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No Trump Opening Leads
Here we look at hands where the opening leader came up with the right lead based on logic rather than random luck. See also Carding Agreements.
Related Extracts from Past Wednesday Games
With East at the helm in 3NT, South seems destined to give this contract away with her opening lead. Of course, a passive black card lead holds Declarer to 8 tricks, but surely South will want to attack with something red, and that will be Declarer’s 9th. But not so fast! The A♦ will beat the contract, setting up 3 quick Diamonds and 2 Hearts for the defense. We wondered if that lead could be found without seeing all 4 hands, so we consulted Dr Goodlead one more time. After almost five minutes thought he said “I lead the Ace of Diamonds!”. His logic was “Not a black card, they may have 2 Spades and 7 Clubs to cash … a Heart will surely blow a trick … that leaves a Diamond, and I’ll start with the Ace, hoping to catch a singleton honor in Declarer’s hand”. Nicely done, Doctor!
The above auction is not all that it may seem to be. West’s 2♥ was DONT, showing the majors. North’s 2♠ said “I have something in Spades”, and South bid 3NT on the basis of a good Heart holding and extra values.
Against 3NT, what would be your opening lead from the West hand? West knows that North has Spades and presumably not Hearts, and that South has Heart and maybe also Spades. Also, if Partner had a decent Spade holding, he might well have doubled 2♠. So, all in all, the odds appear to favor a Heart lead, that’s the suit in which Partner is most likely to have help. And so it proves to be, a Heart lead beats the contract one trick. Declarer will duck two rounds of Hearts, and then go to work on the minor suits, but try as she may she can come to only 8 tricks.
If West makes the mistake of a Spade opening lead, that will present Declarer with her 9th trick
4♠ is a lucky make, but how about 3NT? That is also a contract that requires some luck. The K♠ must be onside to provide the 9th trick, and Declarer must hope that the Diamonds are well-behaved. North will lead a Diamond, of course, but which one? - In previous Wednesday Games we have discussed the practice of leading second highest from 4 small, this having the benefit of warning Partner not to expect any high cards in the suit. Of course, informative leads also inform Declarer, and so it is here. If North leads her second highest Six, and if Declarer is paying attention (a) to the spots, and (b) to the opponents’ lead conventions, then he’ll have no trouble on the hand. North’s opening lead will be from 86xx or 86xxx or else three to an honor. There’s no point in holding up the Ace in any of these cases because either the suits blocks or the Diamonds are 4-4. So Declarer wins the opening lead, plays on Spades and loses just 3 tricks for a lucky 10 tricks and a good board. - If North’s opening lead is the Diamond Three, then Declarer will read this as 4th best or from honor third and again there is no reason to hold up. He’ll win the first round, lose a Spade to North, then when South wins the second Diamond, even if South continues with a tricky low Diamond, Declarer will not go wrong.
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