ACES ON BRIDGE

There is a school of thought that says that one should lead singletons against suit contracts whenever one has the option to do so. I do not buy into that ( although given my success on opening lead, you could argue that any strategy I follow other than my own would be an improvement).

Today’s deal was an indication of how, even when you do get a ruff, there may be a better strategy than leading the singleton. In one room, West led his singleton diamond and received his ruff, East returning his middle diamond in an attempt to show no strong preference for clubs or hearts. West cashed his club ace and exited with a heart. Declarer won in hand and guessed well when he laid down his spade ace, and had no further problems with taking the rest and making his game.

In the other room, West looked at his likely trump trick and decided that an attacking lead was more appropriate. Despite the fact that his partner had not raised hearts, West led the heart jack to the first trick and found the perfect layout to justify his optimism. Declarer ducked the lead, won the second heart and crossed to dummy with a heart ruff to take the spade fi nesse. Now West cashed his club ace and shifted to a diamond, to take his ruff for two down.

For the record, a trump lead when holding ace- doubleton or king- third of spades would have been far more attractive.