March 2009 - 18

Opening leads

but it can be risky against a suit con‑
tract. Length, however, gives you a
margin of safety. The longer your suit,
the less likely it will be that declarer
needs to develop his own tricks in it.
❖ A trump, in some cases. How do
you know when a passive lead is your
best choice? Here are some of the
contracts and types of auctions that
call for a safe, non‑attacking opening
lead:
1. The opponents are in 6NT or
a grand slam. An exception is if the
opponents bid 6NT after an auction
that suggests that their main source of
tricks will be a long suit. In this case,
you may want to make an aggressive
opening lead (away from an honor)
to try to set up a trick you can cash if
you get the lead later.
2. The auction tells you that
declarer has a strong hand and
dummy (and/or partner) will be
very weak.
Suppose your RHO opens 2NT
(20-22 high‑card points) and LHO
raises to 3NT. What's your lead from:
9 8 6 A Q 6 2 K Q 4 3 Q 6?
If you follow the "fourth from lon‑
gest and strongest" rule, you'd choose
the 2 or the 3. But with almost
all the outstanding honors on your
right, either of these leads has a high
risk of giving declarer a gift. Partner
can't hold more than 2 or 3 HCP, so
it's not a good idea to count on him
for help in a specific suit.
A more attractive choice is a pas‑
sive 9. This is unlikely to set up
tricks for your side, but it probably
won't help declarer. You'll be on lead
again soon, and if your spade lead
was indeed safe, you should consider
continuing the suit. If a switch is
necessary, you'll have a better idea of
which suit to choose later.
Note that you should not lead a
diamond honor. A diamond will prob‑
ably be right only when partner has
the jack (or the very unlikely ace), so
if you do choose a diamond lead, it's
better to lead low (the 3). If partner
has no honors and declarer has
A J 10 9, leading the K will
give him three eventual tricks. If you
instead lead low, declarer can't take
18

more than two tricks in the suit.
3. You're defending a suit contract where the opponents are fairly
balanced. On these hands, declarer
will usually have to play the side suits
himself, so it's best to sit back and
wait for your tricks. Suppose you're
on lead as South holding:
Q 7 4 5 10 8 4 3 2 K J 6 4
and hear this auction:
West

East
1
4

2NT (1)
Pass
(1) Jacoby 2NT: game‑forcing heart
raise.
The opponents have shown game‑
level strength and their hands rate to
be semi‑balanced. East's 4 showed
a minimum with no singleton, and re‑
sponder might have chosen a different
way to raise if he had a very distribu‑
tional hand. You expect that declarer
will have to lead the side suits him‑
self, so you want to avoid leading any
suit that will make it easier for him to
find missing honors.
The singleton trump is probably the
most dangerous lead (partners always
seem to hold three to the queen). It's
also risky to lead away from your club
or spade honors. That leaves your
"nothing" suit - diamonds - so try
the 3.

IMPs vs. matchpoints

If you're not sure about whether
to adopt an aggressive or passive
strategy, consider the form of scoring.
Passive leads tend to be more attrac‑
tive in pairs events, where saving
an overtrick can have a big impact
on your matchpoint score. In team
events, the cost of an overtrick is tiny
compared to the potential score for
beating a contract, so there's a greater
incentive for making an aggressive
lead. At IMPs, if there's a realistic
layout of the cards that will result in
a set, choose your lead to cater to that
possibility.
There's an old bridge adage that
advises, "Lead from nothing, get
nothing," and that should be your
expectation with most passive leads.
Your main goal is to do no harm, not

to establish tricks. When considering
a passive lead, keep this advice in
mind:
❖ When in doubt, choose a safe,
passive lead if the opponents have
struggled to a game contract. If
they've bid strongly to game, you may
need to find specific cards in partner's
hand to beat it, so there's more incen‑
tive to take a risk and lead away from
an honor.
❖ Don't choose a passive lead
solely because you're superstitious
about your holding in a suit that offers
a better attack. "Every time I lead the
queen from Q-J-x-x, dummy hits
with K-10-x and declarer has the
ace." If the auction tells you it's right
to lead that suit, do it.
❖ Avoid going overboard with
the give‑them‑nothing strategy at
matchpoints. If others holding your
cards will be leading from their
K J 5 4 3 suit to 3NT, don't try to
out‑think them by choosing a "bril‑
liant" lead from 6 5 2. Like other
unusual leads, going passive when
you know the field will be aggressive
is a gamble that rates to lose in the
long run.
❖ A top‑of‑nothing lead should
promise at least a two‑card sequence.
From 9-8-7-3, lead the 9. From
9-6-4-3, you'll want to retain the 9
(it could be a winner), so lead the 6
(second‑highest). Partner will see that
two low spot cards are missing from
the first trick, which should help him
determine that you're leading from an
honorless suit.
❖ A lead from three low cards
should be your last choice, especially
against a suit contract. This is the
most difficult lead for partner to read.
If you lead low, partner will think you
have an honor. If you lead the middle
or top card, it may look like a double‑
ton. The exception is if partner has
bid the suit, in which case you should
lead low.
r
Don't miss Part 2 next month:
Trump leads and opening lead conventions. The author is a Diamond
Life Master, ACBL-accredited teacher
and a regular contributor to the
Bridge Bulletin.
Bridge Bulletin
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2009
