Crossruffs, dummy reversal, and trump reductions Larry Hammick larry@hammick.com 2002.02.16 Contents ;Notation ;Introduction ;Crossruffs ;;The crossruff, the scramble, and entries in the fourth suit ;;The high crossruff and high scramble ;;Cashing side tricks ;;Case of borderline trump control ;;Generalities on defence against crossruffs ;Dummy reversal ;Trump reductions ;;Coup en passant ;;Trump-suit throwin ;;Trump coup ;;Trump coup as a safety play ;;Generalities on preparation and defence of trump coups ;Notation To simplify the notation, we don't use any suit symbols. In each diagram, the highest suit is spades, the next suit is hearts, and so on. Spades are trumps except as indicated. "Declarer" is understood to be the hand in which declaring side is longer in trumps; we put him South in each diagram. ;Introduction When declarer lacks trump control, or will not have enough tricks if he keeps control, he needs to leave trumps at large and try to find ruffs. Often he will pursue ruffs in both hands, since a ruff in one serves as an entry for a ruff in the other. This produces the characteristic back-and-forth play known as a crossruff. A crossruff may be of a lopsided variety, with ruffs available primarily, or exclusively, in declarer's own hand. This line of play uses side winners instead of ruffs as entries to dummy. It has hitherto been classed as a trump reduction. But it is very different from the trump "coups" which are concerned with trump tenaces in the endgame. Also, its resemblance to a dummy reversal may be misleading. To clarify the relationship between these different lines of play, we will go over them all in the same article. Some advanced information on crossruff endgames appears in the article "The rare trump endgames" at www.hammick.com. ;;The crossruff, the scramble, and entries in the fourth suit The term "crossruff" is sometimes used when the defenders have no trumps left, for example when declarer is claiming the last few tricks. But in a true crossruff declarer avoids pulling the defence's trumps, and hopes to wind up with more tricks than if he did. An idealized illustration: #1 K8xx Axxx x Axxx AQ9x xxxx Axxx x Against 3S West leads a trump to East's ten and South's queen. If he pulls trumps declarer will need both spades and hearts 3-2. Instead, he cashes his three side aces ending in, say, the North hand (the position is symmetric). He then ruffs a club low and ruffs a diamond low. K8 xxx -- xx A9 xxx xx -- Declarer has taken the first six tricks and the contract is now cold. He ruffs a club with the ace, a diamond with the K, and a club with the 9. Either the 9 will hold or the 8 will be established. (The ruff with the 9 is a species of uppercut.) Notice the early cashing of HA. It is clear that if you will never be pulling trumps, then the sooner you try to cash your side winners the more likely they are to escape ruffs. Had declarer held on to HA until the endgame, a defender, unable to overruff, would simply discard hearts instead, and the HA might never cash. The endgame in #1 illustrates another basic principle: Declarer should start ruffing high as soon as he can afford to, to minimize the danger of an overruff and a trump return. The same may be necessary in the normal ruffing game. K9 Kx xxxxx Kxxx AQT87 Axxx xx Ax Against 4S West leads CJ. Declarer wins in dummy, takes HKA, and ruffs a heart with the _king_. Now come CA and a heart ruff with the 9. He can afford to lose a trick to the trump J, but not by an overruff followed by a trump return which would destroy a ruffer. A crossruff is not usually as symmetric as #1. When the trump lengths don't match, declarer tends to rely on side entries to the short trump hand, in the "fourth suit". #2 K8x Axxxx x Axxx AQ9xx xx Axxxx x West again finds a trump lead against 3S, to East's ten and your queen. With only three side winners you need six trump tricks, or five plus a long heart. The former is a better prospect, and it is safer to play for a crossruff than just to ruff a diamond and try to pull trumps. Lead a club to the ace and ruff a club, then use your entry in the fourth suit (hearts) to ruff another club. Now DA, a diamond ruff with the K (not the 8), and you are on the same path as in #1. This time the HA could not be cashed immediately because it was needed as an entry. Let's go further in the direction of #2: Suppose declarer has longer trumps and _no_ ruffs available in dummy, but _several_ side entries in dummy. Declarer may use those side entries to score ruffs in his own hand, and in some cases can expect to wind up with more tricks than he could have done by pulling trumps. We call such a one-handed crossruff a "scramble". An example: #3 A Axxx AKxx xxxx QJ9xxx Jxx xxxx -- Against 2S West leads DJ. There are good prospects of three small ruffs in hand, three side winners, and two high-card tricks from trumps. If you try to pull trumps instead you will probably take only four trump tricks and will need a long diamond, and may lose control even if diamonds are 3-2. In practice, most hands that are played without trump control lie somewhere between a pure crossruff such as #1 and a pure scramble like #3. In #1 there was a well-defined fourth suit, and in #3 there are two such suits (hearts and diamonds, the suits that will not be getting ruffed); but in practice the entries used for ruffs in the long hand are likely to be distributed in a mixed fashion as in #2. In a scramble is declarer makes himself shorter in trumps than an opponent, with the result that a defender's side winner ends up falling on one of his partner's trumps. The scramble is usually classed as a form of trump reduction called a trump coup. The other kinds of trump reduction, which we will get to below, are concerned with picking up enemy trump honours in the endgame. Those manoeuvres require trump control. #4 9xxxx AQxxx x Kx KJ8xx x Axxxx Ax With as many as ten trumps, declarer will seldom need so many ruffs that he cannot afford to try to split the enemy trumps, to keep down his trump losers. But here (at spades) ten tricks are certain if he goes straight for a crossruff. The defence may ruff a club or overruff a red suit at any time; whether they then lead ace and another trump, or wait for two more trump tricks, declarer loses only three tricks in all. This deal is exceptional in that declarer need not cash the clubs first; the defence has no small trumps which declarer cannot afford to allow to score. The artificial deal #4 illustrates an important principle: Declarer needs to diagnose _quickly_ if he will be playing without trump control, so that he will know not to lead any more trumps. The same is true for the defence: As soon as it is apparent that declarer does not have, or will not keep, trump control, they should aim to pull his trumps. Suppose, in #4, the lead is a club, won in dummy, and declarer mistakenly leads a trump. If West has AQT he should win, cash another trump winner, and lead a third round. He thus sacrifices a trump trick but prevents two ruffs. As declarer it is often enough to count your losers, but you must count _winners_ when you don't have control. Don't take a finesse you don't need, risking a trump return; even if you successfully finesse with AQxx/x, for example, you may have no usable discard on the ace (as in #4). ;;The high crossruff and high scramble Sometimes the defenders get a crossruff going, using small trumps only. But a crossruff by declarer usually concludes with some high or almost-high ruffs. Declarer may need to budget for an overruff followed by a trump return. Consider this endgame, with North or South to lead: KQJ2 xxx --- T987 --- xxx Although the trump ace is still out, declarer has six of the last seven tricks because he has a surplus ruffer in each hand and can ruff everything _high_. If his own trumps were T983, six tricks would not be certain. Clearly a high crossruff is a safe route a certain number of tricks. If that number is enough, the crossruff should therefore be preferred to a more ordinary plan which would depend upon good, or at least reasonable, breaks. For example, with a strong 4-3 trump suit, you may be able to keep control against a 4-2 break, while a crossruff will work even if the trumps are 5-1 or 6-0. #5 AJT xxx xxxxx Kx KQ9x x Axx AQxxx The defence starts with two heart rounds. If trumps are not worse than 4-2, you can keep control by discarding diamonds on the second and third hearts, rather than ruffing in the long trump hand. But a better chance is to ruff at once and take CKA and DA. If clubs are not worse than 4-2 (which you require anyway) and diamonds not 5-0, you have ten tricks on a high crossruff. The high scramble, also called a "complete dummy reversal", is the one-handed version of the high crossruff. 98 AKx AKx xxxxx AKQJx xxxx xxxx -- Against 4S West makes the unfortunate lead of a club. Declarer ruffs, and enters dummy four times in the red suits to ruff all four remaining clubs. Barring misfortune, he takes the first nine tricks and still has S98 on the table for a tenth. Declarer's play may be thought of as a drastic case of uppercutting to promote dummy's trumps. The high scramble is rare for several reasons, one of which is that it requires numerous entries to dummy. ;;Cashing side tricks If you need tricks from the fourth suit and those are not ready to cash, you should attend to them first, before the defenders can take discards. Another important principle is to lead _toward_ winners to help protect them from ruffs. K8xx xxxx x Axxx AQ9x KQxx Axxx x In 3S West leads a club to dummy's ace. A heart to the queen loses and a trump comes back to East's ten and your queen. The best continuation is DA, a diamond ruff, and a heart toward the queen. If all goes well you ruff a diamond with the K, ruff a club low, and ruff a diamond with the 8. If you fear a trump lead from one side more than from the other, the "avoidance" principle of leading through the danger hand may apply. This is true of ruffing games generally, not just the crossruff. KJxx Kxxx x Axxx A9xx Qxxx AKxx x A club is led against 4S. As a trump lead from West would be bad, you cross to DA to lead a heart through West. ;;Case of borderline trump control It is not always clear to declarer whether he will lose control and need to resort to a crossruff. It may depend on what the defence does or on how the hand breaks. This gives rise to an interesting class of deals on which declarer should try to steer a middle course between the crossruff and the use of a side suit. In #5 above, a high crossruff was preferrable to trying to keep control, but in the next deal declarer keeps both options open. J9 xxxxx Kxxx Kxx KQT87 K Ax Axxxx Against 4S the defence starts with two heart rounds and South ruffs. If clubs are not 3-2 there is little chance, so declarer starts with DAK and CKAx. He is now threatening to ruff both long clubs, and is home irrespective of the trump break, whether the defence overruffs or not. For some fancier examples of this sort of play -- gaining a tempo by threatening a high crossruff -- see the article on trump control at www.hammick.com. ;;Generalities on defence against crossruffs Clearly, when declarer doesn't have control and needs ruffs, the first line of defence is to lead trumps. If a crossruff is clearly indicated by the bidding, you should practically always lead a trump, even at the probable cost of a trick in the suit. One case of a marked crossruff is when the opponents have elected to play in the fourth suit: S N 1D 1H 1S 2C 3C Etc. High from Ax or even Kx in trumps is better than low. Low from Qxx or QJx is better than high. In a few cases, a scramble may be expected from the auction. E.g. S W N E 1H Dbl P P P In this textbook (but rare) situation, West leads a trump with the intention of pulling declarer's small ones. Declarer usually needs to do some preparation for a crossruff, and if the defence gets in before the crossruff starts, they want to know whether it is a crossruff or something else that declarer was preparing. For a crossruff his behaviour might include some of these signs: -- he neglects trumps. -- he cashes a side ace and then concedes a loser in that same suit. -- he concedes a loser in dummy's suit, although that suit cannot be set up. -- he drives out a defender's ace (sometimes king) in a suit where he does not have length. -- he takes an unconstructive ruff in the long hand. None of these moves proves that he is going for ruffs, but they are suggestive and the defence should notice them. Once a crossruff is underway, there are only a few constructive things the defence can do. The simpler ones are: Discard away from declarer's side winners. Overruff fourth hand and lead a trump. Discard away from length on your left, to make possible an overruff. To ruff high in second hand costs a trick. But the trick comes back when you lead a trump. And your play shows a net profit if your side can lead a second trump round. Therefore second hand can ruff in from AKx or the equivalent, and lead two trump rounds. Or he may ruff from Ax just to lead a small one in the hope that partner has a second winner and can lead another round. A fancier variety of this defence is the second-hand uppercut: Qxxx x Axxx AKxx 98x Ax K QJTxxx KQTxx Jxx Q9xx Tx KJTx Axxxx x Jxx Against 4S, West leads DK to dummy's ace. Declarer cashes two clubs and HA, then leads a heart. West ruffs with the 8 and dummy with the Q. South ruffs a diamond and tries another heart, but West ruffs with the 9, so dummy discards a club. A trump to the ace, followed by a second trump lead by East, leaves declarer with only 9 tricks. Here is a subtler case of the second-hand uppercut, from Reese & Dormer. 6 A8643 T96 A972 Q97 KJ854 KJT952 Q A5 84 QJ KT853 AT32 7 KQJ732 64 Against 5D, West again misses the lethal trump lead, and tries CQ. Declarer takes CA, SA, S ruff, HA, and leads a heart. East ruffs in with the 8, and South overruffs with the J. Now spade ruff and another heart, on which East puts the 4 of trumps, obliging South to overruff with the 7. Declarer ruffs his last spade with dummy's last trump, but on this trick West throws a heart, retaining CJ for reaching his partner's hand. Declarer gets back with a heart ruff and leads DK. West takes DA and leads CJ to the K, and thus gets a trump promotion, holding the 5 behind declarer's Q3! A little off the topic, a second hand ruff with a trump winner, followed by just one trump lead, is also profitable if the ruffer it destroys is one which would also serve declarer as an _entry_ for a trump reduction. This can be true when the defender's trumps are something like KQxx behind declarer's strength, or AJTx in front of it. See the article on trump gambits at www.hammick.com. Except in a "pure" crossruff, declarer needs entries to dummy, assuming that dummy is the short trump hand. There is apt to be some side length visible on the table and it may be unclear whether declarer will try to use that suit or play a crossruff. Fortunately, an attack on dummy's entries is apt to be effective against either plan. It is a useful principle of defence that an attack on communications tends to cover more possibilities than any other general approach. ;Dummy reversal QJx AJT xxxx xxx AKTxx KQxx x Kxx Against 4S West starts with king and another diamond. You have only nine running tricks. A lead toward CK is a chance but there is a much better line. If you can score three ruffs in hand, and then split the trumps 3-2, you will make six tricks from trumps instead of five, plus your four hearts. As we will explain in the article on the ruffing game, it is technically correct to use side entries before trump entries. You ruff trick two, cash SK, cross to HT, ruff a diamond with the ten, cross to HA, ruff a diamond with the A, and pull SJQ. A dummy reversal, properly so called, requires trump control. The main principle of the dummy reversal is this: Ruffs in the long hand do not start to gain tricks until the long hand _becomes_ the short hand. The ruff that makes him shorter (here the third ruff), and any subsequent ruff, gains a trick, assuming that dummy's trumps are sufficiently strong to pull the adverse small ones. For the defence, the above hand illustrates one of the dangers in forcing declarer when dummy is flat: it make kick off a dummy reversal for which declarer would not otherwise have enough entries. Since the dummy reversal is simply a case of the ruffing game, except that it uses the long hand for ruffs, we won't say much more about it here. The main problem for the average declarer is just to notice the possibility; some overlook it even if the dummy is _already_ the long hand. Reese reported this deal: QT986 K9 AQ4 K53 3 754 QT875 2 JT9 K863 9864 QJT64 AKJ2 AJ643 752 A "In a masters pairs event half the field went down in 6S." They tried to develop the heart suit, overlooking the very good prospect of two ruffs in hand, losing only a diamond. ;Trump coups Declarer usually avoids taking ruffs in his long trump hand, because it weakens his trump control. The dummy reversal, just seen, is an exception. But "trump reduction" is not just the scoring of ruffing tricks. It is the deliberate shortening of one's trump length _relative to an opponent's length_. The scramble is one kind of trump reduction, and there are two more: Coup en passant: There is a trump stopper in front of declarer which cannot be finessed because dummy is out of trumps (or small trumps, anyway). Trump throwin: There is a trump stopper behind declarer, so he aims for a throwin against that hand. Unlike any of the plays seen so far, these two are concerned with trump _tenaces_ in the endgame. Now the aim of shortening one's trumps (which may apply to the defence as well) is to avoid a lead-away in the endgame. ;;Coup en passant Unfortunately, the term "coup en passant" (a blow in passing) has been used for two different phenomena. First, there is the lead up to trump strength, in which a small card in a plain suit is led, instead of a small trump: 1) -- 2) -- xx xx Kx AQ -- -- AQ Kx -- -- North leads a heart. North leads a heart. Second is the lead of a plain suit for a trump promotion, a manoeuvre often used by the defenders: 3) -- 4) -- xx xx -- x A KQ -- -- A A K AJ -- -- x x North leads a heart. North leads a heart. In finessing cases like (1) and (2), declarer will overruff if he can; in trump promotions he will discard. Another difference between the two varieties is that East would like to be on lead in (3) or (4), while in (1) or (2) it would make no difference. We will restrict the term "coup en passant" to the finessing varieties like (1) and (2). For a coup en passant, two formulas apply: -- In trumps, declarer must have the same length as East. -- In the plain suits, declarer should have _no_ cards that he cannot afford to throw on dummy's winners (i.e. the winners that he will push through East) in the event that East does not ruff. For some reason, only the first of these formulas is well known. To show how important the second is: 5) -- 6) -- 7) -- AQxx AQxx AQxxx -- -- -- AKQJ AKQ AK Kx Kx Kx xxx xx xx KQx KQx AKx -- -- -- AQx AQ AQ Kxx Kxx Kxx Ax Ax xx -- -- -- In (5), the lead is in dummy, and East is known to have the outstanding K and another trump. Declarer ruffs a club to correct his trump length, East throwing a heart. Dummy now has three boss clubs. Therefore South wants no more than three affordable discards left in his hand when clubs are run. If he now leads a heart to the Q, he will have the correct number: one heart and both diamonds. In (6), North to lead, declarer has too many side cards and should cash HQ before starting clubs. Suppose he begins with AK of clubs instead. East will throw hearts, and if CQ comes next, East will discard again, and will make either the next trick or a diamond later. In (7), dummy has only two club tricks and declarer must therefore come down to two affordable discards, which can only be Dxx. Therefore the only play is HK followed by a heart to dummy, hoping to escape a ruff, and then clubs. ;;Trump-suit throwin The aim is to compel a defender to lead away from his trump stopper. 1) Jxx 2) Tx -- x KQT KQx -- -- Axx AJx -- -- South on lead. South or North on lead. With KQx behind the ace, West seems to have two tricks, but can be held to one. In (1), South leads small toward the J. In (2), South can just concede the ten, or ruff a heart with the J. Such endings are a sort of throwin that can also arise in a plain suit. But when the suit is trumps, declarer can throw in the defender by leading _any other_ suit, if the defender has nothing but trumps left. x xxx Qxxx -- - AKQJ AKJ x If spades are trumps, declarer exits with a heart and takes three tricks. At notrump he would have only two. A trump-suit throwin usually requires that West is down to trumps only. It follows that declarer's trumps must be no longer than the West's. Jxx xxx x x KQT KQx x x Axxx AJTx -- -- If South is on lead in either of these cases, West makes two tricks. If North is on lead, declarer ruffs a heart to shorten himself, and West makes only one. In drastic cases, declarer may have two plain suit cards remaining. x xxx xx KJ9765 -- -- AQT8 xx -- Declarer makes three trump tricks simply by exiting twice in any plain suit. If West is already in, declarer makes all four of his trumps. The defender (West) may, like declarer, need to take unusual steps to reduce his trumps. xx x Jx Qxx -- -- AKQ Kx Qxx AKJ -- Ax Declarer calls for a heart from dummy and ruffs with the K. If West discards, declarer will follow with ace and another diamond, compelling West to ruff and lead up to the AJ. West must underruff the SK, and if DA follows, he must unblock the king. x xx Qx Qxxx -- - AKQ K Ax AKJ x x North leads a heart and South follows. To hold declarer to two tricks, West must ruff his partner's heart winner and lead DK, which East must overtake. These manoeuvres (underruffing, and the ruffing of partner's winners) are really just unblocking moves, but with a ruffer instead of a high card. They apply to the coup en passant as well as the trump throwin, but not to the trump coup. ;;Trump coup This last type of trump-reduction play is just a scramble. Typically, declarer steers in the direction of a trump coup when he finds himself with a bad trump break. Axx Axxx xxx Kxx x QJTx Qxxx Jxx KQJxx xx Jxx xxxx Kxxxx Kx Axx AQx Against 4S West leads a diamond to South's ace. Declarer cashes AK of trumps and finds that he has two trump losers. He also has two diamond losers. But, by reducing his trumps, declarer can cause the defence's four winners to fall on three tricks. He takes KA of hearts and ruffs a heart, then AQ of clubs and a club to the K. Fortunately East has to follow all the way, and the position is: x x xx -- -- QJ Q -- QJx x -- x xx -- xx -- North leads a heart, promoting one of South's trumps to a tenth trick. On this occasion the trump coup ends with a trump _promotion_, but that is incidental. Axx Axxx xxx Kxx QJTx x Qxxx Jxx KQ Jxxxx Jxx xxxx Kxxxx Kx Axx AQx Again South is in 4S, gets a diamond lead to the ace, and cashes AK of trumps. This time we have given West the fourth heart, and the trump coup still works. With North on lead, the ending is: x x xx -- QJ -- Q -- Q Jxx -- x xx -- xx -- Declarer just ruffs dummy's last heart, West has to follow, and again the defence takes the last three tricks with four winners. This time there was no trump promotion, but the play was similar. One more: Axx Axxx xxx Kxx QJTx x Qxxx KJxx T9 QJxx Jxx xxxx Kxxxx x AKxx AQx West leads DT to declarer's ace. Declarer takes SK and HA, a heart ruff, then SA. He ruffs another heart, cashes DK, and cashes three clubs ending in dummy. The position is: x x x -- QJ -- Q K -- QJ -- -- x -- xx -- He ruffs the last heart, making eleven tricks as _both_ opponents follow. (In this deal the defence's four winners fall on only two tricks. Notice also that declarer has made himself shorter than dummy as well as shorter than the defender.) Again there is no "coup" in the endgame. Had the trumps been 3-2, the same line of play might (with suitable distribution) still have produced eleven tricks. In a trump coup you aim to take ruffs to the point of being shorter than an opponent, thus surrendering control. And whenever you play without control, it is well to establish and cash side tricks before ruffing. To illustrate: 1) x 2) -- Ax AKQ -- Kx xx Kx -- KQ --- KQ KQx x xxx xx -- A A xx KQ x AJT x AJ AJ x xx -- -- Ax Qxx To make four tricks in (1), declarer must cash CA before going to dummy with HA to lead a heart. (Cashing the trump ace before HA is optional as the cards lie.) Suppose he starts with ace and another heart. East will throw his club on the second round. South may now score his SJ, but East has trump control and will take two tricks. In (2), declarer can take five tricks if he starts by establishing a club trick, but not otherwise. This principle -- cash side winners before resorting to a trump promotion -- is also used by the defence, of course. There is another technicality about the trump coup that we want to mention. When declarer is playing for a ruff in the short trump hand, he may have reason to fear an overruff; in such a case he may "trade ruffs" by throwing a loser rather than ruffing. The same manoeuvre may be indicated when he is stearing for a trump coup, i.e. for ruffs in the long trump hand. ;;Trump coup as a safety play When declarer has a sufficiently accurate count in the endgame, a trump coup may be more reliable than a trump finesse. AQ xx -- ??? ? A Kx -- A xx -- xx Declarer has a count but does not know who has SK. He needs three more tricks. Rather than finesse the trump Q and risk losing it to a bare K, he takes SA, ruffs a heart, and leads a diamond toward dummy, guaranteeing a third trick from SQ. ;;Generalities on preparation and defence of trump reductions It may be necessary for declarer to reduce his trumps before a bad trump break becomes apparent. Ridding onesself of excess trump length is a good habit -- as habits go. For example, suppose your trumps are: KT8 A96532 and the lead is in dummy. It tends to be right to ruff something before taking the trump K. If East shows out on the K, you are back in dummy and can take a second ruff. Three defensive principles stand out: 1. When the defenders have natural trump tricks they _must not_ force the declarer. 2. To take ruffs, the declarer needs entries to the hand opposite the ruffers. 3. Rather than ruff in front of an opponent, one should discard away from his side winners. 1. Forcing the declarer enables him to (among various other things) shorten his trumps without expending dummy's entries. We have all been taught to embark on a forcing defence, right from the opening lead, when we have trump length or we can place partner with length. That is only half sound. A forcing defence can be deadly with Axxx of trumps, even against a 4-4 fit. Two trump honours fourth, such as KTxx, may work the same way, as may five trumps or Kxxx against a 5-3. But with AQTx or KQ9x, you are trump-heavy, and you should endeavour to score your trump tricks before they explode in the endgame. Do not force with such a hand. A short-suit lead is much safer and also has a tendency to degrade declarer's entries. 2. There will usually be only one suit which declarer will be ruffing. The entries you should attack may be in any of the other three suits. (They won't be in the same suit, for if that suit is, say, AKxx/xx, he will need to play off the AK himself before ruffing). ?? Jxxx AKx ?????? x xxx In this illustration, declarer will use entries in diamonds to ruff hearts. If the defence drives out one diamond entry before a heart is conceded, declarer can ruff once but not twice. 3. This principle also applies to the crossruff. It is another way of saying that declarer should cash his side tricks before starting the ruffs. A fourth notion applies only to the case of the trump throwin: It can be averted if the defence can degrade declarer's trump tenace by leading through it. A similar principle applies to throwins generally.