Friday, December 13, 2002 1:45 AM
Hand Evaluation - Blind Opening Leads
PITBULLS:
A blind opening lead is defined
by “guessing” instead of paying attention to your quick tricks so you
can retain the lead. Blind opening
leads are defined still another way. When their bidding dictates a specific opening
lead , but you “guess” to make another lead anyway.
When the auction screams for a
particular lead , lead it !! Single handed blind opening leads are insulting to partner.
When you can retain the lead you get to look at the dummy & get partner’s
input from a signal. You are in effect saying I
prefer to guess than get your input partner !
You are in effect insulting the table
when the opponents tell you what
to lead & you do not lead it ! My partner made two
atrocious opening leads recently when he chose to lead blind.
The auction went
1♠-P-2NT-P
3♣-P-3♥-P
4♠-P-P-P The opponents have told you to
lead a diamond. Up the line Q biding means the
heart Q bidder does not have a diamond control. The “fast arrival” to game meant
that opener does not have a diamond control either. On this auction my partner
chose to guess & lead 4th best heart .
We lost our ♦AK
& they made 7 for _+710 . The field was making
+650 so we lost two IMPS. No big deal as we are playing IMPS right
? We lost the event by ½ an IMP ! Later my
partner was on lead against 3NT with ♠QJxx ♥KJx ♦AKJxx ♣Q . Do
you think he would lead the ♦K to look at the board & get partner’s
signal. No , he single handedly guessed to lead a spade a suit dummy had
bid ! The lead cost us nothing this time but it showed
that he prefers to lead blind to
give “the house” an edge & “break” first.
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 it’s best to lead one of your 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 from partner. 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. Partner 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. When 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.
When partner is leading a bare Ace ( attempting to not lead blind
) , known count signaling should apply .
Partner is trying to find you with something so quite often you have length in
that suit. This means middle encourages & Hi & LO are suit preference
signals. When partner is leading a bare Ace against a slam
or a gambling 3NT , you can afford a middle
card as encouraging , suit preference
is paramount in these situations.
Blind opening leads are for 3 famous mice not
Bridge players !!!!!!!!!!!!.