Defense basics: Which suit to lead

Many a contract stands or falls based on this one decision. But you're shooting blind -- you haven't seen the dummy yet. Making inferences from the bidding and from your hand is a fine art, but here are some basic guidelines, in rough order of preference.

Against no-trump contracts:

Lead your partner's suit. A good suit is always more powerful when led to, rather than led from.

Lead your own longest suit, unless it's one the opponents have bid.

If you have to lead a suit that opponents have bid, lead dummy's, not declarer's, suit.

DON'T lead a short suit that partner hasn't bid.

Against trump contracts:

Lead partner's suit.

Lead a singleton if you have a chance of developing a trump winner. There's little point in leading a singleton if you have, say, KQ of trump, since you have an inevitable trump winner there anyway.

Lead an unbid suit, especially one in which you have an honor sequence.

Lead dummy's suit.

Lead trump if it might prevent dummy from ruffing; e.g. if declarer has shown a long side suit.

If you have significant trump length, lead your longest other suit.

DON'T lead a suit headed by a lone honor or by a tenace.

DON'T lead declarer's side suit.

The importance of signaling

This is a hand from last night, as best I remember it -- let me know if I'm misremembering any important details.

North	East	South	West
	Pass	1	Pass
1	Pass	2NT	Pass
3NT	Pass	Pass	Pass

Lead:  4

North

 x x x

 K Q J 10 x

 K

 J 9 x x

West

 A x x

 x x x

 A 7

 Q 10 x x x

East

 Q x x x

 x x x x

 x x x x

 x

South

 K x x

 A

 Q J x x x x

 A K x

Sitting East, you might feel you don't have much of a role to play in the defense of the hand -- try to duck a spade finesse maybe, and return partner's suit.

In fact, the card you play on the first trick can have a dramatic impact. Declarer has an entry problem: if the defense times its cards right, he can never get to all those juicy hearts. On the second trick, he tries to get to dummy by leading his low club. West would naturally play second-hand low on this trick -- which guarantees 9 tricks for the declarer -- but if West realizes that South doesn't have any more hearts, West can go up with the queen to block the entry.

The trick is for East to signal high-low on the first heart trick, to indicate an even number of hearts. West knows that if South had three or more hearts, he probably would have supported North's bid; so he can deduce that the even number of hearts that East has = 4, leaving South with a singleton ace and no way to reach dummy's winners.

When to hold up a trump winner, pt. 2

Contract: 4   
Lead:  5

North

 J 8 6

 10 8 4

 K 4 5 2

 K 3 2

Bryan

 5 2

 A 9 7

 Q 10 8 3

 J 10 6 4

Me

 A 10 9 4 3

 K 5

 J 9 7 6

 9 8

South

 K Q 7

 Q J 6 3 2

 A

 A Q 7 5

I won the lead with my ace of spades and returned a spade, which South won. South then led trump from his hand. Should Bryan, holding the ace of trump, play it now, or should he perhaps hold onto it?

If he plays it now, we win three tricks but the opponents make their contract.

If he holds it up, I'll win with my king of trump and lead another spade for Bryan to ruff with his 9. Then his heart ace, held up once but played in due course, takes the setting trick.

When to hold up a trump winner

Bryan wondered: If, as defender, you have the ace of trump, and declarer starts pulling trump, is there any situation when you wouldn't want to win with your ace on the first round?

My instinct was yes, of course there is, but I couldn't think of one in the heat of the moment. On reflection, though, I whipped up a quick example. Tell me if you find a flaw.

Contract: 4   
Lead:  3

North

 5 4

 K 8 2

 K 10 5 3

 Q 9 7 5

West

 K 9 7 3

 10 9

 Q 8 7 4

 A 10 8

East

 Q 10 6

 A 7 4

 J 9 6

 J 4 3 2

South

 A J 8 2

 Q J 6 5 3

 A 2

 K 6

South wins the spade lead in her hand and starts to pull trump. If East wins with the ace, he can return a spade to West's king. The club ace will be the defense's third and last trick.

However, if East ducks the trump lead, it puts declarer at a disadvantage. When East wins the next round of trump, he can lead his last trump, removing the dummy's ability to ruff a spade, and giving the defense another eventual spade trick.