Opening Lead for Intermediates 29 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
♠ A 8 5 4 3
♥ J 6
♦ J 7 6 4
♣ 10 4

Q: 1 - You are South.

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♣
Pass	2♦	Pass	2NT
Pass	3NT	Pass	Pass
Pass

You are on lead against 3NT after East has shown a strong balanced hand with 23-24 points (2♣ was artificial and strong, and 2♦ was artificial and waiting). What do you lead?

A: ♠4.

Not only is Spades our longest and strongest suit, but West (dummy) did not look for a major-suit fit via Stayman or Transfer. These are good signs for us to lead a major suit!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ K 9 7
♥ K Q 9 5 4
♦ 9 5 3
♣ J 8

Q: 2 - You are South.

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1NT
Pass	3NT	Pass	Pass
Pass

You are on lead against 3NT. What do you lead?

A: ♥5.

Leading the ♥K here would promise a suit headed by the KQJ, or a broken sequence with ♥KQ109. We have neither, so it is best to lead our fourth-best Heart.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ Q 7 6 5
♥ J
♦ K 6
♣ K 9 8 6 5 4

Q: 3 - You are South.

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2NT
Pass	3♦	Pass	4♥
Pass	Pass	Pass

East opens a strong 2NT (20-22 points and a balanced hand) and West transfers to Hearts via 3♦. East excitedly jumps to 4♥, presumably a maximum hand with four-card Heart support. What do you lead?

A: ♥J (or ♠5).

Leading into a strong 2NT opener can be very dangerous. We should almost never lead away from a King as declarer can easily have the AQ.

Therefore on this hand, our safest lead would be a trump. A singleton trump is rarely a lead we should consider, and given that the opponents are in a nine-card fit (West has five Hearts and East has shown four with the jump bid to 4♥), it should be OK to lead our singleton ♥J. Even if partner has ♥Q x x, declarer still has to guess where the Queen is. Having said that, a Spade lead is OK too.

If our singleton Heart was a small Heart, now it would be a difficult choice between a Heart or a Spade lead.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 4 3
♥ K 6 5 4 2
♦ Q 9 8 5
♣ 10 2

Q: 4 - You are South.

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2NT
Pass	3NT	Pass	Pass
Pass

You are on lead against 3NT. What do you lead?

A: ♥4.

Our Heart spots may be weak, but it is still our longest suit. No Stayman or Transfer by West means that a Heart lead can't be bad.

Leading away from a King or an Ace against a strong 2NT opener is OK if it is against a No-trump contract - we are trying to establish our suit after all.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ K 8 3
♥ 9 5 4
♦ A 8 3
♣ Q 8 7 2

Q: 5 - You are South.

South	West	North	East
-	1NT	Pass	2♣
Pass	2♦	Pass	2♥
Pass	Pass	Pass

West opens 1NT, East bids 2♣ Stayman, West says no major with 2♦, and East makes a weakness bid of 2♥ showing 4♠ and 5♥ and weak hand. What do you lead?

A: ♥4 (or ♣2).

A Diamond is out, and so is a Spade (East has shown four Spades). So our choice is down to a trump or a Club.

Either could work, but you should give a slight preference to a Heart - mainly because West (dummy) could potentially have two Spades and three Hearts and declarer may look to ruff a Spade in dummy.

Having said that, give yourself full marks if you chose a Club as well.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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