Friday,
December 13, 2002 1:45 AM
Hand Evaluation - Blind Opening Leads
PITBULLS:
A wise Bridge player
once said “there are only two types of players that lead bare Aces – beginners & experts .” Leading Aces
should be a much more common habit
among Bridge players than it is . In pre-emptive
auctions with the pre-empt to your right the odds are that the King
will be to your left in the dummy or in partners hand . By leading blind ,you
may lose your Ace & King to a long suit on dummy or just as bad trying a different suit & finding a queen
for declarer. The blind lead is a big
advantage for declarer in
pre-emptive auctions . In
gambling 3NT auctions , an Ace is almost a compulsory
lead unless you have a stand out other lead . Partner will tell you
whether to continue or switch . You need to get your tricks cashed before the
long minor is run .
You hold ♠KQxxx
♥Axx ♦Axx ♣xx , open 1♠ , LHO
vul bids 3♣ , partner passes & RHO bids 3NT. What do you lead ? You
can count 8 tricks for them before you lead
( 7 clubs and spade Ace ) so its best to lead one of you Aces. The player that
held this hand led a spade so they made their vul game . At the other table
they lead the Ace of diamonds & got a discouraging signal . They switched
to the Ace of hearts & proceeded to cash 6 heart tricks !! Just a 15 IMP
swing !
In doubled contracts , leading an Ace & watching partners signal is much better then leading blind . If you do not have an obvious lead , put an Ace on the table . You have the dual advantage of seeing the dummy & watching partners signal !! There are other auctions where an Ace stands out . If the opponents leap to slam without Q bidding or Blackwood there is probably a void lurking and lots of distribution .Cashing your tricks on the go may be the only way to beat the contract. If there are two long suits revealed on the auction in the combined hands, that’s another reason to lead an Ace . You could have two tricks to cash in that suit .
My partner made a nice decision tonight playing the vulnerability. He
held ♠1098x ♥Ax ♦Q109x ♣KQx , the
auction went 1♥ vul
so he made a nv double. His LHO pre-empted 4♥ & I doubled to show values (
D.S.I.P. ) . All pass so what do you lead ? The Ace of trump stands out for two reasons. One is that you are not leading blind
& two a trump lead may do the most damage for their side. When partner sees
the board , we cash out for +200. A blind lead would be –790 !!
Playing tonight in the
Thursday IMPS game you hold ♠Kxx ♥xxx ♦AQxx ♣xxx , RHO Lee Barton opens
1♣ . You pass & Lucille bids 1♥ . Lee leaps to 3NT ,
Lucille bids 6♥ so Lee “corrects” to 6NT. O.K. what’s your lead
? My partner lead a heart so they took
the first 14 tricks ( 7♥ and 7♣ ) . Since this was a “pre-emptive” fly by the seat of your pants auction , an
Ace lead is mandatory . They may
be missing the Ace & King of diamonds so partner will encourage . It turns
out that I did not hold the King of diamonds but I did hold the Ace of spades .
You switch so you beat 6NT two tricks for a 20 IMP swing !! My partner said
this result takes a “moron to my right , a moron to my left & a moron on
lead “ I nodded my head in agreement …
Playing with a Tormentee
tonight , blind opening leads cost
us at least 4 boards. One hand
she had AK of a suit
& chose to lead another suit “blind”
. Sure enough we lost our AK in that suit. She was trying to be passive on 3
hands & led trump in non fit auctions
all for disastrous results. 1♠-P-1NT-P 4♠.
She led a trump rather than an unsupported Ace . Yes , we lost a trick there
also. If the auctions do not call for a
trump lead , do not lead a trump. A bare Ace is a much better lead
because you lose only 1/3
of the time ( dummy or partner may have the king ). Trump leads are
not necessarily passive ! A peek at the dummy is worth a 1000 finesses !!
An expert player today heard
this auction in a Swiss match. She opened 1♣ , they made a T/O double .
Partner passed so they leapt to 3NT . Her hand was ♠xxx ♥xxx ♦Ax ♣AK10xx so she had a choice between leading
blind and guess the correct suit to attack or leading the
club king and looking at the dummy.
Leading the club King might
give up tempo if declarer has QJxx 4th of clubs but
that is the lesser of the two evils. She lead the club king , the board hit
with ♠Kxxx ♥AQJxx ♦J10 ♣xx . The heart suit is
going to split for declarer so it is panic time. You must player declarer for 3
clubs so you continue with a low club and declarer wins with her jack. She
finesses the heart and partner wins the king , returns a club for down 2
vulnerable. Partners were in a heart partial for plus +140 . So with +200 and
+140 you win 8 IMPs instead of losing 10 when they made 3NT , if you made a blind opening
lead.
Partner open 1♣ on ♠AJx ♥Kxxx ♦Jx ♣A10xx , the vul opponents
overcalled 1♥ . Partner passed and RHO bid 1NT which was raised to
2NT so they carried onto game. You do not have
an attractive lead. Partner did
not bid 2♣ or make a negative double or do anything to help you. The
heart is located well for them , if they need it. They did not bid spades or
make a T/O double showing spades. The 1NT response probably denies spades. This is not the time to lead blind. BJ led the spade Ace , Kx came
down on the board. Partner signals that he likes the spade so you continue with
the jack. Declarer leads a club , you bounce with Ace of clubs & return a
spade to partners queen & declarer shows out ! Partners original hand ♠Qxxxxx ♥xx ♦xxx ♣xx so 3NT was +200 . A
club lead , your side is –660.
Blind opening leads are also
defined another way. If you had an
AK combination & did not lead it , you are in effect “leading blind” . Kiz
Fung in a Calcutta had ♠AKJx and heard the auction go 1NT-P-3NT so not
wanting to lead blind she lead the King to get a peek at the board or see
partners signal. I signaled that I liked spades so she continued small & I
won my queen. I cashed an Ace returned a
spade so Kiz cashed all her spades and 3NT went one down. A local diamond life
master led 4th best from this spade holding & cashed all 4 spade
tricks but did not know which suit contained partners Ace. He guessed
incorrectly so 3NT was made for +600.
Some auctions like gambling
3NT or when they show they have a 6 card minor running , blind leads are very silly. The opponents
opened 1NT & responder showed a long club suit . They got to 3NT so what do
you lead with ♠AKxx ♥Kxx ♦xxxxx ♣x ? A Tormentee read
somewhere that you lead 4th best from your longest suit oblivious to
the danger of 6 running clubs on the board. At our table, they chose not
to lead blind & led the ♠K which beat the
contract. They looked at the board & had the advantage of partner signaling
that he liked spades.
In all pre-emptive auctions
, do not lead blind if you can help
it. A pre-empt is opened to your right & buys the contract. Do not lead blind as
the stronger hand is coming down as the board. Lead an Ace & partner will realize the situation also & not play
you for the standard Ace form AK combination. A player had ♠AK ♥Qx ♦KQ10xx ♣xx & a weak NT (
10-12) to your left & an invitations 5-5 in the majors carried on ton game
on your right. You do not wish to lead blind so you lead the spade A . You
continue with the king & over to partners entry for a spade ruff to beat
the contract.
Blind opening leads are for 3 famous mice !!!!!!!!!!!!.