Entry (bridge)
|
|
In bridge and other trick-taking card games, the player winning a trick has the lead for the next trick. Gaining the lead when some other player (including one's partner) led to the previous trick is referred to as entering one's hand; and therefore a card that wins a trick (except the last trick) to which another player made the lead is known as an entry. Here is a simple hand to show the importance of entries:
S: A K Q J 10 9
H: 4 3 2
D: 4 3 2
C: 2
S: ---
H: A K Q J 10 9
D: A K 7 6 5
C: A 3
If South declares this hand at notrump and the opening lead is a club, he will probably take just 9 tricks with the top cards in his hand, as he has no entry to dummy unless a spade is led by the defense. But if South declares with hearts as trump, he now has a good chance of making all 13 tricks: one of dummy's small trumps now becomes an entry when used to ruff declarer's small club, and unless the defense can ruff, South's small diamonds can be discarded on North's high spades.