The Forcing Game


One Two Three Four
Five Six Seven Eight

Dink. Pump. Force. They all mean you're "forcing" declarer to shorten his trump holding (in the long hand), perhaps to dangerous levels. I put "forcing" in quotation marks because it's not altogether mandatory for declarer to ruff. Perhaps I can best give the usefulness and power of the forcing game by offering this hand:
K J 7 2
A
-------
A K Q 8 7 6 5 3
9 5 A 10 6 3
Q J 8 7 6 3 K 10 5 4
10 4 3 A K 5
J 9 4 2
Q 8 4
9 2
Q J 9 8 7 6 2
10 Vul: Both

EastSouthWestNorth
1 Pass 2 Dbl
3 3 Pass 5 NT!
Pass 6 Pass 6
All pass! Alert

This hand was bid to 6 spades three times. It went down one once, down 6 once and down 8 once! That was expensive. The 5 no bid looks like a grand slam force: Partner, if you have two of the top three honors, bid grand slam. South didn't have two and so settled for 6 spades. But it's gotta be the first time anyone looking for grand slam didn't even take the majority of the tricks. You know how much that is? Just multiply 8 by 300 and subtract 100. That's how expensive it was. Here's what happened: Opening lead was the queen of hearts. The lead of the spade jack held, spade to the queen, club to the ace and now on a low spade lead won with the 10, East drew declarer's last trump with the ace, cashed the top diamonds and the defense now ran their hearts. Incredible.
Down six: Opening lead was the queen of hearts:
Down one: Opening lead a club! The bidding is not given above, but East had bid diamonds and then supported his partner's hearts! So West leads a club? (This also found declarer as above, with the 3-spade holding on the basis of first a negative double andthen a heart cuebid by North. But enough's enough. When his partner didn't respond to the neg double, North should certainly surmise that there's no spade holding of any significance over there and bid his self-supporting clubs.) Declarer went to the queen of spades, back to the jack, taken by East, and now East led a club. Declarer ruffed the club in dummy, though it didn't matter. Now a heart to the ace and when the outstanding trump didn't fall, declarer could only lead clubs until his RHO ruffed. But because the defense didn't pursue a forcing game from the beginning, declarer now had a trump left and could take the rest of the tricks.
Now, this is a freak hand, obviously, and setting a declarer 8 tricks or even 6 is highly unusual. I would say losing just a trick or two is a more likely result when declarer is subjected to a forcing game (or losing no tricks, for I don't mean to suggest that this option is always available to the defense). Nevertheless, if the principle of the forcing game comes across clearly, that I believe is all that matters here. You by and large want to lead your partner's suit anyway. But when declarer has a skimpy suit, even if he has two more trump than one of the defenders but has to lose the lead a couple of times, you might find the forcing game very effective.
To be sure, the above declaring side was decidedly in the wrong suit. Lemme give a far more normal situation, a 5-3 major suit that happens to split 4-1, the misplay leading to the loss of only one trick, but a very valuable trick. This is also noteworthy in that declarer did it to himself! Well, he started it and an alert defense finished him off.
A 2
A 7 6
K 8 5
A K 10 8 2
Q J 7 5 K 9 8 6 4 3
K Q 3 2 9
7 6 4 J 9 2
6 5 Q J 9
10
J 10 8 5 4
A Q 10 3
7 4 3 Vul: N-S

Opening lead was the queen of spades, taken in dummy. Can this declarer, in 5 hearts make his contract? It looks to me as though he can. Come to the ace of diamonds and lead a heart honor, pushing through if not covered. West goes up? You win, the 9 fortuitously falls, and you're in clover. Knock out the other honor, and you've covered all around with access to the closed hand if West leads a club. Draw trump and lose a club at the end.
This declarer shot himself in the foot. At trick 2, he ruffed a spade! That was to change the lead to take his heart hook. He pushed the 10 through, but of course, West split his honors on the next lead. Declarer won, cashed one club for some reason, then continued hearts. West led a spade -- oh, you guessed that, did you? -- declarer sluffing a club, which is just as well, but it only delays the force one trick. West continued spades, declarer ruffed, and now he has one less trump than his dangerous opponent. Well, actually West has the only trump out. Declarer was able to run three diamonds and another club and had to surrender the last trick, what should have been a winning 10 of diamonds, to West's trump.
Above are links to some further instances of this defense.