[jocdelevat]

Hi all
I play SAYC(BBObasic SAYC) and my level is intermediate(beginner-intermediate).
I red a post on "general bridge discusion" which pop up in mind a question. I saw some players put in their profiles "do not lead trump". Now my questions are: 1.when a trump lead is a good lead?
2.what can be the reason for avoiding a trump lead in all situations.

What i learned is to lead trump:
1. when opener bid 2 suits and his p pass or weak response
2.the final contract is a weak bid.

Thank you in advance for your advice
Best regards
Jocdelevat

[awm]

Some people have an allergy to trump leads. Others have an allergy to underleading aces, or underleading kings, or queens, or jacks... or leading from three small. I wouldn't read too much into people's lead preferences, especially the ones that don't mention the auction.

Anyways, the goal on lead is usually to try and figure out how declarer is going to make the hand, and then stop him. If he's going to crossruff, a trump lead is often good. If he can set up some side suit, then an aggressive lead often pays off. If he's just going to take a bunch of finesses then a passive lead tends to be best. Obviously you don't always know which of these is the case.

[Sigi_BC84]

The reason for people putting this into their profiles is probably that firstly, a trump lead is more often bad than beneficial and secondly that people tend to lead a trump because they have no other attractive lead. But basically, such a statement in your profile assumes that your pickup partner will be a bonehead.

I'm far from being an expert, but usually I lead a trump when

• the opponents have clearly bid on distribution (leading a trump will cut down their ruffing power and hence reduce the total value of their hand)
  
• the bidding suggests distributional values in dummy or in both hands (often the case when it took them a few bids to agree on a trump suit)
  
• we have more trumps than declarer (eg. after a penalty pass)

Eddie Kantar's Modern Bridge Defense has a very nice chapter on trump leads. I recommend you get that book.

--Sigi

[whereagles]

Opening leads have more to do with judgement than with rules. Some more books:

- Robert Ewen, 'Opening leads' <--- the masterpiece, in my opinion
- Easley Blackwood, 'Complete book on opening leads'
- Mike Lawrence, 'Opening leads'
- Hugh Kelsey, 'Test your opening leads' (quite advanced)

[hotShot]

The maximum number of tricks a declarer can get with his trumps is playing a crossruff. In an ideal case with a void in his hand and at dummy, he can make a trick with each trump in each hand.
If this is the case, leading trump will reduce 2 crossruff tricks to one trump trick.

The other situation where a trump lead is the right choice is, if declarer needs to ruff on the side holding only few trumps (1-2).

In allmost all other cases the downsides of leading a trump will overweight a possible use.
1) While your side is on lead, you control the game. You decide what suits are developed and you can get your quick tricks, before declarer can drop his loosers.
2) Leading a trump is playing a trump finesse for the declarer, this is very helpfull.

A good trump lead is a winner, but lots of weak player follow the rule "If you don't know what to do, play trump!". Following this rule will be a looser at least 9 times out of 10.

[Al_U_Card]

Always lead trump, when it is right......

Since it can give away the most important suit in the hand, be very selective. One of the main "right" times is when dummy has taken a "preference" and that is the trump suit. This means that he has less cards in declarer's other suit than in the one that he took the preference for. So, say dummy now has 3 trumps and a singleton in declarer's 2nd suit. What will declarer try to do? He will want to ruff away his 2nd suit losers with dummy's small trumps. Leading a trump in this case (even from Kx) is almost always right.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

I just want to raise one point in favour
of trump leads:
A trump lead is usually a passive lead,
(assuming you hold xx, or xxx)
i.e. if you decide you need to go passive
a trump lead is often a good way to achieve
this.

Most of the time, espesically , if they bid thin
games, you need to go passive, you do
not want to throw away tricks with the lead.
If you always go passive, you will more often
be right than wrong.

Sometimes you will simplify declarers life, because
he had a 2-way guess for the Queen, but that is
not to often.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[keylime]

I'm a frequent trump leader, and have found that these leads when appropriate gain more often than they lose.

[helene_t]

When you have strength in opener's (or dummy's) second suit, he will probably try to ruff he's loosers in that suit in the dummy (or the hand) and it will often be correct to lead a trump to reduce the number of ruffs he can make.

[luke warm]

helene_t, on Apr 7 2006, 01:02 PM, said:

When you have strength in opener's (or dummy's) second suit, he will probably try to ruff he's loosers in that suit in the dummy (or the hand) and it will often be correct to lead a trump to reduce the number of ruffs he can make.

yeah, i pretty much always lead a trump in this case and when responder has taken a preference and when opener is 3 suited and against a grand

[EricK]

helene_t, on Apr 7 2006, 06:02 PM, said:

When you have strength in opener's (or dummy's) second suit, he will probably try to ruff he's loosers in that suit in the dummy (or the hand) and it will often be correct to lead a trump to reduce the number of ruffs he can make.

Other times in the same scenarios it is better not to lead trumps but to let partner over-ruff dummy (or declarer shorten the trumps in his own hand)

[barmar]

If declarer seems to be in an 8-card fit, it's usually unwise to lead trumps when you only have two. Partner may have Kxx or KTx, and your lead may allow declarer to pick up the suit (and perhaps still ruff in dummy), when he couldn't do this by drawing trumps himself.

On the other hand, if you have three small, partner's potential Kx can be picked up in two rounds no matter who leads it, so it's less dangerous.

It may be safe to lead from Kxx -- the A is likely to be in declarer's hand, so you'll still get to win your K eventually. But there are some layouts where this blows up the suit, like AJx opposite Qxxxx or AQxxx opposite Jx; declarer can let the lead ride around to his hand and then finesse. Listen to the auction, and if declarer is longer and stronger than dummy then the lead is more likely to be safe.

[barmar]

Note, however, that trump leads are the one case where it's usually OK to underlead an Ace. Although it may give up a trick if partner has the Q, this is relatively unlikely. And if you have a side entry, you can then cash the A and lead another to draw lots of trumps (if you don't have a side entry, it might be better to cash the A on the opening lead, so you can draw two rounds of trumps).

[Trumpace]

barmar, on Apr 12 2006, 05:06 PM, said:

Note, however, that trump leads are the one case where it's usually OK to underlead an Ace.  Although it may give up a trick if partner has the Q, this is relatively unlikely.  And if you have a side entry, you can then cash the A and lead another to draw lots of trumps (if you don't have a side entry, it might be better to cash the A on the opening lead, so you can draw two rounds of trumps).

You have it backwards.

If you don't have a side entry it is better to lead low from Axx, so that when partner gets in he can lead a trump which you win and lead the third trump.
(and if you have Axxx, a forcing lead might be better)

If you have a sure side entry then A followed by small might be better. (as that draws two trumps from dummy right off the bat). Leading low might not work in the cases where declarer needs just k-1 ruffs (k being the trump length in dummy) and can do so without losing the lead.

[barmar]

Trumpace, on Apr 12 2006, 05:41 PM, said:

If you don't have a side entry it is better to lead low from Axx, so that when partner gets in he can lead a trump which you win and lead the third trump.
(and if you have Axxx, a forcing lead might be better)

Good point, although if they're in a 9-card fit then partner won't be able to lead that trump.

[Trumpace]

barmar, on Apr 12 2006, 07:06 PM, said:

Trumpace, on Apr 12 2006, 05:41 PM, said:

If you don't have a side entry it is better to lead low from Axx, so that when partner gets in he can lead a trump which you win and lead the third trump.
(and if you have Axxx, a forcing lead might be better)

Good point, although if they're in a 9-card fit then partner won't be able to lead that trump.

Yes, but the bidding will probably point to a 9 card fit.

Anyway, what to lead depends on the bidding and what you hold... so there is no hard and fast rule...