Contract Bridge

The Practical Side of Bridge

It is certainly proper to make an opening lead away from an ace against a notrump contract, but it is much too risky and generally poor policy to do so against a suit contract. Most players are familiar with this rule and scrupulously abide by it on defense, but sometimes they fail to take advantage of it when they become declarer.

Consider this deal where West led a low spade against South’s four-heart contract. Without giving the matter much thought, declarer played dummy’s king, obviously hoping West had the ace of spades. But the direct effect of this play was that South went down one, losing two spade tricks immediately and a heart and a club later on.

Now let’s suppose declarer plays low from dummy at trick one. East wins with the jack but has no effective return. Whatever he does at trick two, South is in full command.

Thus, if East cashes the ace of spades, declarer loses only two spades and a trump, with South’s club loser eventually being discarded on dummy’s king of spades.

If instead East shifts to a heart or a diamond, declarer is on equally firm ground. He cashes the A-K of trump and A-K-Q of diamonds, discarding the K-7 of spades from dummy, and ultimately loses only a spade, a heart and a club. No matter how you slice it, South makes four hearts — provided he plays low from dummy on the opening spade lead.

Even if West is a player who sometimes underleads aces against suit contracts — whether from ignorance or calculated design — declarer is still best advised to play low from dummy at trick one. This one play virtually guarantees the contract against anything but a 4-0 trump division.

(c)2023 King Features Syndicate Inc.