XXXXXXX 

XXXXIXXX

                 DECLARER 
XXXXXXX- - - -XI
XXXXXXXA K Q  J 10 2XXXXXXXXXXXI
In the above EXAMPLE Clubs are trump and Declarer's hand has the long trump suit. If trump are played, Declarer will make 6 tricks. If the 4  were to be ruffed by the 2 , there would still be only 6 tricks: the 5 winning trump and the 2  that ruffed the 4 . The 2  is always a winner; good whether it was used to ruff a Diamond, or to be played after all the trump is pulled. Some players think they are gaining an extra trick if they ruff in the hand with the long suit. Not so. It is an illusion these players have. (They might have other illusions, but that is beyond the scope of this text.) 
       So why would anyone ever ruff in the hand with the long trump suit? One reason is that the person might want the lead in the hand. 
       Another and more complex reason is that the Declarer wants the hand with the long trump to behave as if it is the hand with the short trump; and the hand with the short trump to behave as if it is the hand with the long trump. That is, reverse the natural order of things. 
                       DUMMY 
X                X  7 6 4
I XXIXXiXX   Q J 10 XXXXXX XXXXXI
 

                     DECLARER 
XXXXXXXX- - - -XI
XXXXXXXX A  K  9 8 7XXXXXXXXXXXI
In the above EXAMPLE Clubs are trump and by playing trump the Declarer will only win 5 tricks. Ruffing once and even twice, in Declarer's hand will not produce more than 5 tricks. Playing the saxophone or standing on your head will not help. Ruffing 2 tricks in Declarer's hand will not create more tricks. 
       However, ruffing 3 times in Declarer's hand will produce 6 tricks. 3 tricks by ruffing the Diamonds from Dummy (assuming you have entries to Dummy) and the 3 high trump in Dummy. This kind of play, ruffing in the hand with the long trump to produce an extra winner, is known as a DUMMY REVERSAL.
        A few things to note with a DUMMY REVERSAL. First you will have to ruff in the long hand as many times as necessary until the trump remaining in that hand is are one less than the trump in the short hand. 
                       DUMMY 
X ii               X  7 6 4 2
X    I            X  J 10 9XXXXXX XXXXXI
 

                     DECLARER 
X                X  - - - - - 
XXXXXXXXA K Q 8 7  2XXXXXXXXXXXI
In the above EXAMPLE Clubs are trump. Ruffing 3 times in Declarer's hand will produce 6 tricks; the same amount when all the top trump were played. But ruffing 4 times in Declarer's hand will produce 7 tricks. (4 ruffs in Declarer's hand and 3 trump winners from Dummy.) 
        The second thing to note when considering a DUMMY REVERSAL, is that there have to be sufficient entries to Dummy. This is necessary in order to play the cards that have to be ruffed and to pull the last trump. But enough talk; let's look at a hand.

The A  won the 4th trick in Dummy and now the Declarer needs the rest of the tricks. The problem is the Clubs. If the Clubs split 3/3 (3 Clubs in West's hand and 3 Clubs in East's hand), then the Declarer will make 4 Club tricks and the contract. But the chances are that Clubs do not split 3/3 but 4/2. This means that the 3rd round of Clubs will be ruffed by a Defender, setting the contract. A possible solution to this problem is to pull trump before playing Clubs. However, this exhausts Dummy's trump and thus the fourth Club in Declarer's hand becomes an unavoidable loser. Is there another way to play this hand? Yes! DUMMY REVERSAL.

PLAN:  Make all the cards in Dummy winners. Clubs are no problem: the 6  falls under the A . For Diamonds the Declarer already lost 3 and there are none left to lose in Dummy. With Hearts the 10 and 9 are winners and the 6  will fall under a high Heart in Declarer's hand. Spades are another story; there are 3 losing Spades in Dummy. But these 3 losing Spades can be ruffed in Declarer's hand. There are enough entries in Dummy to do this and return to Dummy to pull the Defender's last trump. Remember, you must pull all of Defender's trump in order to make that crucial 3rd Club trick a winner.

         In a suit contract Declarer usually counts losers. But when executing a DUMMY REVERSAL it is customary to count winners. Let's do it: 1 Spade; 6 Hearts (3 in Dummy and 3 in Declarer's hand by ruffing the 3 Spades); 0 Diamonds; and 3 Clubs. That is 10 tricks, making 4 .

PLAY: Declarer just won the 4th trick in Dummy with the A . Play the 2  and ruff with the A  in the South hand. Ruffing high prevents any possible over ruff and also keeps the small trump as an entry to Dummy. Get to Dummy by playing a low Club the K  and play another Spade. Again ruff high. This time with the K . Now get to Dummy by playing the 7  to the 10  (first round of trump.). Ruff the last Spade with the Q . Play the J  (second round of trump). Get to Dummy by playing a low Club to the Q  and then play the 9  (third round of trump). This pulls the Defender's last trump. The last and 13th card to be played is now the 6  to the A . 3 losers; 10 winners; making 4 . 

QUESTIONS: 
1. Is there any lead by East after winning with the Q  that would set the contract?
2. Is it reasonable for East to figure this out? 
3. What conditions must prevail for this DUMMY REVERSAL to work?.

     Answers