Auction of To-day

by Milton C. Work

When the partner has declared, his suit can be counted upon for both length and strength, and unless it be practically solid, his hand contains at least one reëntry. The leader by his opening can attack only one-quarter of the No-trump fortification, and it is his duty to pick out the spot which promises to be most vulnerable. A No-trump call is very likely to spell game unless a suit can be established against it. In order to accomplish this it is generally necessary to start with the first card led. Therefore, making the right original opening is probably the only opportunity to save the game. When the leader selects his own suit in preference to his partner's, he should be able to say, "In spite of the strength you have declared, I am reasonably sure that we have a better chance to establish this suit than yours."

As a rule, however, the leader does not have sufficient strength to support such a statement, and, therefore, his lead generally says, "Partner, I know you have considerable strength, you may have declared expressly for the purpose of asking me to lead your suit, but I selfishly prefer to play my own hand rather than act for the benefit of the partnership."

It is but a puerile excuse for a leader who does not open his partner's suit to explain that the No-trump was called by the right-hand adversary after the partner's declaration, and that the bid, having been made with the anticipation that the suit named would be led, he should surprise the Declarer. It is true that the Declarer expects that suit, but it may be the only opening he fears. It is more than possible that the suit is stopped but once, and that leading it will save the game, even if it do not defeat the declaration. It is certainly a very short-sighted or unduly sanguine player who selects a suit of his own, which has not nearly the strength of his partner's, merely on the wild chance that his partner, rather than the No-trump bidder, has the missing high cards.

When the partner has declared two suits and the leader has length or strength in one of them, he should open it, but when he cannot assist either, he should open the suit named first, as it is probably the stronger.

As will be seen from the tables of leads against a No-trump declaration, in some cases whether the leader has a reëntry materially affects the manner in which he should open his long suit. By a reëntry in this connection is meant either an Ace or King, unless the suit containing the King have been bid by the adversary to the left of the leader. In that case the King cannot be expected to win unless accompanied by the Queen. A Queen, or even Queen, Knave, cannot be considered a reëntry, as the suit may not be led three times.

The reason for varying the lead, depending upon the presence of a reëntry, is that the sole thought of the leader against a No-trump is to establish the suit led, and to insure so doing he opens his suit exclusively with that end in view, regardless of whether it would otherwise be the opening most apt to prove trick-winning. He knows that the Declarer will, if possible, hold up a winning card until the Third Hand is unable to return the suit. Therefore, if he be without a reëntry, he must do all in his power to force the winning card from the adversary's hand as early in the play as possible. If he have a reëntry, he may play much more fearlessly. An example of this is a long suit, headed by Ace, Queen, Knave. The most advantageous lead from this combination is the Ace (as an adversary may hold an unguarded King), and that would be the lead with a reëntry; but the chances are that the partner does not hold more than three cards of the suit, and, if it be opened in the usual way, the King will be held up until the third round. The leader without a reëntry, therefore, is compelled to open with the Queen, so as to establish the suit, while the partner, who probably has a reëntry, still retains a card of it.

Another important convention which applies to the opening of the leader's suit against a No-trump declaration (but, of course, against a No-trump declaration only) is that the original lead of an Ace calls for the partner's highest card. An Ace, therefore, should be led from such a combination as a suit headed by Ace, King, Knave, Ten, since the drop of the Queen will permit the suit to be run without hesitation, and the failure of the partner to play the Queen will permit the leader to place its position positively, and to continue the suit or not, as his judgment and the balance of his hand dictate. This doctrine is extended to all cases of the original lead of an Ace against a No-trump declaration.

The Ace should not be led unless the partner's best card, regardless of its size, be desired, and the partner should play it unhesitatingly, be it King, Queen, or Knave, unless the Dummy convince him that meeting the demand of the lead will be trick-sacrificing, in which case the leader's command should be ignored.

In leading a partner's suit, the general rule of selecting the fourth best, when opening with a small card, is not followed. The object in leading that suit is to strengthen the partner, and it is more important to do that and also to tell him what is the leader's highest card than to post him regarding exact length. Holding either two, three, or four of a partner's suit, the top, therefore, should be led, followed on each succeeding trick by the next in order, the lowest being retained until the last. This is sometimes called the "down and out." The one exception to the lead of the top of the partner's suit is when it consists of three or more headed by Ace or King, and the right-hand adversary has called No-trump after the suit has been declared. In that case, it may be that the stopper which the Declarer thinks he has in the suit can be captured, and the lead, therefore, should be a low card.

NUMBER-SHOWING LEADS