Don’t jump at a conclusion which masses the remaining cards of a suit, but count each suit accurately, with a certainty of the particular cards that must be held by the dealer and your partner.
Much of the intellectual enjoyment of Bridge is derived from playing your hand in conjunction with your partner’s. Credit your partner with playing for the common interest of the hands and place absolute confidence in the information he gives you. A trust in your partner’s Bridge ability will overcome many an obstacle in the way of drawing inferences.
INFERENCES REGARDING THE MAKE
In many hands the declaration and the cards in dummy will show you the dealer’s probable strength; and will also suggest the number of trumps held by your partner.
For instance, should you hold three trumps with three in the dummy, you cannot expect your partner to hold more than two trumps, allowing for at least five in the dealer’s hand.
Should you hold four trumps, with three on the table, your partner cannot have more than one; he may have none.
Although at times you can place high cards in the trump suit, it is difficult to locate honours in a “no-trump” hand. However, keeping the general rules for the make in view, you can form some idea of the adversary’s strength.
When the dealer has passed the make you can often infer from his subsequent play the absence of certain cards. For instance, should the dealer, having passed the make, play two aces, he probably does not hold much strength in the other two suits.
GENERAL INFERENCES
When your partner makes what appears to be an unusual play, do not condemn it, but ask yourself why the play was made. For instance, Why does your partner not lead through the strength in dummy? It may be that he has an honour in that suit, and is waiting for the adversary to lead.