Mighty

If the declarer leads with a low-rank card and asks for help, the Friend should help whenever possible. In no-trump, it is very difficult to regain the lead, so the Friend should play in accordance with the declarer's intention.

After helping the declarer, it is generally best to play out the top cards in your hand. However, special care is needed when the declarer holds the Mighty as a single card. If the Friend plays ♠K as a top card, this may force out the Mighty, which can be dangerous. Keep in mind this exception.

After helping, the Friend may wonder which suit to lead next. In most cases, the best choice is to lead the same suit in which the declarer asked for help. This is because a suit that requires help often contains an unresolved threat. By leading the same suit again, the declarer may be able to use the Mighty or the Joker to force out the dangerous card once more.

An example of this was discussed in Chapter 6. Even when a defender held three trumps, including K, the declarer was eventually able to pull out the K through the Friend's trump lead, followed by the declarer's use of the Mighty.

No-trump situations are similar. The declarer often wants to draw out a defender's K from an unstable suit. For this reason, the Friend should continue leading the same suit. If there is no clear suit the declarer wants, it is a good idea to recall the suit the declarer emphasized during the bidding and return that suit.

In some no-trump games, the declarer may play confidently at first and then ask for help around the 6th or 7th trick. By this point, defenders often try to consolidate their hands into a single suit. In such cases, what matters most is that the Friend can return a suit once the declarer's target suit is revealed. To do this, the Friend should intentionally retain one card from each suit. (Of course, if the Friend holds several top cards, those should be kept.)

To play no-trump, you should generally hold at least the Mighty or Joker. In no-trump, the most reliable way to regain the lead is by using the Mighty or the Joker. Of course, if your hand contains a top card in every suit, you can also recover the lead without them. In such case, no-trump is still playable.

You may consider bidding no-trump when your hand is concentrated in two strong suits, even if the suit you would normally choose as trump has some uncertainty. Conversely, even if the main suit you would like to make trump is slightly unstable, no-trump can still be viable when the remaining suits are strong.

Example 1
After sorting the hand, the cards are:

◆A, ◆K, ◆Q, ◆7 / ♣A, ♣Q, ♣J, ♣7, ♣4 / ♠A.

The declarer holds the Mighty. The ◆ suit is strong with A, K, and Q, but there is some uncertainty around ♣K in the club suit. In this situation, bidding no-trump is reasonable.

The declarer selects Joker Friend and leads ◆A, ◆K, and ◆Q in succession, carefully counting the diamonds played. If 12 diamonds appear, ◆7 can also be played safely. At the same time, the declarer should track how many clubs have been revealed.

Next, the declarer leads a low club such as ♣J or ♣7 to invite help from the Joker. When the Friend returns as a club, the declarer uses the Mighty on that trick. Finally, by leading ♣A, the declarer can force out ♣K even if a defender was holding it as a three-card suit. At this point, the club suit is fully cleared.

There are two remaining uncertain cases:

1. The Friend may have no clubs at all. This once again highlights the importance of the Friend's role in no-trump. While the declarer is running the diamond suit, the Friend may want to discard a single-card suit. However, if the Friend discards all clubs, it becomes impossible to return a club later. As explained earlier, the Friend should intentionally preserve multiple suits whenever possible.

2. If the Friend has no clubs from the beginning, or a defender may be holding ♣K as a four-card club suit, there is little the declarer can do, and a back-run may be unavoidable. Even so, it can still be worth challenging with ♣J or ♣Q. If ♣K does not appear, the declarer may gain an extra trick. For this reason, it is often better to challenge the higher club.

As discussed in the Friend section of the no-trump strategy, the Friend should return the suit the declarer previously played. Therefore, it is also important for the declarer to clearly indicate which suit is unsettled.

Example 2
After sorting the hand, the cards are:

◆A, ◆10, ◆7, ◆6, ◆2 / ♥K, ♥Q, ♥2 / Mighty / Joker.

At first glance, this hand may seem suitable for no-trump. The diamond suit is highly unstable, but holding both the Mighty and Joker offers strong control.

Ideally, the declarer would like a ♥A Friend who can return a diamond suit. However, this intention cannot be stated directly. In offline play, some players communicate this by bidding Full diamond -> Full no-trump and then leading ♥2 as the opening lead. After understanding the signal, the Friend may return a diamond - but this is highly dependent on table conventions.

In practice, this hand is difficult to play as no-trump, especially in online games. A more appropriate contract would be 17◆ with ♥A Friend. With diamonds as trump, a Friend who wins the first trick will naturally return a trump. Even if the Friend has no diamonds, the damage is usually limited to one or two lost tricks. By contrast, choosing no-trump here risks an immediate back-run.

The example illustrates a common problem: the suit the declarer wants to attack may not align with what the Friend actually returns. In offline play, where emphasis and trump switching are possible, no-trump may still work. However, you should not expect this level of coordination when playing Mighty online.

When the declarer bids no-trump, it usually indicates a very strong hand. As defenders, your goal should be to secure at least one trick if possible.

A key defensive principle in no-trump is to commit to a single strong suit. If you hold three cards in a suit, including a K, or four cards including a Q, it is generally best to preserve that suit for as long as possible and build your defense around it.

If a defender wins a trick and captures point cards, the best follow-up is often to lead a suit that the declarer is unlikely to hold. In no-trump, there is no Kan, so if the declarer has no cards in the led suit, they are forced to use the Mighty or Joker just to regain the lead. This can significantly disrupt the declarer's plan.

Ultimately, defending in no-trump requires active coordination and persistence. Defenders must work together to block the declarer's attempts to maintain control of the lead and to prevent a clean run of tricks.