BY AUDREY GRANT
DEFENDERS ' CORNER
BY AUDREY GRANT
Leads Against a Suit Contract
The defenders take a different approach when choosing the suit to lead and the specific card to lead against a suit contract rather than against a notrump contract . Consider the following straightforward examples that put the spotlight on the first card played in a deal .
Suppose we ’ re sitting West , and here ' s a hand that we might hold that doesn ’ t seem special :
♠ 8
♥ 6 5 2
♦ J 9 7 6 5 2
♣ 10 8 3
South , to our right , opens 1♥ . We pass and North responds 1♠ . East , our partner , passes . South rebids 1NT and North jumps to 4♥ . It ’ s our lead .
The lead of a singleton carries some risk . We might be helping declarer establish a suit , and our trumps might be drawn before we get a chance to use them . On this deal , it seems even riskier because North actually bid spades . Yet , there is advice that if we have a singleton , we should lead it ! So , there ’ s conflicting advice . What should we do ?
We have only 1 high-card point and the opponents stopped at a game contract . If partner also had a weak hand , the opponents would likely have shown some interest in exploring slam . Since they didn ' t , we might infer partner has some values . So , lead the singleton spade , even though it is a suit bid by the opponent , and see what develops .
On this deal , leading the ♠8 is worth taking the chance . Here ' s the complete layout .
8 Audrey Grant ’ s Better Bridge | July-August 2024
Dummy
♠ K Q J 4
♥ Q 9 8 3 4♥
♦ A K
♣ 6 5 4
Us 1♠ 4♥ Partner
♠ 8
♠ A 10 7 5 3
N
♥ 6 5 2
♥ 10
W E
♦ J 9 7 6 5 2 S ♦ Q 4 3
♣ 10 8 3
♣ A 9 7 2
Pass Pass Pass
Pass Pass Declarer
♠ 9 6 2
♥ A K J 7 4
♦ 10 8
♣ K Q J
1♥ 1NT Pass
We lead the ♠8 . Partner wins the trick with the ♠A and leads back the ♠3 for us to ruff . At trick three , we want to get back to partner ’ s hand . We don ’ t have a spade , the trump suit is hearts , and dummy has the ♦A-K . Leading back a club is a good idea . Also , if we watch the spade that partner played to the second trick , the ♠3 , it ’ s a low spade , a suit preference signal suggesting we play a club at trick three . Partner wins the ♣A and leads another spade for us to ruff .
Our side takes the first four tricks even though the opponents started with more than enough high-card strength for their 4♥ game . A singleton , even though the opponents bid the suit , can be a good lead .
Of course , there are exceptions . On this next deal , we ’ re again sitting West and have this hand :
♠ 10 5 3 2
♥ A 8 5
♦ 4
♣ K Q J 10 8
South opens 1♠ , North shows support by bidding 2♠ , and South jumps right to 4♠ . We ' re on lead and have the choice of the singleton ♦4 or the ♣K , top of a solid sequence . Which one should it be ?
There is a tip that applies to hands like this : If we have four cards in the trump suit – and we do have four spades – leading a singleton is not a good idea . We prefer to lead a good suit . We want to force declarer to use trumps on our clubs and run declarer out of trumps so that we can actually take some club tricks . It ’ s called a forcing game .
The entire deal may look something like this :
Dummy
♠ 8 7 4
♥ Q 9 3 4♠
♦ K 10 9 2
♣ A 6 5
Us 2♠ Pass Partner
♠ 10 5 3 2 ♠ 9
N
♥ A 8 5
♥ 10 6 4 2
W E
♦ 4
S ♦ A 8 6 3 ♣ K Q J 10 8 ♣ 9 7 4 2 Pass Pass
Pass Pass
Declarer
♠ A K Q J 6
♥ K J 7
♦ Q J 7 5
♣ 3
1♠ 4♠
Start by leading the ♣K . Declarer can win the ♣A and draw all our trumps . Since we have four trumps , that leaves declarer with only one trump left in hand . When declarer leads a diamond to drive out partner ’ s ♦A , partner can lead another club and force declarer to ruff with the last trump . Declarer can take three diamond tricks as we discard two low hearts and a club . Eventually , declarer has to lead a heart . We win with the ♥A and take our two club winners . Without any trumps left , there ' s nothing declarer can do . 4♠ is down one , losing a diamond , a heart , and two club tricks .
If , instead , we lead our singleton diamond , partner wins the ♦A and returns a diamond which we ruff . We get one more trick with the ♥A , but that ’ s all . Declarer is now in control and makes the contract .