OPENING LEADS. The position which we have first to consider is that of the eldest hand, usually designated by the letter “A,” who sits on the declarer’s left.
Selecting the Suit to Lead. If your partner has declared a suit, lead the best card you hold of it, regardless of number, unless you have an ace-king suit of your own, in which case lead the king first and have a look at dummy. If partner has not declared anything, lead your own suit. With high cards not in sequence, such as ace-queen, king-jack, or even queen-ten, in every suit but trumps, lead the trump.
There is a great difference between playing against a trump declaration and against no-trumpers; because in the first case the leader is opposed to unusual trump strength and his object must be to make what he can of his winning cards, before the declarer gets into the lead and discards his weak suits, so as to be ready to trump them. But in the second case, there being no trumps, the leader’s object should be to get a suit established against the dealer, if he can, and the longer the suit is, the better. The dealer’s strength in a no-trumper is usually scattered, and he may often be found with a weak or missing suit, which is generally the suit in which the eldest hand or his partner is long.
We shall first consider the leads against trump declarations, because they are more common and are also the more useful. If a player makes a trump-hand lead against a no-trump declaration, he will not do nearly so much harm as if he make a no-trump-hand lead against a trump declaration. For that reason, if a player cannot master both systems of leading, it is better for him to learn the leads against trumps than those against no-trumps.
Rules for Leading High Cards. With such a suit as A K Q 2, no one need be told not to begin with the deuce. Whenever a player holds two or more of the best cards of a suit he should play one of them. If he holds both second and third best, playing one of them will force the best out of his way, leaving him with the commanding card.
The cards which are recognised by bridge players as high, are the A K Q J 10, and if we separate the various combinations from which a player should lead each of them, a study of the groups so formed will greatly facilitate our recollection of them.
In the first group are those containing two or more of the best cards. In this and all following notation, the exact size of any card below a Ten is immaterial.