Thursday, June 23, 2005 7:33 AM

Hand Evaluation - Patterns ( Opening Leads )

PITBULLS:

Opening leads are a bidding skill. When there has been bidding , your suits & card combinations are almost irrelevant. You make opening leads based solely on the bidding. Lets take that a step further . You translate the bidding into a hand pattern , then make your opening lead accordingly. Opening leads & patterns obtained from the bidding are a marriage so you can not have one without the other. My partner used patterns from the bidding to get off to an excellent opening lead against a 3NT contract Thurs nite. He heard

1♦-P-1♥-P

1♠-P-2♦-P

3NT-P-P-P

Partner held ♠xxx ♥AQx ♦A10xx ♣xxx , he knows on these auctions declarer usually holds a 5-4-3-1 hand . Attacking one of declarers suits seemed futile so partner laid down the heart Ace. The board came down with ♠ xxx ♥ KJ9x ♦ xxx ♣ 10xx . If partner is right about the pattern , this whole hand is going to be one gigantic “hand lock” as the dummy is dead. I played the heart 2 which may show 5 hearts & partner switched to a club. Declarer won the club queen, led the queen of diamonds. Partner knows the diamond pattern from the bidding ( 5-4-3-1) so he ducks to my stiff king . Declarer wins my club return with the King , cashes the Ace & leads the diamond 9. Partner wins his 10 , cashes the diamond Ace & throws declarer back into his hand with the last diamond. Declarers hand was ♠AKJx ♥x ♦QJ987 ♣AKQ . So he now cashes his 5^th diamond , AK of spades & conceded two down to my spade queen & 13^th club. Note if partner did not apply patterns on any stage of this hand , 3NT would make !!