BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

YoU receive a heart, your bid suit. Though this is obvious, many defenders get mesmerised by the opponents’ bidding in nTs and decide leading another suit might hit the jackpot.

north leads his singleton heart and the contract is defeated by two tricks. Any other lead and declarer makes 3nT with ease.

The results chart showed nearly half of the declarers made their contracts, which means nearly the other half failed to observe the golden rule of leading partner’s bid suit.

In theory, West has shown a double stopper in hearts for his 1nT, but sometimes players risk making the bid with only a single stopper. either way, it is critical to use the great advantage of the opening lead to knock out a stopper.

It will never be wrong to lead the bid suit, even when it turns out that an alternative would have produced a better result. At least partnership harmony will have been preserved!