Trump suits and No Trump
A trump suit can beat cards in every other suit. In No Trump, only the suit led can win the trick.
What is a trump suit?
If the contract is played in spades, every spade is a trump. When a player cannot follow the suit led, that player may play a spade and usually win the trick. This is called ruffing.
If more than one trump is played, the highest trump wins. Playing a higher trump over a lower one is an overruff. A player who can follow the suit led must do so and cannot choose to trump instead.
Drawing trumps
Declarer often leads trumps early to remove the defenders' trumps. Once opponents have none left, they cannot ruff declarer's winners in side suits. But declarer should not draw trumps automatically: dummy's trumps may be needed to ruff losers first.
What changes in No Trump?
A No Trump contract has no privileged suit. The highest card in the suit led wins. If a player cannot follow suit, a discard from another suit cannot win the trick. No Trump play therefore puts extra emphasis on:
- counting immediate winners;
- establishing extra winners in long suits;
- protecting stoppers in suits the opponents may attack;
- preserving entries between declarer's hand and dummy.
| Trump contract | No Trump contract |
|---|---|
| A void may create a ruff | A void permits only a discard |
| Declarer often counts losers | Declarer often counts winners |
| Drawing opponents' trumps may be urgent | Developing a long suit may be urgent |
| Shortness can be valuable | Balanced shape and stoppers are valuable |
Choosing between suit and No Trump
A partnership normally prefers a major-suit fit of at least eight combined cards when one exists. Without such a fit, a balanced partnership may choose No Trump. Minor-suit contracts are also possible, especially with a strong fit or when No Trump is unsafe.
Planning shortcut: in a trump contract, count possible losers; in No Trump, count immediate winners and ask how to develop more.