96/05/24
HONOR LEAD vs NOTRUMP
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Basic Rules : Ace promises King ; denies nothing
King promises Queen ; denies Ace
Queen usually promises Jack ; denies Ace/King
or request to unblock Jack
Jack/10/9 promises Zero/Two Higher Honor
+-------+-------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| Lead | Expected Holding | Partner's Signal |
+-------+-----------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| | promises K | AKJ10(x) | Encourage with Q |
| A | may have Q/J | AKQx, AKJx | |
| | | AKx | |
+-------+-----------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| | promises Q | KQJx | Encourage with A/J|
| | denies A | KQ10x | |
| K | | KQ(x) | |
| +-----------------------------+-------------+ |
| | Exception : K then A shows Doubleton AK | |
+-------+-----------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| | promises J | QJ10x | Unblock J |
| | denies A/K | QJ9x | otherwise |
| Q | | QJ(x) | Encourage with |
| +-----------------------------+-------------+ Honor Card |
| | Exception : Request to unblock J; KQ109(x)| |
+-------+-----------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| | Case 1 : Two Higher Honors | AQJ10(x) | Unblock Honor |
| | promises AQ | AQJx(x) | otherwise |
| | denies K | | Encourage with |
| J +-----------------------------+-------------+ Honor Card |
| | Case 2 : Zero Higher Honor | J109x | |
| | promises 10 | J108x | |
| | denies A/K/Q | J10(x) | |
+-------+-----------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| | Case 1 : Two Higher Honors | AK109(x) | Unblock Honor |
| | promises AK/AQ/AJ/KJ | AQ109(x) | otherwise |
| | | AJ10x(x) | Encourage with |
| 10 | | KJ10x(x) | Honor Card |
| +-----------------------------+-------------+ |
| | Case 2 : Zero Higher Honor | 1098x | |
| | promises 9 | 1097x | |
| | denies A/K/Q/J | 109(x) | |
+-------+-----------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| | Case 1 : Two Higher Honors | A109x(x) | Unblock Honor |
| | promises A10/K10/Q10 | K109x(x) | otherwise |
| 9 | denies J | Q109x(x) | Encourage with |
| +-----------------------------+-------------+ Honor Card |
| | Case 2 : Zero Higher Honor | 9x(x) | |
| | denies A/K/Q/J/10 | | |
+-------+-----------------------------+-------------+--------------------+