By Val Rhead
The most commonly recommended lead against a No Trump contract is to lead the fourth card from your longest and strongest suit. Of course, that provokes the question, “what if your longest suit is not your strongest?” If your Spade suit is AKQJ and your Heart suit is 65432, you are called upon to use your judgement—rules be damned. Another effective lead is the top card in an honour sequence. If you have KQJ, you would lead the King which you would lose, but your Queen and Jack would then be good.
In the game of Bridge, there are rules to guide us, but sometimes there are exceptions. I remember once playing a hand against an accomplished player where I had to make my own rules. Their contract was Three No Trump. Three suits had been bid. Spades had not been bid. I led my singleton Ace of Spades. The declarer asked my partner if our leads were standard. “Yes,” he replied. “That was not a standard lead,” she grumbled when she realized it was a singleton.
Well, it wasn’t a standard lead, and it wasn’t according to our agreement. But, it was the appropriate lead for that particular hand. You and your partner may have an agreement, but you don’t always have to follow it. It sounds a bit hooky to me but I looked it up in the Laws of Duplicate Bridge, 2017 Edition. “A player may deviate from his side’s announced understandings, provided that his partner has no more reason than the opponents to be aware of the deviation.” Of course, this passage of legalese continued but that statement is the gist of it.
In this case, the Ace of Spades was a singleton. The other three suits had been bid. It seemed likely that my partner would have some good cards in Spades, so I was unblocking. It was not a standard lead, but it was the lead that made the most sense.
Barbara Seagram, the esteemed Canadian Bridge Teacher, teaches her students some other exceptions to the standard opening leads against No Trump. Her methods are described on Page 32 of the June 2018 issue of the Bridge Bulletin. She refers to the advice that players are often taught when leading against No Trump contracts. They are told to lead the fourth highest card from their five-card suit. This may work occasionally when you and your partner each have some of the outstanding honour cards. However, if you have no points in your hand but a five-card suit such as 86432, there’s no purpose in leading the 3. Even if you established two good cards in the suit, you don’t have an entry that would allow you to use them. A more effective lead against No Trump in this situation would be to try to hit one of your partner’s good suits. Particularly, leading an unbid major suit could be a good choice. If the opponents haven’t bid a major, they are unlikely to have much strength in that major.
If on the other hand you had most of the partnerships points, you would lead passively knowing that your partner has little if anything to help defeat the contract. You do not want to give the declarer any tricks to which he is not entitled. If the opponents are in Three No Trump, they have at least 25 points between them. If you have close to 15 points, you know that your partner has nothing to help you. Refer to our earlier discussions on passive leads. If your hand was Spade KJxx Heart AQxx Diamond 732 Club KJ, lead a little Diamond. Every time you take a trick, lead another Diamond. Don’t lead from your strength. It will likely cost you a trick. Your objective is to win as many tricks as possible. You will best achieve this by remaining passive.
If you run into an opponent who asks you if your leads are standard, it might be best to say “Usually, but it depends on the hand and on the bidding.”
If you wish to promote an activity in your bridge group or ask a bridge question, send the information to [email protected] and I will include it in this column.
HUNTSVILLE DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB
Games for the Huntsville Club are Tuesday evening now at 7:00, Trinity United Church 33 Main Street. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early. Contact Jan Roberts 705-635-2522 or [email protected] for information and partnerships.
The following winners are for Tuesday, Jun 19 with 15 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 2. Sharon King and Val Rhead; 3. Mary Simonett and Kel Andresen; 4. Fay MacDonald and Yvonne Cox; East-West 1. Mary Whitehead and Helen Pearson; 2. Vern Foell and Rod Dixon; 3. Susan Marshall and Jan Roberts; 4. Liz Barnes and David Bryce
MUSKOKA DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB (Bracebridge)
Games for the Bracebridge Club are Mondays 7pm, Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Taylor Road. Please arrive 15 minutes before game time. For information or partnerships, call Brian at 705-645-5340 [email protected]
The following winners are from Monday, Jun 18 with 21 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Carol Anne Robinson and Nancy Barber; 2. Pat Davies and Sue Scott; 3. Sharon King and Dorothy Russell; 4. Mary Luke and Donna McIntosh; 5/6. Kel Andresen and Jim Smith; 5/6. Betty Rintoul and Hazel Bowes; East-West 1. Kathy Kent and David Kent; 2. Liz Barnes and David Bryce; 3. Sandy Retter and David Scarlett; 4. Fay MacDonald and Mary Whitehead; 5. Linda Planeta and Margaret Sandeson; 6. Rena Laventhal and Arno Liebster
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