Leads against a suit contract by Matthias Huberschwiller

When leading against a suit contract, the priority is to avoid giving a trick to declarer, as most of the times it is impossible to establish tricks from length for your side.

Leading an Ace from A-K is an excellent lead.
Leading a singleton can give you the opportunity of ruffing before declarer can draw trumps.
The lead from a sequence composed of at least two touching honors is a good lead.
If none of the above is an option, it is possible to lead from another suit in which case the principle of “fourth best” is applied.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A K 6 2
♥ 7 6
♦ Q 6 4
♣ J 9 4 3

Q: 1 - As West, what do you lead?

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

A: ♠A: Against a suit contract, two touching honors are enough to be considered a sequence.

Here, you therefore lead the top of the sequence A-K, the best possible lead.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ 7
♥ J 9 2
♦ A 9 6 2
♣ Q 7 6 3 2

Q: 2 - As West, what do you lead?

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

A: ♠7: The lead of a singleton is one of the best leads against a suit contract.

It could allow you to get tricks from ruffing with your trumps before the declarer has the time to draw them.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 9 8 3
♥ K Q J 2
♦ Q J 10 4
♣ 7 6

Q: 3 - As West, what do you lead?

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

A: ♥K: You have the choice between two sequences (in Hearts or Diamonds).

It is preferable to lead from the sequence with the higher honors because they will be established faster. Therefore, lead the ♥K.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 7 6 3
♥ Q 9 4
♦ K 9 4
♣ A 10 9 2

Q: 4 - As West, what do you lead?

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
1♠	Pass	4♠	Pass
Pass	Pass

A: ♠3: It is not recommended to underlead honors against a suit contract.

If neither Hearts, nor Diamonds, nor Clubs are good leads, what are you left with? A lead in trumps! It can often prevent declarer from getting ruffs with trumps from the short hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ Q 9 2
♥ K 7 6 2
♦ Q 6
♣ 9 7 6 2

Q: 5 - As West, what do you lead?

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
3♠	Pass	4♠	Pass
Pass	Pass

A: ♣7: As we said, it is generally bad to underlead non-touching honors against a suit contract.

So you need to lead Clubs. But which one?

The principle of our leads is Fourth best, but you don’t have an honor in Clubs. Therefore, you need to lead the second best, here the seven, to indicate that you have nothing in Clubs.

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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