With two suits of equal length, play for the one that is shown on the table. Don't give your opponents unnecessary information of your strength.
With two suits of equal length, play for the one which, when established, will give you the greater number of tricks, as
7 cards in one hand and 1 in the other.
6 cards in one hand and 2 in the other.
5 cards in one hand and 3 in the other.
4 cards in one hand and 4 in the other.
Holding only seven cards of a suit, you will often find an adversary with four cards of that suit.
Holding only six cards of a suit, remember that your adversaries have seven and that leading the suit will establish it against you.
When the best card of your suit is against you, lead to get it out of your way. It pays to establish one suit. The beginner will usually play his high cards, and, after establishing one or two tricks in that suit for his adversaries, proceed to do the same with another suit and end by abusing his partner for making it "no-trump" with so weak a hand.
Lead from the weak hand to the strong.
This is the secret of playing the two hands well. Play for the longest suit in the two hands; but arrange the lead so that it comes from the hand that has no high cards.
| Lead from | to | ||
| x x x | K x x x | ||
| x x x | A Q x x | ||
| x x x | K Q x x | ||
| 10 x x | K J x 4 |
Holding a combination of Ace, Queen, Jack in the two hands, try to catch the King by leading the highest card from the one hand up to the Ace in the other.
This is really a continuation of the last rule, but its importance demands a separate heading. The correct play of this combination will win more tricks than any one other play in Bridge.