[kgr]

Some time ago I had this problem:
You bid 1NT-3NT and opps start ♦3.
In ♦ you have:
KJ in Dummy and xxx in your hand.
I played the J and RHO had the Q and 3NT was down.
Then I was thinking: Maybe opps will rather choose a suit like Axxx then Qxxx to start from, so it is better to play the K in this case?

[pbleighton]

The king will score if the ace is with the opening leader, which is likely playing fourth best. Always play the king against a NT contract.

Against a suit contract, people usually don't lead the ace without having the king, so you should play the jack.

Peter

[ArtK78]

For what it is worth, Victor Mitchell was a firm believer in the fact that the worst holding to lead from was Qxxx. So, if you think that the opening leader would be unlikely to have chosen to lead from Qxxx on your auction, then the K is the right play.

Usually, you have something else to go on in making your decision. But, all other things being equal, the K is probably the right play.

[Codo]

Jlall, on Aug 12 2007, 02:23 AM, said:

Vs good opps I play the jack since many good players would rather lead from like xxx and than Axxx. Against bad opps I play the king since they lead 4th from their longest and strongest so if they had both an Axxx and a Qxxx they'd lead Axxx since its stronger.

Maybe I misunderstood your first point, but if the good opp lead from xxx it does not matter, so the king seems still to be right if you compare xxx(x) with Axxx.

Do you really belive that more good opps will lead from Qxxx then from Axxx?

[skjaeran]

Jlall, on Aug 13 2007, 09:26 AM, said:

Codo, on Aug 13 2007, 02:14 AM, said:

Do you really belive that more good opps will lead from Qxxx then from Axxx?

yes absolutely

Agree. I very seldom lead from Axxx vs 3NT. I need a good reason to lead from the most certain entry I've got.

[ralph23]

FWIW, Bill Root gives this example and advice in How To Defend A Bridge Hand, chapter 1, Example 11 on opening leads at NT:

"♠85
♥K52
♦A853
♣Q764

When the choice is between two four-card suits, one headed by the ace and the other headed by a king or queen, it is usually better to lead the suit without the ace. The recommended lead here is the four of clubs."

(Emphasis in original).

[Trumpace]

In the book: Opening Leads in Bridge, by Tony Sowter

The author gives this example:

Scoring: IMP

---

Out of the three possible 4 cards suits to lead, he recommends leading a heart.

(Contract is 3NT. 1NT - 3NT is the bidding sequence.)

Sorry if it is irrelevant to the thread.

[jdonn]

It's always nice when examples of opening leads include auctions, or at least contracts...

[pclayton]

ralph23, on Aug 13 2007, 08:54 AM, said:

FWIW, Bill Root gives this example and advice in How To Defend A Bridge Hand, chapter 1, Example 11 on opening leads at NT:

"♠85
♥K52
♦A853
♣Q764

When the choice is between two four-card suits, one headed by the ace and the other headed by a king or queen, it is usually better to lead the suit without the ace. The recommended lead here is the four of clubs."

(Emphasis in original).

Kaplan (Root's frequent teammate) felt the opposite, especially when the choice was between Axxx and Kxxx. He felt (and I can't understand why) that Axxx was superior.

[Trumpace]

jdonn, on Aug 13 2007, 01:50 PM, said:

It's always nice when examples of opening leads include auctions, or at least contracts...

oops. hehe.

I have edited the post.

[FrancesHinden]

jdonn, on Aug 13 2007, 07:50 PM, said:

It's always nice when examples of opening leads include auctions, or at least contracts...

While we are into generalisations, I agree with Jlall. But if we start making up specific hands, then

Suppose the auction was 1S P P 1NT P 3NT all pass and the 2 of diamonds (4th highest) is led:

Kxx
Kxx
KJ
QJ10xx

AQx
Jxx
xxx
Axxx

now you will of course put the K up.

[ralph23]

jdonn, on Aug 13 2007, 01:50 PM, said:

It's always nice when examples of opening leads include auctions, or at least contracts...

Root didn't give the auction or contract in his example, so you'll have to take it up with him, except it's too late for that.

One thing for sure, the contract wasn't 7 nt...

[Trumpace]

Hey! Wait a minute.

Why are we discussing only Axxx vs Qxxx ?

In the original problem, LHO could have led from a 5 card suit, Axxxx. Right?

Does that change anything? If not, why not?

[kgr]

Apparantly experts prefer to lead from Qxxx as opposed to Axxx against 3NT. I 'm surprised by this, but the logic seems that you want to keep an entry with the A.
 
Is this the same when playing MP's? It seems that the chance to give away a trick is higher when leading from Qxxx vs Axxx ?

[zasanya]

kgr, on Aug 14 2007, 02:59 AM, said:

Apparantly experts prefer to lead from Qxxx as opposed to Axxx against 3NT. I 'm surprised by this, but the logic seems that you want to keep an entry with the A.
 
Is this the same when playing MP's? It seems that the chance to give away a trick is higher when leading from Qxxx vs Axxx ?

I too am surprised.kgr has put forth a plausible reason for not leading from Q.The reason for not leading from A (preserving entry) seems less plausible.Can somebody enlighten us?
One reason that occurs to me (While making this post!) is we need some honors with P.If they are in suit headed by Q we will make more tricks because the A will always win a trick.But if Partners honors are in suit headed by A we will make 1less trick.Is that right?

[ArtK78]

The problem here is trying to determine what is right in one suit in isolation rather than in the context of the entire hand.

I find that experts prefer to lead almost anything else than a suit of Qxxx. The lead from the unsupported queen is very likely to give up a trick. A lead from Axxx is safer in that regard, as it is less likely to give up a trick.

As far as entry-preserving is concerned, a low lead from an Ace will not give up an entry. Of course, leading another suit will also not give up the entry.

All other things being equal, I believe that a lead from an unsupported queen is less likely to be an expert's choice than a lead from an unsupported ace. However, all other things are rarely equal.

[ralph23]

ArtK78, on Aug 14 2007, 09:15 AM, said:

The problem here is trying to determine what is right in one suit in isolation rather than in the context of the entire hand.

I find that experts prefer to lead almost anything else than a suit of Qxxx. The lead from the unsupported queen is very likely to give up a trick. A lead from Axxx is safer in that regard, as it is less likely to give up a trick.

As far as entry-preserving is concerned, a low lead from an Ace will not give up an entry. Of course, leading another suit will also not give up the entry.

All other things being equal, I believe that a lead from an unsupported queen is less likely to be an expert's choice than a lead from an unsupported ace. However, all other things are rarely equal.

Well, it was an opening lead problem, so the leader only knows his own hand and the bidding, which was stipulated in the writeup to be 1nt - 3nt.

Bill Root addressed this setup exactly in his book, which was posted earlier, and he recommended underleading the Queen instead of the Ace.

I think (hope maybe) that all agree that he was an expert.

I've not seen any published recommendation the other way, by any other expert author. Are there any ?