March 2005 - 52

INTERMEDIATE PLAYERS

It's Just MayHem

Marilyn Hemenway
LSD - part 3
Knowing the fundamentals of LSD
(Leading, Signaling and Discarding)
is a vital part of defense.
The defenders cannot see each
other's cards, so they must take
advantage of all the skills they can
master in order to communicate
with each other about the defense.
The first big advantage of the
defenders is the opening lead. The
opening lead should be based upon
what you have learned from the bidding and what you can see in your
own hand. Sometimes, the bidding
will make it clear as to what suit to
lead while other times you will have
a clear-cut lead in your own hand.
The rest of the time you will
have to make an intelligent guess.
The most important point here is to
listen to the bidding.
Be attentive to what the opponents
are telling you. Anticipate what you
will lead if you become the opening
leader. As a general rule, declarer
will try to establish his longest suit
in a notrump contract; a defender
will try to do the same.
That's why, with nothing else to
go by, an opening leader leads from
length against a notrump contract.
If, however, the opponents have
vigorously bid your longest suit, you
should probably select some other
opening lead.
If partner has bid, you should
probably lead his suit. Perhaps
52

Alfred Sheinwold said it best:
There are only two acceptable
excuses for not leading the suit your
partner has bid: having no cards in
the suit and sudden death.
Often the opponents bidding will
point out their weak spots, their
distribution and their strengths. In
addition, the strength of your hand
and the strength of your suits provides valuable information.
1. The normal lead when leading
from length (a suit of four or more
cards) is fourth-best: the fourth card
down from the top.
Some prefer 3/5 leads versus
notrump as well as against suits, but
that is rare. 3/5 or 3/lowest leads
mean third card down from a suit
with an even number of cards and
fifth or lowest from a suit which is
at least five cards long and contains
an odd number of cards.
Generally, the fourth-best lead (or
3/5) will be from an honor (A, K,
Q, J or 10), but if you have outside
entries and would like to have your
suit returned, it is permissible to
lead fourth-best (or 3/5) from four
or five low cards.
If faced with a choice of suits to
lead, consider leading a major suit if
one hasn't been bid or indicated in
the auction. As partner of the opening leader, be sure to apply the rule
of eleven to the opening lead.
2. The first exception to the
fourth-best or 3/5 lead is when
your holding in the suit to be led is
headed by at least a three-card sequence, in which case the top of the
sequence should be led (example:
Q-J-10-3-2).
A sequence lead is usually better
than a fourth-best lead so a four-card
suit headed by a three-card sequence
is often better than a longer suit
without a sequence (example:
Q-J-10-3 versus 10-8-6-5-4).
A sequence lead also applies when

the third card of a four-card or longer sequence is missing (example:
Q-J-9-3).
3. A second exception to the
fourth-best or 3/5 lead occurs when
the suit to be led is comprised of
honors of which two are touching.
In this case the standard lead is the
top of the interior sequence. For this
consideration, the 9 is an honor. The
standard lead is shown in bold type
in these examples: (a) A-J-10-9
(b) K-J-10-9 (c) A-10-9-7
(d) K-10-9-7 (e) Q-10-9-8
(f) K-10-9.
Note: Many bridge players have
adopted non-standard leading
methods such as journalist where
the lead of a jack denies a higher
honor in the suit and the lead of a
10 indicates an interior sequence
and shows the jack and one honor
higher than the jack. It is always
wise to check the back of the opponents' convention cards in order
to be aware of their leading and
carding agreements.
4. If the bidding has made it illogical to lead your four-card or longer
suit or if partner has bid, it may be
necessary to lead from a three-card
suit.
Different rules apply in this case.
From two touching honor cards, it
is proper to lead the higher one.
(Exception: lead the king from
A-K-x.) Again, the 9 is considered
an honor card. The proper lead is
shown in bold type: K-Q-x, Q-J-x,
J-10-x, 10-9-x.
If you have three cards in the suit
to be led and that suit is headed by
either one honor or two non-touching honors, it is proper to lead your
lowest card. For example, from
Q-10-4 or from K-5-4, the proper
lead is the 4. (Exception: from
A-x-x in partner's bid suit, do not
underlead the ace as it will only
confuse partner.)
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Bridge Bulletin
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2005
