Contract Bridge

The bidding has gone One Notrump on your right, Two Notrump on your left and Three Notrump on your right. Which card would you lead with each of the following four hands?

1. ♠ AQ94 ♥ 872 ♦ 10 ♣

QJ543

2. ♠ J10 ♥ 83 ♦ J7643 ♣

J932

3. ♠ J7 ♥ KJ832 ♦ A9764

♣ 5

4. ♠ K83 ♥ 976 ♦ K52 ♣

QJ93

* **

1. Four of clubs. Most notrump contracts feature a race between the opposing sides for the establishment of long-suit tricks. Here, a club is led in the hope that partner has either the king or ace, in which case all your remaining clubs might become tricks after declarer’s honor card is forced out.

A club is chosen rather than a spade, even though the spades are stronger, because of the greater length in the club suit. The four is selected because it is the fourth-best card of the suit.

2. Jack of spades. Good defense is mainly a partnership effort rather than an individual effort. You should think in terms of what’s best for your side, not just in terms of what’s best for your hand.

The chance of a diamond lead working out well here is poor, since even if your diamonds eventually become established, you have no entry with which to gain the lead.

In cases of this sort, it’s better to take a shot at locating your partner’s long suit, since he might have enough side entries to cash them. To this end, the spade lead is more promising than a heart lead because the J-10 have a much better chance of quickly establishing partner’s hopedfor long suit.

3. Three of hearts. The problem here is whether to lead a heart or a diamond; either one might work out well or badly. In the long run, a heart is more promising because if your partner has the queen or ace, you’ll be well on your way to establishing the suit, with the ace of diamonds as a side entry. A diamond lead in most cases would require partner to hold two honors in the suit, a much less likely possibility.

4. Queen of clubs. There’s no good reason not to lead a club, and the only question is which one. In hands where your long suit is headed by a sequence such as K-Q-J, Q-J-10 or J-10-9, it is customary to lead the highest one rather than fourth-best. The Q-J-9 are treated as equivalent to the Q-J-10, so here the queen is led rather than the three. If the nine were, say, the six, the three would be the proper lead.