The purpose of the trump echo is to provide partner with a count of the trump suit, especially for the purpose of getting a ruff. Trump echoes should be reserved for these situations only. (Declarer gleans too much information if you always use trump echoes to give count.)
As a corollary, playing low-high in the trump suit indicates an even number of trumps. These agreements are part of standard carding, and should not be considered special carding.
Against South's
Dummy | ||||
A32 | ||||
QJ9 | ||||
9863 | You | |||
Q82 | J65 | |||
75 | ||||
K72 | ||||
T9765 |
West 1 2 |
North Pass 2 |
You Pass All Pass |
South 1 |
Assuming that your side has agreed to lead the king from ace-king, then partner must be missing the
At trick three, declarer plays dummy's
This situation calls for a trump echo. You hold three trumps and are interested in a ruff, so you should play the
Declarer now leads a low spade from dummy. You complete your trump echo by playing the
The full deal:
Dummy | ||||
A32 | ||||
QJ9 | ||||
Partner | 9863 | You | ||
K7 | Q82 | J65 | ||
AT432 | 75 | |||
AQ54 | Declarer | K72 | ||
J4 | QT984 | T9765 | ||
K86 | ||||
JT | ||||
AK3 |
Partner should have figured out the heart situation already, because declarer must hold the
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