Unblocking in Bridge: When to Throw Away Winners

One of the most counterintuitive plays in bridge is deliberately throwing away a winning card. Yet unblocking—getting rid of high cards that would otherwise prevent you from running a suit—is essential to good declarer and defensive play. Sometimes the card you most want to get rid of is an ace or king.

What Is Unblocking?

Unblocking means playing or discarding a high card from the short hand to prevent that card from blocking the suit later. When you unblock successfully, you can run a long suit without getting stranded in the wrong hand.

The classic unblocking situation involves holdings like:

Dummy: A K Q J 10
Declarer: 9 8 7 6 5 3

If you carelessly play low from dummy on the first trick, you’ll win your singleton 3. Now you’re stuck in your hand with no way back to dummy’s four remaining winners. The correct play? Cash the ace first, playing your 3 under it. Now dummy’s K Q J 10 are all accessible.

Unblocking isn’t limited to declarer play. Defenders constantly face unblocking decisions when trying to cash their suit or help partner run his.

Why Honors Block Suits

High cards block suits because of bridge’s fundamental rule: you must follow suit, and you must play the card you play. When you hold something like K-x opposite A-Q-J-10-9-8, that king will win the second trick—and if you have no entry back to the long hand, you’re done.

The problem compounds when the short hand holds multiple honors. With dummy holding A Q J 10 9 8 opposite your K 7, if you lead the king then play low to the ace, you’ve only cashed two tricks. The Q J 10 9 are stranded because you can’t get back to dummy.

Better play: Lead low to dummy’s ace on the first trick, discarding your blocking king later. Now you can return to dummy once and run the entire suit.

Honors block suits because they win tricks, consuming your only card in that suit from the short hand. Entries are precious—you rarely have unlimited ways to get between hands. The key insight: an honor in the short hand is a liability when partner (or dummy) has a solid sequence.

Unblocking in Notrump

Notrump contracts put maximum pressure on communication because you lack the ruffing flexibility of suit contracts. Running a long suit often makes the difference between making and going down.

The Classic Scenario

You hold:

Dummy:
♠ 7 6 3
♥ K 4
♦ A K Q J 10 8
♣ 9 5

Declarer:
♠ A K Q
♥ A 9 8 7 3
♦ 7 2
♣ A K 4

You’re in 3NT. Opponents lead a spade. You have seven top tricks outside diamonds. If you can run diamonds, you’re home. But there’s a problem.

If you carelessly play low to dummy’s diamond ace, then low back to your seven (or god forbid, your two), you’ve won the second diamond in hand. Now you’re stuck. You have no entry back to dummy’s K Q J 10 of diamonds.

The solution? On the first diamond, play your SEVEN under dummy’s ace. On the second diamond, play your TWO under dummy’s king. You’ve unblocked. Now cross to dummy with ♥K and run the diamond suit. Nine tricks.

This type of unblock—playing high-low with two small cards to ensure the right hand wins the last trick—appears in virtually every notrump session.

Unblocking with Honors

Sometimes you need to throw away a bigger card. With dummy holding K Q J 10 9 8 7 opposite your A 6, and no outside entry to your hand, you must play the ACE under dummy’s king on the first trick. Now dummy’s suit runs.

The question you always ask: “After I play this suit, which hand will have the last card, and can I afford to be there?”

Unblocking in Suit Contracts

Suit contracts give you more flexibility because you can ruff your way back and forth between hands. But unblocking still matters, especially when:

You need to ruff something in dummy and must access dummy through a side suit
You’re trying to avoid a defensive ruff
You want to discard losers on dummy’s long suit

Setting Up Discards

Dummy:
♠ 5 4
♥ 7 6 3
♦ A K Q J 10
♣ 8 7 6

Declarer:
♠ A K Q J 10 9
♥ A K Q
♦ 8 2
♣ A K

You’re in 6♠. You can draw trumps easily, but you have a club loser. The answer? Draw trumps, then run diamonds, throwing your losing club.

But watch the timing! If you play ♦2 to the ace, ♦8 to the king, you’re stuck in dummy. You can cash the Q J 10 of diamonds, but you have no way back to your hand to draw the last trump or cash your hearts.

Correct play: Cash ♦8 under dummy’s ace, ♦2 under dummy’s king. Now diamonds are unblocked. Draw trumps, cross to ♥A, return to dummy with a high diamond, and discard your club loser on the fifth diamond.

Trump Management

Sometimes you need to unblock trumps themselves:

Dummy: A K Q 10 9 8
Declarer: J 7

If you need entries to your hand and carelessly play low to dummy’s ace, you’ve blocked the suit. Better: Play the JACK under dummy’s ace. Now you can finesse the 10 later or use the jack’s spot to return to hand.

This happens most often when dummy has a solid trump suit and you need to use trumps for transportation.

Unblocking for Partner

Defensive unblocking is one of the hallmarks of expert play. When partner leads a suit and you can see he has a long, strong holding, you need to get out of his way.

The Opening Lead

Partner leads the ♠K (showing A K), and dummy tables:

Dummy: Q 6 4
Your hand: J 10 2

You can see that partner has A K and presumably several more spades. If you play the ♠2, partner will continue with the ace, and you’ll play the 10. When partner leads a third spade, you’ll win the jack—and if you have no spade to return, partner’s long spades are stranded.

Instead, play the ♠JACK (or ♠10) on the first trick. This is an unblocking play (and also a count signal). Partner can now cash the ace, and when he continues the suit, you play your remaining honor. Partner wins the fourth round and can cash his fifth spade.

Count and Communication

Partner’s suit: A K 10 9 7
Your holding: Q 8 3

When partner leads the king, play the QUEEN. This unblocks the suit and tells partner you have exactly three cards (high-low shows a doubleton or, in this context, an honor to unblock).

Partner can now continue with the ace and a third round to your eight. You win and return your last spade, allowing partner to cash the 10 and 9.

Unblocking in the Middle of a Hand

You don’t just unblock on opening lead. Watch for this:

Declarer is running a long suit in dummy, and you need to keep communication with partner. If you hold K 7 2 in a suit and partner has A Q J 10, throw your KING when you get the chance. This keeps partner’s suit ready to run when he gets in.

When to Unblock vs. Retain

Not every high card needs to go. The decision to unblock or retain depends on:

Entry Count

If you have multiple entries to the long hand, you might not need to unblock. With dummy holding A K Q J 10 opposite your 9 8 7, if you have three outside entries to dummy, you can afford to win tricks in hand. But with only one outside entry? Unblock immediately.

Communication Goals

Sometimes you WANT to be in the short hand. If you need to be in your hand after running a suit (maybe to take a finesse), win the last trick in hand rather than unblocking.

Defensive Considerations

As a defender, unblock when partner clearly has length and you can see dummy/declarer will block if you don’t help. Retain high cards when you might need them as entries or when declarer might misguess the position.

Example Unblocking Hands

Example 1: The Automatic Unblock

Contract: 3NT
Lead: ♠Q

Dummy:
♠ 7 5
♥ K 8 4
♦ A K Q J 10 3
♣ 9 6

Declarer:
♠ A K 4
♥ A 9 7 3
♦ 8 2
♣ A K Q 5

You win the ♠A. Count your tricks: three spades, two hearts, six diamonds, three clubs = fourteen top tricks. Except you can’t get to them all. If you don’t unblock diamonds, you’ll get stuck.

Play ♦8 to the ace, ♦2 to the king. Now cross to ♥K, run diamonds (discarding clubs), then cash your aces. Thirteen tricks.

Example 2: Defensive Unblocking

Contract: 3NT
Your hand (East):
♠ K J 3
♥ 9 4
♦ 10 8 7 5
♣ Q J 10 9

Dummy:
♠ 9 6 4
♥ Q J 10 3
♦ A K 4
♣ 7 6 5

Partner (West) leads ♠Q. Declarer ducks, partner continues with ♠10, and declarer ducks again. Partner leads a third spade to your king.

If you mechanically return your ♠J, you’re returning partner’s suit but you’ve blocked it. Partner had ♠Q 10 8 7 2. When he gets in later, he can’t cash his spades.

Instead, after winning the ♠K, shift to something else (probably ♣Q). When partner gets in, he can cash two more spades, and you still have ♠J 3 to return to him.

Better yet: Drop the ♠JACK or ♠KING on partner’s second spade (the ♠10). This unblocks immediately and lets partner know you’ve solved the problem.

Example 3: Trump Unblock

Contract: 4♥
Trump suit:

Dummy: A K Q 10 9 8 7
Declarer: J 2

You need to draw trumps but also need entries to your hand to take club finesses. If you play ♥2 to dummy’s ace and ♥J to dummy’s king, you’re stuck in dummy.

Instead: Play ♥J under dummy’s ace on the first round. Now you can play ♥2 to dummy’s king. Later, you can finesse the ♥10 if needed, or use the ten/nine as entries back to dummy while drawing the last trump from your hand with a small card.

Common Unblocking Mistakes

Mistake #1: Autopilot Playing

You’ve learned “third hand high” and “second hand low,” so you automatically play low from dummy when you have A K Q J 10. Big mistake. Think about where you want to end up AFTER running the suit.

Mistake #2: Forgetting to Unblock Early

You play small-small on the first round, telling yourself you’ll figure it out later. By round two, you’ve already blocked the suit. Unblock on the FIRST trick, when you still have room to maneuver.

Mistake #3: Unblocking When You Shouldn’t

Not every honor needs to go. If you have multiple entries, save your high cards for when you actually need them. Don’t throw away your ♦K if you have three outside entries to dummy.

Mistake #4: Poor Defensive Unblocking

Partner leads ♠K, you hold ♠Q 3 2, and you play the ♠2. Partner continues with the ace, you play the ♠3. He leads a third spade, you win the queen, and you realize partner started with K J 10 9 7. If only you’d played ♠Q on the first or second trick!

This mistake loses countless tricks. When partner shows length and strength, GET OUT OF HIS WAY.

Mistake #5: Unblocking in the Wrong Direction

Sometimes you have a choice of which hand to unblock. Make sure you’re unblocking the SHORT hand, not the long hand. If dummy has seven cards and you have two, throw away your high cards, not dummy’s.

Mistake #6: Ignoring Entry Positions

You correctly identify an unblocking situation, but you forget to preserve the entry you need. Plan the whole sequence before playing to trick one.

The Bottom Line

Unblocking becomes intuitive once you train yourself to ask: “After I run this suit, which hand will hold the last card?” If the answer is “the wrong hand,” you need to unblock.

Watch for telltale signs: dummy (or partner) has a long, solid suit, you hold one or two high cards in the short hand, and entries are limited.

Master this technique, and you’ll immediately add tricks to both your declarer play and your defense. Remember: In bridge, sometimes the winning play is throwing away a winner.