OVERTRUMPING
It is only the experienced player who can resist the temptation to overtrump. The beginner jumps at every trick without realising that he can often gain by waiting. Overtrump when your hand is weak and your trumps low; but, if overtrumping takes out your only high card in the trump suit, especially if it is the commanding trump, it is nearly always better to discard. Your winning trump is bound to make, and it is better play to throw away a suit that you can ruff later with one of your small trumps.
Frequently by overtrumping you make it easy for the adversary to draw your remaining trumps, which, had you not weakened your hand, he would be powerless to do. For instance, where you hold the best and the fourth best trump, with the second and third best in your adversary’s hand, should you overtrump, your adversary will, of course, be in a position to catch your smaller trump, while by refusing the trick you retain the extra trump and are enabled to draw the adversary’s last trump.