UPSIDE DOWN COUNT AND ATTITUDE SIGNALS, from Cathy Hunsberger

Defending can be viciously difficult.  You have to count distribution, for all four hands.  You have to count points, for all four hands.  Thank goodness for dummy.  At least after the opening lead you have ¼ of the problem solved.  Of course you have clues from the bidding, but when it goes 1NT – 3NT, those clues can be minimal.

A good partnership always has a set agreement about leads, carding, and signals.  Some like standard, some odd/even, and some, like myself, like upside down.  It doesn’t matter so much what you use, as long as you agree on something.  Otherwise you are operating in the dark – your flashlight battery has burned out.

When partner leads, you want to tell him if you like his lead or not.  If you discard, you want to tell your partner something about your hand.  You want to draw as detailed a roadmap as possible, so that you don’t lose any precious defensive tricks.

In standard, you play high if you like a lead, low if you don’t.  With upside down, you reverse the process.  You play low if you like a lead, high if you don’t.

In standard, you play high-low if you have an even number of cards, and low-high if you have an odd number of cards.  With upside down, you reverse the process.  High-low shows an odd number of cards, low-high an even number of cards.

What is the advantage?  You can encourage the lead or continuation of a suit without wasting a high card in the suit, one that might come in handy later.  It also makes it more difficult for declare to false-card effectively.

You can also use upside down on your first discard.  The same principles apply.  A low card says “I have an Ace or a King in this suit, pard,” and a high card says, “I can’t help you out here.”

Of course, as partner of the player giving the signal, you have to look at the spots in your hand and in dummy before you automatically assign a ‘low’ or ‘high’ status to your partner’s card.  The 2-5 is usually low, but if you see that between you and dummy only the 4 and 7, in terms of low cards, are missing, then the 7, perhaps even the 8, can be a low card.  Like any convention, you have to think once in a while rather than always be on automatic pilot.

The automatic pilot syndrome is why I personally prefer upside down to odd/even.  In that system, an odd card encourages and an even card discourages.  If a player does not have the appropriate card, it can stymie partner.  All partner sees is an odd or even card, and leads accordingly, even if it doesn’t make any sense.  In-depth thinking can be just too exhausting.

Once again, it doesn’t matter which count and attitude system you prefer, as long as you and your partner agree, and use, something.  Meanwhile, be aware of the system your opponents are using.  You don’t want to be in the dark as declarer, either!