Do not forget king from ace-king

Anne Maverick of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, sent in several senryu, including: Lead the ace or king / Obvious except when not / Forgive me partner.

Today’s deal features an important defensive agreement that is virtually unknown below the expert level, but it isn’t that hard to remember.

At trick one, you usually lead ace from ace-king. But if you are leading from a suit that your partnership has bid and supported, then you should lead king from ace-king. This is one position when you might opt to lead an unsupported ace; a choice that is usually frowned upon. How does that help the defenders in this deal?

In the auction, West might have intervened with two no-trump, showing at least 5-5 in the two unbid suits. But he did not like his weak clubs. Then North’s two-spade rebid guaranteed four trumps because he would have made a support double with only three. South, with only six losers and knowing about the double fit, was happy to jump to game.

When West led the heart king, East encouraged with his nine to indicate the queen. This told West how to defeat the contract. At trick two, he shifted to his singleton diamond. South took the trick in his hand and led a sneaky spade jack, trying to look like someone about to finesse for the spade queen. But West wasn’t buying it. He won with his ace and played the heart eight to his partner’s queen. Then East returned a diamond for West to ruff to defeat the contract.

The main other time to lead king from ace-king (and king-queen) is after trick one.