Wednesday, March 28, 2007 10:52 PM
Hand Evaluation - Analyzing Leads
PITBULLS:
Opening leads are a bidding skill .
Partner is supposed to read the bidding , make the percentage opening lead of
the unbid suit or a trump or whatever. Since Bridge is a partnership game , you
have assumed partner has read
the bidding properly & made the correct opening lead. No ,
no ‘s in opening leads are leading the opponents suits , under leading Aces in
a suit contract to a strong hand to your right or a trump lead when the auction
does not call
for it. Leading an unsupported Ace when the auction
calls for it , is expert Bridge.
You must assume partner is at the table so is
making the best opening lead for
your side. Why ? because if she is leading their suit or a suit that dummy is showing length ,
there must be a reason. Partners’
stiffs are identified in accordance with the context of the bidding. If partner is
making a “bad lead” , she must be doing it for a reason. 99% of the time it is a stiff. I was playing with a Tormentee , my RHO opened 1♣
. We competed in hearts & they eventually bought the hand in 4♠X . I lead a club (
his suit) in a doubled contract & got in with the trump Ace. I tried to get
partner in by under leading my AK
of hearts. Disaster as declarers stiff queen won ! Declarer leads another trump
so the Tormentee wins her king. Yes , we are going to beat this hand for +200
anyway ! Back came a heart so we were –790 . I concluded that the Tormentee
must play with partners who regularly made unthinking
leads like the opponents suit
even in doubled contracts.
Recently I was playing
against a Tormentee & Kiz & I had this auction.
1NT-P-2♥-P
2♠-P-3♦-P
4♠-P-P-P
I show a two suiter in spades & diamonds
& the dummy comes down with ♠K109xx
♥x ♦KJ10xx ♣xx after your partner leads a diamond. You have Qxx so partner has picked off your
diamond queen. Kiz leads a trump so you are in with your spade Ace. Luckily you
were dealt the deuce of diamonds & you hold the club Ace so you can get
+200. You return the diamond deuce so partner ruffs . Partner returns a club
you win the Ace & give partner another ruff. Partner cashes the club king
so you are +200. This was IMPs. In
matchpoints , there is a super safe way to beat the contract one. Lay down the
club ace so if partner encourages in clubs , she does not have a singleton. If
she discourages in clubs , give her the diamond ruff & she can cash the
setting trick in clubs.
At
the table , the tormentee did not read partners lead for a singleton. This means that her partner must
regularly make atrocious leads so
when she does so again , you do not have the singleton inference. The Tormentee laid
down her club Ace & partner encouraged . Back came a club so Kiz made +620
for a 13 IMP loss for the Tormentee & her partner.
Opening
leads are to be analyzed. Why is partner making
that lead ? The opening lead quite often
is the last piece of the
puzzle along with the opponents bidding to apply a pattern to get a complete count of declarers
hand. Partner leads the club deuce
, the opponents are in 4♥ with an auction of
1♠-P-1NT-P
2♥-P-4♥-P
You
now have a complete tentative count of declarers hand. You know partner
has 4 clubs , you see the dummys clubs & your own. Applying a pattern , you
now know declarers club length.
With the bidding you know declarers complete distribution. Your defense is off to
the best start possible. Opening
leads & patterns are kindred spirits. They can not get along
without each other. Analyze partners lead
, apply a pattern & defend accordingly.
How
do you identify a stiff when
partners lead it your
bid suit ? By not divorcing the bidding from defense &
getting a tentative “lie of the land by translating
the bidding into a hand pattern. .
A Tormentee opened in 3rd seat
nv vrs vul with ♠Axxxx ♥xxx ♦x ♣KQxx & LHO bid 2♦ vul. I made a
negative double & your RHO bid 3♦ & all pass. I
lead a small spade so what is a tentative “lie of the land” ? Dummy hit with ♠KQ109 ♥xxx ♦KJx ♣xxx. Apply a pattern in their trump suit 6-3-3-1
is a good guess. This gives partner 3♦ & her negative
double may show 5-4 in the unbid suits. This is 5-4-3-1 so partner has a stiff
spade. We need 5 tricks to beat 3♦ so with your light
opener so how are you going to beat this contract ? The best chance is that
partner’s small spade is a singleton. It can not be 3 small or she would have
bid differently so the odds are in favour of a stiff spade. This could be the reason that partner chose to defend 3♦. You win the spade
Ace & return the spade deuce. Partner ruffs & returns a club. You win
your ♣Q & give partner another ruff. Partner returns a club which you
win & return your 4th spade to kill the trick. Declarer ruffs
high & goes down 2 vul with 6♦ & 1♥ trick. This is 9
IMPS as they made 4♦ with your defense.