Bridge: Opening leads and how to read them
With few opportunities to play cards in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic, bridge players can keep their game sharp by trying out our weekly quiz.
Today’s quiz: Here is another in the current series of quizzes on interpreting partner’s opening leads. In the following problem, you are given the bidding, your partner’s lead, and your own and the dummy’s holding in the suit led, accompanied by five combinations that your partner might hold. Taking all available information into account, which of the five combinations do you think your partner might actually be leading from? (More than one of the choices could be correct.)
The bidding: Opponent-3S; Partner-Pass; Opponent-4S; All Pass. Partner leads the five of hearts. Dummy has the A106 and you have the K94. Partner could hold: a) J875, b) QJ753, c) Q87532, d) 53, and e) J7532.
Answer: Partner cannot hold b), from which he would have led the queen (top of a sequence), or e), with which the correct lead would be the three rather than the five (fourth-best). With each of the other three combinations, however, the five would be the proper lead, but on the basis of the bidding, d) can be eliminated as a realistic possibility since crediting partner with a doubleton would mean placing the declarer, who has indicated possession of a seven-card spade suit with his opening bid, with a five-card heart suit (headed by the Q-J, no less) on the side. As there would be no such inconsistency if your partner had either a) or c), both are acceptable answers.