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Andrew:
The Perils of the top of doubleton lead
Do you like leading from a doubleton (vs a suit contract)? Generally speaking, I do not.
I will almost never lead from an honour-doubleton (e.g. Q4, J8). When I lead the honour [and unless you live in Poland, it is universally standard to lead top from two cards], my partner will think I have the card immediately beneath (and am leading top of a sequence). Furthermore, the honour is too valuable merely to toss on the table and (in all likelihood) lose.
I will rarely lead (top) from a small doubleton either. Unless partner has at least five cards in that suit (in which case you might hear an overcall - a totally different situation in which I am now happy to lead the doubleton), then either declarer or dummy must have at least four cards. I am helping to set up their suit, and exposing my partner to finesses in the process.
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South Deals None Vul |
♠ Q 8 3 2 ♥ J 5 2 ♦ K Q 8 4 ♣ 9 7 |
||||||||||||||||||
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♠ 7 5
♥ Q 8 7 3 ♦ 7 2 ♣ A J 8 4 3 |
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♠ 6 4
♥ K 10 6 ♦ J 9 6 5 ♣ Q 10 6 5 |
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♠ A K J 10 9 ♥ A 9 4 ♦ A 10 3 ♣ K 2 |
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| West | North | East | South |
| 1 ♠ | |||
| Pass | 2 ♠ | Pass | 4 ♠ |
| Pass | Pass | Pass |
What happened
West led ♦7, top from his doubleton. This gave declarer all four diamond tricks, by finessing East out of his guarded ♦J. Trick One went ♦7, ♦4, ♦J, ♦A, whereupon declarer drew trumps and played ♦10 and over to ♦KQ, discarding ♥4. He now had the luxury of leading towards his ♣K for the overtrick. This did not materialise with West holding ♣A over ♣K, but the game was made.
What should have happened
West immediately eliminates a club lead (leading away from an ace, against a suit contract, is bottom of the heap; here you can see that it promotes declarer’s ♣K). But he prefers a heart to the top of a doubleton diamond. ♥3 goes to ♥2, ♥10 (note that there is no reason for East to play ♥K, as he knows West cannot hold ♥A; indeed it is imperative that he keeps ♥K, to prevent dummy’s ♥J from being promoted). Declarer wins ♥A, cashes ♠AK, then follows with ♦A and over to ♦KQ. ♦J does not appear and now, with just three diamond tricks, declarer is left leading to ♣K for his game. When ♣K loses to ♣A, he is down one, losing two clubs and two hearts.
If you remember one thing...
Beware the (top of a) doubleton lead. It often helps declarer to set up a side-suit.
