Which player becomes the dummy in contract bridge?
Card editor of the London Field W.H. Whitfeld published this bridge problem in 1885. South is declarer and has the lead with hearts as trump. With a sophisticated finesse, South can win every trick. South begins by leading the ace of diamonds, which, depending on what the opponents discard, opens a possible finesse of North's jack of diamonds. Next, South passes the lead to North with a spade that North trumps. North then leads the last heart, and South discards the 10 of clubs. With the lead of the last trump and then the ace of clubs, the defenders are presented with an insurmountable dilemma. East must hold two diamonds or South takes the last two tricks in the suit by discarding a spade. However, in order to hold on to two diamonds, East must discard the jack of spades, which in turn would force West to hold the queen of spades. Since West also needs the queen of diamonds and the jack of clubs to avoid losing a trick, a discard from any of the three suits will allow South to win all of the remaining tricks by an appropriate discard.
In contract bridge, the player who becomes the dummy is the partner of the declarer.
After the auction concludes, the player who first named the suit (or no trump) that becomes the final contract is designated as the declarer. Once the opening lead is made by the defender to the declarer's left, the declarer's partner places their hand faceup on the table. This player and their exposed hand are referred to as the dummy. The declarer then plays both their own hand and the dummy's hand in proper turn.12