July 2021 - 24

Second Hand Lolz
By Richard Finberg
Bridge players are heavily dependent
on our rules and guidelines. Here are
three areas where help is needed -
either because rules are lacking or
there is room for improvement to the
current system.
What to lead from a singleton
The controversy continues to rage over
which card to lead from a singleton.
Should you lead the highest card in
the suit, the lowest card or one of the
middle ones?
" But with only one card in the suit, "
you might object, " just lead it and don't
worry whether it is high or low. " That
argument is readily answered. Bridge
is a complicated game and should not
be unduly simplified by applying logic.
Questions such as this must be studied
by experts and reduced to a settled
rule from which we may find guidance
when in doubt and solace when all is
lost. We need more infallible rules like
" eight ever, nine never, " " third hand
high, " " moss grows on the north side
of trees, " and " bid softly but carry a big
club. "
The bridge community deserves a rule
for which card to lead from a singleton.
This is demonstrated by the hand below.
East opened 1, and South ended
up in 3. West led the 2.
 A 8 5
 K J 5 4
 7 4 2
 10 8 7
 9 6 3
 Q 10 2
 Q 6 5
 J 9 4 3
N
W E
S
 7
 A 9 8 7 3
 A K J 10
 K Q 5
 K Q J 10 4 2
 6
 9 8 3
 A 6 2
With the wasted heart honors and
mirror distribution in the minors,
South had only seven tricks. My
students proudly played dummy's J,
24 | Bridge Bulletin | July 2021
forcing the A for an eighth trick,
down one. The winning player, however,
followed Beginner Rule No. 1:
second hand low. East won dummy's
4 with the A, and " knowing " declarer
must have the Q 10 (because
he played low from dummy), returned
a heart for West to ruff. Instead, South
pitched two losers on the K J and
claimed nine tricks, making 3.
Aside from the result, the defense
was impeccable. Sure, East might have
wondered why South did not falsecard
with the 10 or Q, but the real
problem was the lack of partnership
agreement. West (correctly) thought
she was leading low, but East believed
the 2 to be the highest card from a
singleton.
Even the most exhaustive bridge
treatises ignore the important question
of which card to lead from a
singleton. With two cards, most of
the world leads the top card, whether
they belong to the standard school, the
Rusinow school, the Journalist school,
or the better schools of dentistry. High,
then low. Think of roller coasters, economic
cycles, drugs and acey-deucy.
With three small cards, methods vary
greatly. Some play HML (high, middle,
low). Others prefer MUD (middle,
up, down), HUD (the Department of
Housing and Urban Development), or
even LSMFT (Lucky Strike means fine
tobacco). You must, of course, avoid
HHHH (high, huddle, huddle, huddle),
guaranteeing three or more.
We deserve better. Why won't the
expert community give clear guidance
on what to lead from a singleton?
How to play the
club suit
A controversial, unofficial
survey reveals
that most ACBL
members cannot
play contracts
with clubs as trump. This finding has
caused heated debate among league
officials. Some label the study ridiculous,
but its proponents point out that
tournament players have so little experience
playing club contracts that fear
of club contracts is not surprising.
One subject of the study, who could
not recall having ever played a club contract,
explained: " If partner opens 1,
it is probably one of those short clubs
you don't dare raise or a strong club you
don't dare pass. Even if clubs are bid in
the middle of the auction, you worry
it might be Stayman, Drury, Landy,
Bergen, Wolff, Gerber, Swiss, splinter or
who knows what? I use the rule: If it's
clubs, it's forcing. "
Another subject found it so inconceivable
to play in clubs that, when shown a
hand containing all 13 clubs, he seemed
frustrated at first. Then, he confidently
bid 7NT. When asked how he expected
to make it, he explained, " Obviously, as
soon as I get in, I will run my long suit. "
Another subject acknowledged that
a contract could be played in clubs but
felt that doing so frequently is " shooting "
and " unsportsmanlike. " He denied
ever playing in clubs himself, but when
promised anonymity, admitted he had
done so on occasion, quickly adding
that he has since " given it up. "
Fear of club contracts has even muddled
expert thinking. A former world
champion recently wrote, " Eight ever,
nine never, except in clubs. " The same
expert advised it is OK to bid small
slams requiring a successful finesse
" unless the finesse is in clubs. "
The ACBL has not yet taken a position
on the recent grass roots movement
to ban club contracts in events
restricted to Basic Chart conventions.
A spokesperson for the group
argues that bridge is complicated
enough, and the frequent occurrence
of club contracts discourages
new players.
July 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2021
