Menu Vu-Bridge | Play like a Champion!

 Trump Leads (Part I) by Ben Norton

Trump Leads (Part I)

It can be difficult to know when to lead trumps. Inherently the act of drawing trumps is something that the declarer does to stop the defenders from taking ruffs, but there are many hands where it’s necessary for the defense to lead trumps, usually either to stop declarer from taking ruffs in the short hand (or to play on a cross-ruff), or so as to not give anything away, as a trump is often a passive lead.

This is the first in a series of quizzes on trump leads where we will discuss how to tell whether a trump lead is best or not by looking at various situations. This first quiz is focused on recognising the benefits of leading trumps, whereas next week we will investigate the drawbacks.

As South on these five questions would you lead a trump?

Question 1

  Your Hand
 Q 9 7 4 2
 8 4
 K 5 2
 J 3 2
 
Q: 1 - What will you lead against 3?

*1NT=15-17

SouthWestNorthEast
--1NT*2
23PassPass
Pass


 Your choice:
A: 4. Here your side definitely has the balance of power (more than half of the 40 HCPs), so you can expect the opponents to not have enough tricks for their contract just by strength of high cards. They will only be able to make 3 with the aid of some ruffs, so you should lead a trump in the hope of cutting down their ruffing ability. Also keep in mind that when leading trumps you should strive to lead your smallest card, since the normal leading rules don’t apply in trumps and you could need your higher cards later to over-ruff declarer.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 2

  Your Hand
 10 2
 A J 9 4
 Q J 10 2
 Q 5 2
 
Q: 2 - What’s your plan?

SouthWestNorthEast
-3Double3
44PassPass
DoublePassPassPass


 Your choice:
A: Q. You shouldn’t lead a trump in this situation since, even though your side has the balance of power, the opponents have a source of tricks outside their trump suit. If you lead trumps you will just be doing declarer’s job for him, because he will be wanting to get rid of your trumps and run dummy’s Clubs. Here you must strive to set up some tricks in the red suits, and the Q lead gives you the best chance of doing this.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
 K J 7 3
 J 10 9 3
 Q 2
 K 8 2
 
Q: 3 - What are your thoughts?

SouthWestNorthEast
--Pass1
Pass1NTPass2
PassPassPass


 Your choice:
A: 2. This kind of auction begs for a trump lead. Dummy will almost always have two more cards in Clubs than in Spades for passing 2, so declarer will most probably try and take some Spade ruffs in the dummy, especially if dummy hits with three Clubs and a singleton Spade, as is likely. You have to try and cut down declarer’s ruffing ability, else your Spade honors won’t take any tricks. Forget about your trump holding, it might be dangerous to lead from K x x but it’s more dangerous not to!

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
 8 6 5
 K J 9 2
 A 10 7
 A Q 2
 
Q: 4 - What will you lead against 4?

SouthWestNorthEast
---1
Double3Pass4
PassPassPass


 Your choice:
A: 5. With so much in the way of high cards you can expect to beat this so long as declarer is left to his own devices. In this way you should aim to not give anything away, and a trump will certainly be passive here. If you think you have enough power to beat a suit contract then as a general principle try to be as passive as possible on lead, aiming to not give away a trick or blow a suit.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
 K 8 2
 7 5 2
 K Q 9 2
 A J 3
 
Q: 5 - What’s your choice here?

SouthWestNorthEast
---1
Pass1Pass2
Pass4PassPass
Pass


 Your choice:
A: K. You can’t afford to lead passively in this situation. Despite holding a lot of high cards you can tell that declarer will be able to run a lot of tricks when he gains the lead, because your K is underneath dummy’s length in the suit, meaning that declarer will most likely be able to pick up your King with a finesse. You must scorn the appealing trump lead for the K in the hope of cashing four quick tricks in the minors or at least establishing the Diamond suit.

The main benefits of trump leads are to cut down the opponents’ ruffing ability and to make sure you don’t give anything away on lead. Here are the tell-tale signs that indicate whether it’s the right time to lead a trump, taking your own hand and the auction into account:

- When your side has the balance of power, lead a trump because declarer will need to score ruffs for his contract
- BUT not if your opponents have a big source of tricks in a side suit, then you should try to set up your own tricks
- When one (or both) opponents have ruffing values, lead a trump to cut down their ruffing ability
- When you can see enough tricks to beat the contract providing that you don’t give anything away, a passive trump may be right
- BUT not if your honors are badly placed or if you can see a reason to urgently cash/set up your tricks

Always bear in mind that a trump lead is a neutral choice, so if the auction tells you to be active then a trump lead probably isn’t best. Next week we will look at some of the downsides of trump leads and discuss examples of when those drawbacks should be taken into account or ignored.

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!