[pbleighton]

I almost always lead 4th highest /longest and strongest against a NT contract. Exceptions are:
1) If my suit isn't strong, and partner has bid.
2) I have a huge suit - AKQJx - just run it.
3) If my suit isn't strong, and the opps have bid it.

Is the above correct? What other circumstances would you not lead 4th highest - AQJ10x, AJ109x, etc.?

Peter

[luis]

Interesting topic. Two quick comments:

1) When you should lead an honor

First of all you shouldn't lead 4th best when you have a sequence or a natural honor lead.

Examples: KQJx, KQT9x, KJTx, AKJx, etc. The honor to lead depend on your lead agreements, (jack denies, coded T&9s, Journalist, Rusinow etc are popular methods)

2) When you should lead a short suit

Sometimes when you are almost broken is best to lead a short suit trying to find your pd's long suit, this rule applies when you have some strength but no entries to stablish your suit. This can backfire but in the long term if you know pd has all the entries try to find his longest suit.

[Free]

Out of experience, I've learned that leading a suit from Kxxx or KJxx is most of the time giving tricks away. That's why I normally don't do that, except if my partner bid it, showed a top honour, or if I have a good feeling about it...

[inquiry]

Quote

I almost always lead 4th highest /longest and strongest against a NT contract. Exceptions are:
1) If my suit isn't strong, and partner has bid.
2) I have a huge suit - AKQJx - just run it.
3) If my suit isn't strong, and the opps have bid it.

Is the above correct? What other circumstances would you not lead 4th highest - AQJ10x, AJ109x, etc.?

The obvious answer is don't lead 4th best when it is wrong to do so. Now this is a trite answer of course, but if you keep it in mind, you might find opportunities to work out when, in fact it is wrong to do so.

Luis's two examples are excellent. I once held...

xxx
xxxx
9xxxx
2

Bidding went (1N)-P-(3N)-all pass

Yes, I lead a low club. Dummy may have running clubs, but one thing for sure, partner will not be long in diamonds, and I am never getting in. Partner had AKQJx of clubs and took the first five tricks. This is an exaggerated example of luis's point.

Luis made another excellent suggestion which you should follow ALMOST blindly. That was to lead high from a sequence like KQJx or AKJx. However, there are times, (you have to figure these out) when you lack entries in a different suit or have maybe only one or you know your partner can't have much (or anything) in hcp and on each of these hands you have strong reason to suspect that partner is short in this suit but you still need 3 or 4 tricks from this suit. In these cases, it is sometimes right to underlead all this stuff and hope to catch partner with a fitting card. Maybe the Tx opposite wither of the holdings I showed. Sometimes you will catch him with Ax or Qx opposite these. And sometimes, with 9x, but declearer never guessing you underlead KQJ, plays 8 from dummy's T8xx and the nine in your partners hand gains you a much needed trick.

Another time is when you think you should go passive on defense and have reason to believe a low card would give declearer an easy trick. At others when you are on lead from some long broken sequence like KJTxxxx and have reason to think one or the other has a singleton, you might guess to lead the KING.. if partner has the queen, no harm. If the hand with a singleton has singleton QUEEN, you gain kudos. If it was stiff ACE, well, shoot.

All this is more ART than science, and the better your bridge judgement, the better you will get at these off-center leads. It requires you to do a lot of guessing before trick one on the lay of the cards, and partners expected holding. I make the wrong lead plenty of times when I try to get creative. But at least if you are thinking about the problem of what to lead and rather low from three honors or to lead a standard fourth best, you will begin to enjoy the game more. Playing by rules take the fun of trying to solve each hand as if it was a problem away. Anyone can lead K from KQJx against notrump. It takes an idiot or a genius to lead low when it is right, but you have to be willing to live with your partner's lecture on not leading fourth best from a sequence when it is wrong. I know I have been lectured more than once about such leads myself, including once recently when it was the killing opening lead (some people just have to argue even with success). Lesson from this, no one will ever be hypercritical of the "standard" opening lead. So if you are not thicked skinned, the standard lead is always "save" (by save I mean from partner or opponents comments).

Ben

[inquiry]

Here is one from yesterday to test drive your "art", what do you lead from this hand on the following auction?

S AQ54
H QJ2
D KQ76
C 63

Part LHO You RHO
Pass 3N Pass Pass 3N=gamble, no side A/K
Pass

Your lead.

Hand 2.
Here is another one....
S AK3
H AK753
D K64
C 85


LHO Pard RHO you
1D Pass 1S 2H
X Pass 2N Pass (dbl was support x)
3N all pass

Your lead (real world problem)?

[luis]

Quote

Here is one from yesterday to test drive your "art", what do you lead from this hand on the following auction?

S AQ54
H QJ2
D KQ76
C 63

Part LHO You RHO
Pass 3N Pass Pass 3N=gamble, no side A/K
Pass

Your lead.

Hand 2.
Here is another one....
S AK3
H AK753
D K64
C 85


LHO Pard RHO you
1D Pass 1S 2H
X Pass 2N Pass (dbl was support x)
3N all pass

Your lead (real world problem)?

Testdriving my "art" :-)
1) sA book lead. We may set 3NT in 3 potential suits so the best option is to check dummy and get a signal from pd.
2) sK if pd has the sQ we have 5 tricks. If not I can think about my 2nd play.

[hrothgar]

Here is one from yesterday to test drive your "art", what do you lead from this hand on the following auction?

S AQ54
H QJ2
D KQ76
C 63

Part LHO You RHO
Pass 3N Pass Pass 3N=gamble, no side A/K
Pass

Your lead.

This depends on how many clubs the opponents promise: If they promise a 7 card suit, then I am cahsing the Ace of Spades. I'll be able to look at dummy and know the "right" shift. If the opponents only promise a 6 card suit, then I am going to lead the Queen of Hearts.

[hrothgar]

Hand 2.
Here is another one....
S AK3
H AK753
D K64
C 85


LHO Pard RHO you
1D Pass 1S 2H
X Pass 2N Pass (dbl was support x)
3N all pass

Your lead (real world problem)?

Spade Ace

[The Ace normally asks for attitude. The King would ask for count]

[Laird]

Hello

In another posting you quote Pall Marston as leading canape leads, 'I will note that Paul Marston advocates canape leads in many circumstances'. .. what are they and can you give an example please?
thanks
John

[the hog]

John, I probably should not answer for R, but canape leads are as follows:
You are on lead against 1N 3N say and you hold
KJxxx
Kxxx
xx
xx
You or I would lead our 4th best S. Marston advocates leading his 4th best H. He claims this is less likely to cost a trick, and he has had some spectacular success. However they have not really caught on here and you never hear of spectacular failures.

Maybe Luis can do some sort of simulation to see what is more successful?

[luis]

Quote

John, I probably should not answer for R, but canape leads are as follows:
You are on lead against 1N 3N say and you hold
KJxxx
Kxxx
xx
xx
You or I would lead our 4th best S. Marston advocates leading his 4th best H. He claims this is less likely to cost a trick, and he has had some spectacular success. However they have not really caught on here and you never hear of spectacular failures.

Maybe Luis can do some sort of simulation to see what is more successful?

At imps the best lead is a spade. If you want to defeat the contract a spade gives the defense the best chances.
At MPs a spade is -in fact- the WORST lead and a low heart is best, yes a minor suit is better than a spade at MPs. The logic behind this is very simple a spade lead gives away a trick or 2 more frequently than a low heart lead.

So low spades at IMPs and los heart at MPs.
Nice example Ron !

[EricK]

Quote

John, I probably should not answer for R, but canape leads are as follows:
You are on lead against 1N 3N say and you hold
KJxxx
Kxxx
xx
xx
You or I would lead our 4th best S. Marston advocates leading his 4th best H. He claims this is less likely to cost a trick, and he has had some spectacular success. However they have not really caught on here and you never hear of spectacular failures.

Maybe Luis can do some sort of simulation to see what is more successful?

Last night I held this hand

ATxx
KJxxx
T
Kxx

The opposition bidding went 1NT 2C; 2D 2NT; 3NT (weak NT, 2C promised a 4 card major)

I led the fourth best heart. Not a success as dummy had A987 and declarer had the Queen. A spade would have given us the first 5 tricks. partner had the King, opponent's spades were 2-2.

Eric