Opening Lead for Intermediates 17 by Andy Hung

Opening Leads. They're the card that sets the tempo of all bridge hands, and it is the first strike that the defense gets. Sometimes declarer's contract is rock solid and the lead doesn't matter, or sometimes the contract is too high and declarer is destined to fail.

What is important is that we must make every effort to choose the best opening lead that will give us the best chance to defeat the contract. Are you ready?

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ 3
♥ Q 8 5
♦ Q 10 8 6 3
♣ 8 4 3 2

Q: 1 - You are South.

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♥
Pass	2♥	Pass	4♥
Pass	Pass	Pass

You are on lead against 4♥. What do you lead?

A: ♦6.

With what appears to be a potential natural trump trick, it is wise to steer away from a singleton lead - because even if you do get a ruff, you will be ruffing with your natural trump winner!

With Spades out of the equation, then Diamonds is the logical alternative.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ 6 5 4
♥ 6
♦ K 10 8 6 5
♣ 9 6 5 3

Q: 2 - You are South.

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	3♠
Pass	4♠	Pass	Pass
Pass

You are on lead against 4♠. What do you lead?

A: ♥6.

Holding a weak hand is usually a sign that partner has a decent hand (well, may not be decent, but you know partner has most of the defensive assets). In this case, it is definitely best to lead your singletons or doubletons and aim for a ruff.

Here, our singleton Heart is a standout lead to sow the seeds of a potential Heart ruff or two. Note that this time we do not have a natural trump trick, so it is good to be leading your singleton here.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ J 7 5
♥ 5
♦ A Q 6
♣ K Q 10 9 7 3

Q: 3 - You are South.

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♠
2♣	2♠	Pass	4♠
Pass	Pass	Pass

You are on lead against yet another 4♠ contract. What do you lead?

A: ♣K.

The condition of this hand compared to the one before is a little different when it comes to leading singletons. On this hand, we can see that it is US who holds the majority of the defense's strength. When the opponents freely bid their game contract, this usually means partner is close to broke.

If partner won't have much to contribute, then it is unlikely that partner will have the ♥A or even an entry to give us a ruff. Therefore, the singleton Heart lead here will only do more harm (i.e. finesse partner's ♥Q for declarer) than good.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K 7 4
♥ 8 6 5
♦ 5 3
♣ 8 7 6 3 2

Q: 4 - You are South.

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	3♥
Pass	4♥	Pass	Pass
Pass

East opens a preemptive 3♥ and this is raised to 4♥ from West. What do you lead?

A: ♦5.

From the same logical reasoning of "if we have a weak hand, partner has the better hand", then a lead from our doubleton Diamond here is best. This allows us to try and organize an immediate Diamond ruff (partner doesn't need both ♦AK, maybe ♦AQ will do with the ♦K in dummy).

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A 10 6
♥ 8 6 5 3 2
♦ 7
♣ J 10 8 2

Q: 5 - You are South.

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♠
Pass	3♠	Pass	4NT
Pass	5♥	Pass	6♠
Pass	Pass	Pass

You are on lead against the auction above where West has shown a limit raise and East launched into Blackwood and bids the slam after finding out that West has two Aces. What do you lead?

A: ♣J.

Assuming your opponents aren't crazy (a big assumption there!), then they certainly would not be off TWO Aces to be bidding a slam. We can see the one and only Ace that they're missing as it is in our hand - therefore, partner cannot have the ♦A that we need for a ruff.

Therefore, it is best to steer away from the singleton Diamond lead, and lead the more-productive ♣J instead.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
More informations on our website: www.VuBridge.com

Rate yourself:

0 - 40%	We applaud your effort. Review the subject and try again. You'll be surprised how much better you'll do. We're here for you!!
41 - 50%	Buy your mentor a cuppa and ask for clarification on the ones you got wrong. No mentor? Make finding one a priority!
51 - 60%	Nice improvement! One more review and you'll have this down solid!
61 - 80%	What a good job! All that's left is some fine tuning
Over 80%	Wow! It's time for you to become a mentor. Find someone who needs help and share your knowledge!