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Andrew:
Opening lead versus No-Trump contracts…
The key to the successful defence of a notrump contract is appreciating the value of a long suit. Exhaust the opponents of their cards in that suit, and you can score tricks with your twos and threes.
With no clues to the contrary - from the bidding - you should therefore lead from your longest suit against notrumps. Traditionally the “fourth from the top of your longest and strongest suit” is the favoured choice. Indeed this is believed to be the oldest convention in the game.
You should lead the underlined card from:
KJ742 Q10854 AJ862
Question: Why fourth highest?
Answer: It helps partner to work out your length and strength of the suit. Say you lead a two. Because it is your fourth highest card of the suit, but also clearly your lowest (there are no cards below a two!), you must have precisely four cards in the suit led. This deduction can have huge ramifications - take our featured deal.
Take East's cards and defeat 3NT
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South Deals N-S Vul |
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| West | North | East | South |
| 2 NT | |||
| Pass | 3 ♣1 | Pass | 3 ♦2 |
| Pass | 3 NT | Pass | Pass |
| Pass |
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| 3 NT by South |
| Lead: ♦ 2 |
West led the two of diamonds against the 3 NT contract. East was just about to return the suit after winning his ace, when he paused to reflect. If West held just four diamonds (which was necessarily the case assuming his two was fourth highest), then declarer held five diamonds.
Bearing this in mind, it was unlikely to be best for East to return a diamond - it would help to set up declarer’s long card.
East put the six of diamonds back in his hand and considered his alternatives. Dummy’s weakest suit was spades. If declarer held two spades to West’s three, then a spade switch was bound to work well. And so it was to prove.
East switched to the three of spades and declarer’s heart sank. He had been rooting for a second diamond, which would have seen three diamond winners be promoted in his hand once the king was dislodged (with his king of spades protected from an attack on the suit by West). He tried the king of spades - his best hope was that East held the ace.
It was not to be. West won the ace, cashed the queen, and led a third spade. East beat dummy’s seven with the nine, cashed the jack, then led over to West’s king of diamonds. Down two.
