Leads Quiz Discussion

Leads Quiz
Answers, Suggestions and Commentary

Remember that you were able to infer nothing from the bidding, (so you can't lead partner's suit, for example). You must lead to both contracts holding the same cards. Which would you lead?

There are different situations and different bidding sequences for the millions of different hands out there. The "answers" below are simply guidelines, and won't apply in every single case. Be sure to read the commentary, and learn the reasons why you should or should not lead this or that, depending on the hand.

CONTRACT	LEAD	COMMENTARY
1a. 4S	4C	Leading small promises an honor - in this case you have the Jack. The QD is not an awful lead, either, if you want to lead diamonds. And if you want to lead the hearts, you must lead the 10 (as the top of the series). With any of these leads - give yourself a point. If you lead anything else, do not give yourself a point!
1b. 3N	10H	You want to try to set up those hearts. In this instance don't lead the 4th from the suit -- lead the top of the series. You have another entry (at least one!) to your hand in the AS, so hope for a good split in the remaining hearts so your little ones set up.WITHOUT the AS - if your spade holding instead were 9-8, don't bother leading a heart at all! You have no outside entry to your hand, and by the time your hearts set up you won't be able to get in. In that case, choose a lead that you feel might set up your partner's suit. (Perhaps lead the 4C.)
2a. 3S	8C	Leading anything from that diamond suit would be very bad. You want the lead to come TO YOU holding AQJx in a suit. So if you chose a diamond lead, you don't get a point for this question! It is also generally not considered a good lead to plunk down an unprotected Ace (Axxx) - and you should NEVER lead away from an Ace (in a suit contract), so if your answer was a heart, mark it wrong ;) You should probably just lead the top of those clubs - this won't give anything away. Or you could lead a trump - that's not wrong, either.
2b. 2NT	7H	In this case you want to establish your long suit. You have two 4-card suits ... but if Declarer is the one who bid the NT, then Declarer is the one who probably has the stopped in diamonds: your missing King. If Declarer is on your right, you can capture that KD every time with a lead THROUGH the Declarer to you. If you lead the 3D in this hand, you may very well give away a trick. So lead the small heart, instead.
3a. 2S	5D	You should not lead either one of these unprotected Aces. You could lead a spade if you wished, because you're going to get a natural spade trick at some point (since you hold touching 9-10-J-Q). If you lead the 5D, though, you might get a diamond ruff AND the natural spade trick. If you wrote either the top spade or the 5D, give yourself a point.
3b. 3NT	QS	In this case you are probably going to get those two Aces no matter what -- so use your first lead to set up the spade(s). Always lead the TOP of a series (so partner knows what your holding is).
4a. 3D	JH	Don't lead away from a King (underlead a King) unless there are extenuating circumstances and you think it's the only way to promote a trick for your side! (You might choose to make a desperation lead away from a King against a slam sometime, for example.) So you shouldn't touch the diamonds or hearts. You're probably going to get your AS anyway, so lead the top of those hearts.
4b. 1NT	JH	In this case you're going to lead the same card against NT that you do against a suit. You might argue that your clubs are worth leading, since they're stronger than your hearts. Agreed that they're stronger, but holding KJxx, you want the lead to come TO you in that suit. You can signal partner later that you'd like to have a club, but don't lead them because you're likely to give away a trick.
5a. 2S	JS	Leading that diamond suit is not a good idea, since you might make 2 tricks from it if the lead comes to you. You could lead the 4C (if you're going to lead clubs), because it promises the honor. And if you thought about leading hearts, then lead the 7. (You may not make a practice of leading low from a worthless doubleton -- this must actually be pre-alerted if you do it all the time!) Leading your JS promises the 10 behind it, and since you have 4 of their trump it will likely promote a trump trick for you.
5b. 3NT	JS	Again, the diamonds are really attractive but leading away from them may cost you a trick. So lead your other 4-card suit, which is spades. And when you have touching honors, always lead the top one.
6a. 4S	8D	We've learned that you can't lead an empty Ace - and you can't lead away from an Ace. That bars the lead of a Club. We shouldn't lead away from Kings as a general rule, so you shouldn't lead a heart. Declarer might try a finesse somewhere along the spade suit, so hang on to that queen - unless you believe that by leading it you may promote something in partner's hand. A safe lead in this case would be a diamond, and you should lead high-low, indicating an even number of cards in diamonds.
6b. 3NT	7H	Here you're trying to establish your heart suit. Lead the 4th from the longest suit - so lead the 7H.
7a. 3D	5H	You can't lead away from that A-Q in spades, and if you have a better lead you probably shouldn't lead away from Q-third in clubs (which may yield you a natural club trick in the normal course of play). Make a passive lead of the 5H (promising an honor), or lead trump.
7b. 1NT	5H	You're ready to set up your long suit here against NT. Although your strongest suit is spades, it's tough to lead away from that A-Q even in NT. If the K-J are to your right, you're going to make three tricks in spades!
8a. 3NT	4H	Against NT it's 4th from the longest suit - so that means your 4H should be your lead. Don't touch the suits where you have Q-third, as you should get those queens in the normal course of play. And unless you know that it's your partner's suit, you shouldn't lead a doubleton against NT.
8b. 4S	5C	The hearts are now out as a lead, because we're in a suit contract where you don't lead an unprotected Ace, and you don't lead away from an Ace. You could lead the 2D, promising an honor. You don't want to lead away from your trump Q, since she should be yours. You could lead the 5C (promising an honor).
9a. 4H	5H	Declarer is in trouble in hearts with your heart holding. You want to lead trump as quickly as possible, and you will eventually control the trump suit! Declarer has 4/4 in hearts, and your partner has none. For every one of your hearts you lead, you take 2 of his!
9b. 3NT	5H	Again, lead 4th from your longest suit to set up the little ones as hopeful winners.
10a. 3NT	7D	I think Declarer is in big trouble here, since you have multiple outside entries to your hand. You want to set up those beautiful diamonds, so lead the 7. You have touching 9-8-7, so should you lead the 9? Look, these three cards are essentially the same since they touch. Since it doesn't matter, lead the FOURTH from your longest suit so that partner can apply the rule of 11 and find out where the rest of the cards are in your suit.
10b. 6NT	A,K!	OK, tried for a trick question here -- but I'm sure you got it. Although we try to set up our own suits in NT, this time you can set the contract by plunking down your Ace and King of clubs. Suppose Declarer is 2-suited and won't ever have to play clubs at all? Don't assume you're going to get them anyway. If you can set the contract, do it right away!
11a. 3D	9H	It's not looking good to lead away from those Qs, or the K-J. So lead the singleton and hope for a ruff. Incidentally, if you are sitting between Declarer and Dummy and Declarer leads a small diamond toward the A-Q on the board, how will you play?? The answer is that you should come up with the King, forcing the Ace out. After Declarer plays the Queen later, your J-10 are going to set up. If you duck that trick by playing the 10, and Dummy's Queen wins, you're only going to get one trick in the suit. Promote a trick for your side here!
11b. 3NT	4S	AHA! You've got a couple of possible outside entries, so get a jump on setting up your suit by leading 4th from the long spades. You could lead small from the clubs, as well, but most will try to set up their long 5-card suit. Those are deadly against NT when the leader has outside entries to his hand!
12a. 2H	KS	Don't lead the unprotected Ace, and don't lead away from it. Don't lead away from that K, either. You'll probably get that diamond K - just be patient. If you lead the KS your partner knows you have the Queen (and a natural trump trick).
12b. 2S	9H	Against a suit contract you can't lead away from the Aces or Kings. So lead the top of the doubleton heart, or lead the KS (promising the Q).
13a. 4S	10D	You won't hurt anything by leading the 9C here, but don't lead a heart or a spade. You can also lead the singleton diamond in hopes of getting a ruff.
13b. 3NT	6H	You're hoping partner has a reasonbly high heart, so you can set up your little hearts to take tricks. Don't lead the singleton unless you know it's partner's long suit.
14a. 4H	KS	You should lead either the King or the Ace of spades -- whatever your partnership agreement says you will lead when you hold both. (If I ever lead an Ace, my partner knows it's probably a singleton. We lead King from A-K.) You will get to see Dummy, your partner will know you hold the other high spade, and maybe you want to switch to a different suit to help partner get a trick and you can cash your high spade later.
14b. 2NT	10C	Against NT, the top of the clubs is a good lead. Also a decent lead is the small diamond, although I believe the club to be a better lead here since you could conceivably lose your QD by leading away from her.
15a. 1NT	6S	Leading the KH here ensures a heart trick for your side. You could also lead the 6S, in hopes of setting up your fourth spade to take a trick later. Both are good leads.
15b. 2D	KH	Sometimes the lead choice is made for you! In this suit contract, you cannot lead your aces and you can't lead away from them. That leaves the hearts, and you must lead the top of touching honors. This one's a no-brainer :)
16a. 3NT	JC, 4D	Both of these are good leads. I might prefer the diamond so that I could set up those little ones, but it's hard for me to lead away from a K-J even with 5 pieces. I might lead the JC (the top of the series), and signal partner for a diamond lead later. If Declarer is on my right and holds A-Q, I might get two easy diamond tricks out of this holding before I even attack the length.
16b. 4S	JC	The lead away from either King is bad. I could lead the singleton trump, but since I only have one I may be finessing partner's trump by leading it! I'll lead the top of the clubs for a passive lead here.
17a. 3NT	JH	When you have a broken series (like the hearts in this case), you lead the top of the break. So lead the Jack to force out the ohter honors. Depending on what falls, you could lead either the Ace or the 10 next time, then cash the other ones when you get back in with one of those kings. WHAT IF PARTNER HAD BID A SPADE IN THIS AUCTION? WHAT IS YOUR LEAD THEN? The answer is your should lead the highest spade in your hand. In this case it's only the 9, but lead partner's suit and lead your higher card of the doubleton.
17b. 3C	9S	You can't lead away from your Aces or Kings in a suit contract. That leaves spades, so always lead the top of a worthless doubleton.
18a. 3NT	KD	You might want to lead a Club here, but if you lead the high diamond it will promise your side three tricks from your hand. If you don't show partner the high diamond, he won't know to lead it back to you if he gets in. Declarer probably has long spades here, and in running six or seven spade tricks you're going to have to pitch something. Make it those crummy clubs, and save the nice diamonds. HOW ABOUT THIS IDEA ... you are the partner of the one who made the opening lead against 3NT, and you hold A-5 in diamonds. Partner leads the KD - how do you play? The answer is that you should UNBLOCK the suit. Play your ACE on top of his King, and lead your small one back to him. If you let the King win, and you then come up with your Ace on the next trick, the suit is dead in your hands and you can't lead it back to partner's long suit!
18b. 4S	KD	The King of spades is a natural lead against a suit contract, as well. It promises the Queen behind it, and when you take the Ace of clubs later you may be able to pull three tricks for your side here, as well.

I hope you enjoyed this little quiz! Please note your questions and bring them to our next session so we can discuss them.