One of the most abused areas of card technique is that of trump promotion. In our Spades gaming environment this is most evident. It is not the lack of ability that brings this mismanagement of the spade suit upon us; it is simply a lack of knowledge. Trump promotion is not really a difficult concept to master; however I feel that a lack of knowledge regarding basic principles brings the demise upon us. This phenomenon is raging like a fire out of control and I hope to shed some light on this affliction.

We have all probably heard sayings like "Don't send a boy to do a man's job," or "Time to get the kiddies off the street," referring to management of trumps. Many phrases such as these exist in our social circles and I am quite sure that many would be new to me. All of these phrases indicate that we all have some insight into trump management considering that 50% of all trump-based games revolve these concepts. Timed trump leads will not be included in this discussion, but an analysis of trump promotions regarding overruffs and uppercuts will be covered. The simple trump promotion is very easy to see in the post mortems, but can be easy missed while playing.

Trump promotion is best defined as: the development of trump tricks by forcing the opposition to trump earlier than they prefer. Several methods can be employed: (1) Forcing defense and making trump tricks by length (see article titled "Chopping down a tree"); (2) Trump tricks developed by position; and (3) Uppercuts.

Trump Tricks Developed by Position

Forcing defense was discussed in a previous article so I will begin with trump tricks that are developed by position. These can be simple promotions, or can be more advanced plays like refusing to overruff. I will begin with the simple trump promotion first.

North 5 4 3 5 -- -- West 10 7 6 -- 3 -- East 2 9 4 7 -- South K Q J 4 -- -- --

East has the lead and can promote his partner's 10 by playing a heart. With a diamond or a spade lead South will score up the rest of the tricks. This sort of trump promotion is easy to execute with minimum effort and lends itself to many of the 4-card and 5-card endings of the Spades arena.

One of the reasons this play has so much natural success is that trumps cannot be led until broken. This puts some restraint on opponents leading out the top spades early in the hand. This simple example not only points out the effectiveness of trump promotion but it also emphasizes the importance of leading short suits to allow for this scenario as soon as possible. If the opposition can trump first they have gained a tempo and now have earned the right to lead trumps. If they have first and second round control of the spades you may lose your potential for ruffing.

Refusing to Overruff

In the days of Whist one of the rules commonly followed was "If in doubt, take the trick." This may have been sound advice then, but we have improved our defensive techniques by refusing to overruff since that era. Many times the refusal to overruff is missed, a trick is lost, and the parties involved are completely oblivious to this loss. It is a common mistake in the Whist, Hearts, Bridge, and the Spades arenas. Hopefully the following examples will enlighten perspective players on these topics.

North 7 6 5 4 2 -- -- -- West K 9 8 -- 3 2 -- East J 6 5 3 7 -- South A Q 10 3 -- 5 --

East is on lead and plays a heart. South trumps with the 10 and if West overruffs with the K it will be the only trump trick for East-West unless East is also able to trump West's return. It is best technique for West to review the bidding before playing to hastily here. If it appears that partner has already fulfilled the number of tricks that he contracted for then a discard is clearly in order. If two tricks will set the opponents a discard is also clearly in order. Let the bidding, the present situation regarding tricks won and lost, and the current bag situation aid your decision here.

North 5 4 2 West A 10 9 East 8 7 South K Q J 6 3

East leads a suit that both South and West are void in. South plays the K. This is a very nice ploy by South to entice West into an overruff. If you want the opponents to cover an honor play the top of a sequence! It is far more attractive to play the Ace on the King then it might be to play it on the Jack. The opposite is true if you are trying to deter an overruff. In this example West will gain two tricks by refusing to overruff, and will be limited to one trump trick if he mistakenly plays the Ace.

A general defensive tip applies here! If an opportunity to overruff presents itself, overruff with any trump that may not be a natural trump trick, or the singleton Ace, doubleton King, and tripleton Queen of trumps. Refuse to overruff when holding the Ace and another trump, the King and two more, and the Queen and three more. Obviously your length in the trump suit dictates this action and it is not imperative to overruff when you hold natural trump tricks.

The Uppercut

When we try for an uppercut we ruff in the anticipation of promoting one or more trump tricks in partner's hand. We can do this if a high trump is played forcing the opponent to overruff with an even higher trump. It is however very important that all of the outside winners have been cashed out before attempting this play. Failure to cash out these winners will allow the opposition to simply discard a loser and the uppercut will fail.

North 7 6 5 3 -- 5 -- West A 10 9 7 6 -- -- East J -- 6 4 3 2 -- South K Q 8 4 2 -- -- --

In this example West is on lead and plays a heart. All of the side suit winners have been cashed out and it is immaterial which card is played from the North hand. East will uppercut with the Jack allowing his partner to score three trump tricks instead of two. South is helpless and must surrender three trump tricks. The uppercut received its name due to the popularity of this punch as a knockout punch in the boxing world. It is exactly what has happened here. One of South's high trumps is effectively knocked out promoting an extra winner for West.

Hopefully the material presented here will aid your card technique especially regarding trump promotions. I regard this area of expertise as one that most players can, and should improve upon. Remember, if you abuse your trumps they may nest somewhere else in the future!

Regards,
Jay Tomlinson (Ruffkid1)

Any questions may be submitted to: mailto:ruffnit1@aol.com

This material is not to be distributed or copied without permission.