Whist strategy

Lead from length

Lead from your longest suit, not your strongest. A five-card suit makes tricks once the other three players have run out of it; an unsupported ace makes exactly one.

With a sequence of honours, like king, queen, jack, lead the top one. Without one, the old convention is the fourth-highest card of the suit, which tells your partner how long it is.

Second hand low, third hand high

Playing second, play low: your partner still has to play, and a high card now is usually wasted. Playing third, play high: you are your partner's last chance to win the trick before the fourth player.

It is the oldest advice in the game and still right most of the time. Learn it first, then learn when to break it.

Draw trumps, and count them

If your side holds most of the trumps, lead them until the other side has none. After that, every winner in your long suit is safe from being trumped.

There are thirteen trumps. Count them as they fall — the turned card included, which you know is in the dealer's hand. Knowing that no trumps are left outside your partnership is worth more than any card in it.

Talk with your cards

There is no chat at this table, and none is needed: signalling with the cards you play is legal and expected. Playing a high card and then a low one in a suit shows a doubleton; your partner can then lead it for you to trump the third round.

Watch what your partner leads, and return their suit. A partner who led a suit usually wants it back.

Make the book, then think

Six tricks pay nothing, so the first question in a hand is whether your side can reach seven. A hand where you take seven is a point; a hand where you take six is the same as taking none.

When you cannot reach seven, play to stop the other side going far past it. Every trick you take beyond their reach is a point they do not score.