's partner believes there is something better, he must usurp leadership. He will send a captaincy signal of his own. A second captaincy signal overrides the first one.

North AJ6532 10643 8 J9 West Q984 K K1097 8762 East -- AJ85 AQ652 Q1054 South K107 Q972 J43 AK3 The bidding: East South West North 1 3 3 4 East led the 5

South was willing to throw in the towel quickly on this deal. He took his two club winners and watched the other players throw some high clubs. He then exited safely with the three of diamonds, covered by West’s king and overtaken by East’s ace. East returned the diamond queen. On this card, South dropped the now boss J. This play was intended to be the bag/set signal to show no further interest in setting. North trumped the trick with the 2.

Testing the hearts, North led the three and East’s ace collected South’s deuce and West’s king. A second heart, ducked smartly by South, was trumped with West’s nine of spades. West exited with a club, trumped by North, and a spade to the king put South in the lead in this position.

North AJ6 106 -- -- West Q8 -- 109 6 East -- J8 62 Q South 107 Q9 4 --

I might have used this deal in an article on card reading because both of the key cards, the Q and the J, are so plainly marked for North and South. Now playing for the set, South led a spade and North finessed, drawing both of West’s trumps. Now it was East’s turn to watch the marked finesse in action. A heart lead from North enabled South to pick up both hearts for a well-played set.

Post Mortem

“Now, just a minute!” you protest. “If South was so eager to shift into bagging mode, why did he save his high hearts? He could have thrown the queen under East’s ace.”

On the same trick in which South dropped the J as a bag signal, North overruled him with a set signal. North cut the enemy’s trick with the 2. He could have allowed East’s Q to hold, or he could have trumped with a high or middle spade. Either of these actions would indicate a willingness to bag. Freely trumping with the 2 sent a clear message, “I'll take over now. Keep fighting, Pardner!”

On our final deal, North suspected there was something wrong with his partner's plan, but could not send an overriding signal. All he could do was to disobey instructions.

North K7 9 109753 107654 West J5 AKJ83 KQ6 J82 East 1086 Q105 AJ842 A9 South AQ9432 7642 -- KQ3 The bidding: West North East South 3 1 2 5 West led the K

South had a nominal 6-bid but took into account that his partner could manage no more than a second-seat bid of 1. If this bid was based on spade shortness, South could expect to lose too many spades. Accordingly, South prudently reduced his bid to 5.

West cashed a top heart and shifted to the K. South trumped and made the correct play of a low spade (see the article Away from the Ace ). This trick was taken by the K.

North was experienced enough to understand the situation. His partner had declared himself captain and was asking for cooperation in drawing all the enemy trumps. But North now had a void he knew to be useful, and he also knew South had no knowledge of the heart void. So North refused orders. He led a club.

East made matters easy for the opponents by rising with the ace and leading a heart. North got his coveted heart ruff and then put his partner back in the lead to finish running the spades. Held to only the A and three heart winners, East and West were set.

Post Mortem

The defense could have put up better resistance, but North/South should have prevailed nonetheless. If East had ducked the club lead, South would win and have to guess whether Pard's K were singleton or whether North had a reason for refusing to obey orders. We'll never know if he would have guessed correctly. But North put the partnership on the winning track and the lesson is clear. South's captaincy was only a suggestion; North was entitled to show he had a better idea.

And so ends our series on captaincy in Spades. If you think this has been a worthwhile contribution to Spades strategy, post a message in the Master Spades forum.

Regards,
Popsicle