Bridge Bites

BRIDGE BITES #61

A THOUGHTFUL LEAD

Brian Gunnell

You are West, soon to be on opening lead, and you hold:

♠ 752

♥ AQ93

♦ 854

♣ K43

The auction goes as follows:

None Vulnerable

South West North East

1NT Pass 2♣ Pass

2♦ Pass 2NT Pass

3NT Pass Pass Pass

In No Trump Opening Leads 101 we are taught to lead “fourth best from our longest and strongest”, and that’s good advice as far as it goes. But it’s just a starting point and, of course, there are numerous exceptions. Do you have any thoughts about why a Heart lead might not be a good idea on this occasion?

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A thoughtful West might conclude that perhaps a passive lead is required.

- Thought 1: There is a good chance that the ♥K is to West’s right in Declarer’s strong hand. If that is the case, then an opening Heart lead will blow a trick.

- Thought 2: N-S reached game via an invitational sequence, so the contract may be a close-run thing. Why run the risk of handing Declarer his 9^th trick with an aggressive lead?

- Thought 3: Even if it happens that East has the ♥K, it is unlikely that the suit will provide more than four tricks for the defense. That being the case, maybe the defense can afford to be patient.

So, with no guarantee of success (opening leads really are something of a crap shoot), West guesses to start with the “top-of-nothing” Spade Seven. Here is the full deal:

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