Thursday, February 20, 2003 5:41 PM

Ace from AK

PITBULLS:

When Bridge first started everybody played King from AK and that was the standard. After confusion with K from KQ for decades , everybody switched to Ace from AK and that became the new standard . Pitbull Pat & Susan have taught me even a better way ! Vary your lead from AK holdings depending on what information you want from partner !

This solves the age old problem of count vrs attitude when it is imperative that you cash out in the right order .The logic is simple . Vary attitude and count depending on what your “switch hitting” partner leads with her AK combination. The lead now takes judgment . Is count or attitude more important depending on the auction and holding in your suit ? If the auction dictates it , lead accordingly . Partner will show count with the King lead and attitude with the Ace. You should never be confused in a cash out situation. If you do not care about count then you obviously lead the Ace . If an attitude lead , an established partnership could work in a suit preference system.

In the middle of the hand , same rules apply . If you are exploring for a way to beat a contract even with a bare Ace you can lay it down and partner will give attitude if she likes it . In the middle of a hand you should probably lead 4^th best from a KQxx combination anyway so that is irrelevant . Partner may help you out and break the rule with attitude if it is right.

In NT contracts , Susan Culham suggests using the Ace or King to not lead blind and requests partner to show attitude . The Ace asks partner to show attitude holding the queen & the king requests partner to show attitude with the jack. The old fashioned way was show count with the Ace & attitude with the King. I think Susan’s way has more merit.

I think being a switch hitter with AK combinations makes a lot of sense . It will take some getting use to but in the long run it is going to pay dividends . Established partnerships should adopt this . Even old guys like Tom & I with poor memories J .

When partner leads the King you are forced to play count in a suit contract. The lead of an Ace demands attitude but on the second lead of the suit you can show suit preference. Tom G had a hand recently Jx Jxx AKJxx xxx and the auction went 1♥-P-2♥-P 4♥ and Tom was on lead . He led the diamond Ace as count was not that important to him and the board was A9xx xxx xx Q10xx . My hand was xxxx x 9842 AKxx and I played the 9 saying I did not like diamonds. Tom played the diamond King and I played the deuce and declarer the queen. If declarer is not false carding , Tom knows I have a choice of 3 diamond cards I can play on the second diamond. I chose the diamond deuce which can be interpreted as a suit preference. If I did not want a suit preference , I would play the diamond 8 discouraging and then the diamond 9. The highest negative card you can have should mean the next card is suit preference partner and watch closely. Tom switches to a club and I cash the two clubs. Declarer had KQ10 of spades and the club goes away if we do not cash out immediately.

Say I had bid 3♦ pre-emptive in this auction showing 4 diamonds. This is a “known count” situation . In known count situations , My partners & I revert to the “Gartaganis” style suit preference. A middle card says I do not have a suit preference. A high card is suit preference as is a low card. Since we switch hit with our AK leads , we can apply this system also .

Smith Echos have changed the way we would otherwise signal in NT contracts. Most leads now other than the Ace or King will get count. You show attitude later when declarer leads their suit. The “obvious shift principle” has changed the way we show attitude . We take switches into consideration when showing attitude. This was probably invented by a disgruntled pro whose client kept giving tricks away by shifting. He encouraged in the original suit to prevent his client partner from doing damage. This thinking has merit even playing with an expert partner.