Contract Bridge.

Cue (NZERS), Issue 34, 31 October 1945, Page 19

Contract Bridge.

BRIDGE MAXIMS EXPLAINED

1. Lead through strength and up to weakness. This is a maxim that saves much laborious thought as to what to lead. No player who has once grasped its implications is ever likely to forget it, for it is fundamental to good defence. What it means is this. If you are on defender’s left and have to lead with no indication from your partner, pick a suit in which dummy is strong and lead through it. Dummy must play second and your partner has the advantage of seeing before he himself plays which of dummy’s strong cards ( if any) is used. Thus your partner’s good cards are less likely to be killed than if the opponents’ strength in the suit is held by Declarer who in this case plays last. He can either allow dummy to win the trick or if dummy ducks can play his own high card with a much better chance of winning the trick. In the same way the defender on Declarer’s right leads up to a weak suit in dummy. Here dummy is fourth player and the leader’s partner has only to beat the card played by Declarer to take the trick, and the weak dummy

cannot overplay him. If Declarer’s card is a winner the defender can discard a low card. Either way his high cards are not killed, as they are liable to be if he has to play before a strong suit in dummy,. E.g.

Here West would lead Hearts, East Spades or Diamonds. For West to lead Spades or. for East to lead Hearts gives tricks away to the Declarer. The rule applies equally, of course, in leading through Declarer’s strength and up to* his weakness, where it can be inferred from the bidding and the lie of the cards.