March 2025 - 48

Newer Players
Lessons Learned
Taking advantage of the lead
C
hildren's television shows
teach you a few important
things: You always have to
be wary of quicksand; banana peels
are the slipperiest subjects known to
mankind; and at some point in your
life, you are likely to bump your head
and develop amnesia.
Most of us have never slipped on a
banana peel (I tried, once) or fallen
into quicksand, but too often at the
bridge table we suffer amnesia. This
can take the form of forgetting what
cards have been played or forgetting
the auction. It can also happen
because we forget that we know how
defenders think.
If we put ourselves in a defender's
seat, we know that against notrump
we (or partner) like to lead the top of
a three-card honor sequence. Against
suit contracts, we only need two
cards in a sequence to lead the top
card.
Those leads usually help set up
tricks for the defense and normally
don't give away too much.
Unfortunately, if declarer can recognize
those leads, declarer can take
advantage.
We've all fallen victim to this
combination:
Dummy
s J 4 3
You
s K Q 6
Declarer
s A 8 7
You choose to lead the sK from
K-Q-x against a suit contract. You
are distraught to see dummy's J-x-x
with declarer winning the ace. Oops.
Partner
s 10 9 5 2
Had you led something else, declarer
would have two losers in this suit.
That certainly can happen, particularly
with two-card sequences.
Typically, though, a three-card
sequence lead like the J from
J-10-9-x is a great, safe play.
Against good declarers, nothing is
safe. Let's see if you can be a good
declarer on this deal.
You are South after a 1NT-3NT auction
and receive the lead of the cJ.
Dlr: South s K 8 7
Vul: None h A 6 3
d 8 7 6
c K Q 8 2
s A Q 3 2
h 9 7 5
d A Q 3
c A 6 5
As declarer in notrump, you start
by counting your sure winners. You
have three spade tricks, one heart
trick, one diamond trick and three
club tricks: eight winners. You can
take a ninth trick in either spades or
clubs if the suit breaks 3-3. You can
also take an extra trick in diamonds
if the finesse wins. Which path
should we go down?
There's no rush to take a finesse.
You could try playing spades from
the top, but I'd rather not reveal that I
have four spades yet. I would win the
first trick with the ace (East contributing
the 4) and play a club. If West
plays low, what do you do?
Play the 8! You would only lead
the J from J-10-9 or J-10-8
against notrump if the lead is from
Your club finesse wins, as you
" knew " it would. Yes, on occasion
something weird is happening, but
play for the defense to be doing what
you would do in their seat. Look at
East. He'll have a tough time knowing
what suit to guard. If you play
spades first, East has an easier time
with discarding.
After this start, you may wind up
with 10 tricks. If you play your suits
from the top (without taking a club
finesse) and then try a diamond
finesse, you'll only take the eight
tricks you started with.
It's important that you don't forget
how defenders think just because
you're in a different role. 2
BY MICHAEL BERKOWITZ
michael@larryco.com
a three-card sequence. Moreover,
West is leading a minor against a
1NT-3NT auction, when we know we
like to lead the majors. West probably
has real clubs and there's no reason
to expect this lead to be strange. It's
always a bad feeling for the defender
when declarer plays back the suit led.
Let's punish them a little.
Look at the full deal:
s K 8 7
h A 6 3
d 8 7 6
c K Q 8 2
s 6 5
h K J 4
d K 10 4
c J 10 9 7 3
s A Q 3 2
h 9 7 5
d A Q 3
c A 6 5
s J 10 9 4
h Q 10 8 2
d J 9 5 2
c 4
48 | Bridge Bulletin | March 2025
March 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2025
