The Game Of Bridge

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 9, 11 January 1941, Page 14

The Game Of Bridge

By "Appro;

There is a strong prejudice amongst players against making an opening lead from a tenace suit when defending a no-trump contract. They hope to do better by waiting for that suit to be led up to them. It frequently happens that by the time the partner is in a position to lead that suit up, it is too late for their partnership to do much damage. Very possibly the leader has been forced to discard from his long suit in order to hold a stopper in another suit, or a stopper has been removed from his hand, which allows the declarer to make his contract before the leader's suit is established.

Number and speed in establishing are the main considerations when defending a no-trump contract. The following rule, with few exceptions, governs the blind lead against notrumps, i.e., when no suit has been mentioned during the course of the bidding:—

"Open your longest and best suit regardless of tenaces."

When a hand contains two long suits, the longer suit should usually be opened if they are of unequal length, the stronger suit if they are of equal length. Here, however, considerations of speed, and entries, must be taken into account. For instance, holding one suit K.Q.J.x., and another 10.X.X.X.X., the stronger four-card suit should be opened, as the five-card suit may never become established. If, however, the five-card suit is Q.J.x.x.x., it should be preferred as an opening lead. When the choice of leads lies between two suits of about equal strength, one a major and the other a minor suit, the major suit lead is usually preferred, as, in the course of the bidding, the opponents very possibly might have gone to no-trumps without mentioning a minor suit, whereas any biddable' major suit would probably have been shown.

With a seven-card suit headed by A.K.J. or A.X.10, or from a six-card suit headea by A.K.Q., the Ace should be led; from a weaker long suit, a fourth highest lead is to be preferred rather than high from an Ace-King combination, if the hand has no entry. Even a worthless doubleton in the suit in

ich Bid."

LEADS AGAINST NO-TRUMP CONTRACTS

the partner's hand, provided, of course, he has an entry, will probably allow the leader's suit to be brought in. Even when holding A.K.Q.x.x., if there is no~ outside entry, it is advisable to open the fourth highest card, on the chance that partner will have a doubleton and the declarer will hold J.x.x.x. (unless the bidding has shown that there is a danger that the declarer will run his nine tricks unless the leader's entire five-card suit can be taken right away). SHORT-SUIT LEADS AGAINST NO-TRUMPS. I There are three situations which call for a short suit opening lead against no-trumps. 1. Warning short-suit leads. Holding: 4 7.5. y 9.6.2. 4 8.7.3. £J. 5.6.5.3. you cannot hope to make a trick in your longest suit, even if it becomes established, as there is no possible entry in the hand. With such a hand, a lead of the nine of hearts is to be preferred, in the hope that you may strike your partner's long suit, and! that your lead of the suit, giving him an extra tempo, will assist in establishing the suit for him if he has sufficient entry cards in his hand. This is your only hope as a defender. 2. Waiting short-suit leads. With a hand containing strength distributed over three suits, but with no long or strong suit, it is advisable to lead a worthless short suit, and wait for the lead to come to you in the other suits. For example, holding— 4k 9-7.3. 9Q. 5. + A.Q.B.G. Jf, K.J.9.7. the nine of spades should be led. The diamonds and clubs must be led up to, in order to get the best result from a hand of this type. 3. Inferential short suit leads. The lead of the longest suit must sometimes be abandoned, either because bidding information indicates that it cannot be established, or because the suit cannot be established before the declarer has made his contract. In such positions, a desperation lead of such a suit as K.J.x. may be the only alternative, hoping that partner has the other high cards in the suit and length sufficient to defeat the contract. CHOICE OF SHORT-SUIT LEADS. As between a three-card and a twocard suit as an opening lead against a no-trump contract, prefer the threecard suit, so that the combined length of the suit in your partnership will be as great as possible. Lead the middle card of the suit when that card is high enough not to be mistaken by your partner for a fourth-highest lead, e.g., 10.8.x. or 9.8.x. This lead makes it less easy for the declarer to determine your exact length in the suit, while it is not likely to deceive your partner who will usually be able to see the reason for your lead, as soon as the dummy hand can be compared with his own.

Desperation short-suit leads are:— K.Q.x. or Q.J.x., but J.10.x. and 10.9.x. are acceptable short-suit leads, which are better than a worthless suit (say Q.B.x.x.x. without entries), as they strengthen a suit partner may hold and are not likely to sacrifice a trick or a stQcpes,