patroklos

Hi, I think it' s about time I learnt some standard defense signals. I've been trying to read things about this online, and ask members of my university bridge club, but there's lots of conflicting and disorganised information that does not yet make a coherent system for me. I would like to solidly learn some basic, standard stuff, and I would like to know some of the main terminology, so that when I play with new partners (which frequently happens in our club), quick convention convergence can occur. For instance, I've been told of a discard convention like this: the first time that one is out of the suit that's led, playing a low card in a second suit signals a preference for the lower-ranking of the remaining two suits, and a high card a preference for the higher-ranking one. A low card would typically be a 2-5, and a high 6-9. Is this standard, and does it have a nice short name? In terms of suits that one follows, if I'm not playing an honour, then I'm told to typically use "count" on declarer's play and "attitude" on partner's play (unless partner leads a king, in which case use "count"). I think I understand the idea behind these two systems, but I easily get confused during actual play because much of the time, one of course does play honours or whatnot. Is signalling then deferred to subsequent tricks in that suit, or abandoned all together, or what? I guess this will depend on the partnership, as well as the situation, but are there some well-accepted rules of thumb? For example, say I have a Q963 in clubs, and on the first club trick, I play my Q for whatever reason. If declarer then or later played further club tricks, would I then play the 9 on the next trick, and then the 3 on the one after that, and this would still count as high-low? I guess by now my main question might be self-evident: clearly one doesn't signal using these conventions all the time, but what are some examples of situations in which it's critical to do so? Direct answers or pointers to good online explanations would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.