Lead low from a doubleton
Lead
low from a doubleton
Rixi
Markus (
When
you, as a defender, are about to attack a suit in which you have a holding such
as Jx, Qx or Kx, do you invariably lead the high card?
Most
players do, but this is sometimes quite a
costly mistake.
My
BOLS bridge tip is:
When
you have to open up a suit in which you have a doubleton honour, consider the possible advantage of
leading the low card.
This
is particularly likely to work when the hand on your left is marked with
strength in this suit, and especially when you have no re-entry to your hand.
Suppose,
for example, that at some point during the defence you lead the king from Kx
and
the next hand wins with the ace from AJX. Now,
if you yourself cannot regain the lead, your partner will be stymied, even if
his holding is as strong as, say, Q109x, for he will
be unable to continue the suit except at the cost of a trick. Had you led low
instead, the suit could have been cleared. (I am assuming,
of course, that your partner has
plenty of entries.)
I
was able
to put this tip to good use in a recent
rubber. South opened with a weak no-trump, showing 12-14 points, and was raised
to 3NT after the sequence below.
What would you have led from the West hand?
|
|
South Dealer |
ª |
A K 10 |
|
|
|
|
Love All |
© |
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
¨ |
K J 9 87 5 |
|
|
|
|
|
§ |
Q 7 4 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
N |
|
|
|
ª |
Q 2 |
|
|
ª |
J 9 7 6 5 4
|
|
© |
10 7 4 3 2 |
|
W
E |
© |
A J 9 |
|
¨ |
6
4 3 |
|
|
¨ |
A Q |
|
§ |
8
6 5 |
|
|
§ |
10 3 |
|
|
|
|
S |
|
|
|
|
|
ª |
8 3 |
|
|
|
|
|
© |
K Q 8 5 |
|
|
|
|
|
¨ |
10 7 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
§ |
A K J 9 |
|
|
|
W |
N |
E |
S |
|
|
|
|
1NT |
|
Pass |
2♣ |
2♠ |
Pass |
|
Pass |
Dbl |
Pass |
3♥ |
|
Pass |
3NT |
All |
Pass |
|
|
|
|
|
As
South was unwilling to pass his partner's penalty double of Two Spades, it
seemed clear that the spade strength was likely to be in the dummy. Accordingly,
in view of the absence of any re-entry to my own hand, I decided to lead the two
of spades rather than the queen.
Declarer
could no longer cope with his task. He won
with the ace, entered his hand with a club, and led a diamond, losing to
my partner's queen. Declarer ducked the spade
return, allowing my queen to hold, but I was able to put
partner in with the ace of hearts to clear the
spades. Now South could take only eight tricks.
It
is easy to see that if West leads the queen of
spades initially, declarer will win with the ace and make the contract, as East
will be unable to attack spades effectively.
These situations occur quite frequently during the middle game, when it often pays to lead a small card from a doubleton honour. This is especially so where you can see three or four cards smaller than your honour in dummy — provided that your partner is an intelligent player who can interpret. the meaning of your action.