FRANK STEWART BRIDGE

CHOOSING A LEAD

Opening leads are considered the hardest part of the game. Nobody can find a killing lead every time. Consistently effective leads are all you can hope for. Still, general principles can guide you.

Today’s North-South get to five diamonds. Suppose West looks at his sequential club holding and leads the jack.

A capable declarer will spot the winning play of ducking in dummy. If West then shifts to a spade, South wins, draws trumps with the A-Q, takes the top clubs and ruffs a club. He returns a trump to dummy to take the fifth club for his 11th trick. First Club South would go down if he won the first club, but West’s opening lead gave South a chance. When dummy has advertised a side suit, as in North-South’s auction, West should lead aggressively, hoping to set up winners before declarer uses dummy’s suit for discards.

So West might well have led a major suit. A spade opening lead would beat the contract for sure. So would a heart if East won and found a spade shift. Daily Question You hold: ♠ Q J 8 3♥ A8542 ♦ 76 ♣ Q 4. Your partner opens one club, you respond one heart and he bids one spade. What do you say?

Answer: This is as promising a “nine-point” hand as you could hold. You have good trumps, a side ace and the queen of the first suit partner bid. Raise to three spades, inviting game. If your clubs were 7-4, you would raise to two spades. If they were A-4, you would bid four spades. North dealer N-S vulnerable