This “Thursday Tip” actually comes from a Friday at X-Clubs, on 15-Aug. There are TWO tips, and they are both contradictory, yet complementary. Let me first quote the American great Mike Lawrence (apologies all round if I have the wrong person) who said: “God did not deal you the ace and king in the same suit for you to lead any other suit”. I totally agree, why wouldn’t I? But now let me remind you of the number of times I have documented my advice about trump leads, the general gist being: “Trump leads usually only help declarer because the first thing most declarers do is to draw trumps, so why do it for them? Singleton trump leads can be particularly disastrous because they often allow declarer to pick up a lower honour like the queen or jack when declarer would have been unlikely to do so himself. But there are always exceptions.” One such exception that I have cited often enough is when declarer has bid to a game or slam all on their own, with an obviously self sufficient suit and no regard for partner’s negative response or responses. The only thing of value in dummy might be a queen or jack, about which we can do nothing about or, an unlikely “ruffing value” (which we can do something about). When declarer has all the strength, it is vital that the defenders give nothing away, and a trump lead is therefore the only option, unless it is clearly evident that there is a better lead. Take a look at the following deal and I must admit that the bidding may have been a bit different some of the time, but I believe South has a clear 2C opening and then a 4H bid opposite North’s negative 2D. What should West lead?
Board 1 from X-Clubs 15/09/2025
Dealer N Nil Vul
There was only one trump lead across all of X-Clubs and nearly all Wests chose the ace or king of clubs, whichever their partnership agreement dictated. Many Wests, despite seeing a singleton trump in dummy, did not switch to a trump even then, and allowed declarer to make five. The EW pair that found the impeccable defence and gave nothing away were rewarded with a 90% board, but this being match points, why worry when leading the top club and switching to a trump would have scored 60% anyway. But....if this had been in a teams match or Swiss Pairs, it would have given West a real chance for a real coup. I don’t believe that, given the bidding, anything other than a trump lead from the West hand would defeat 4H, though it might possibly give an overtrick away. That is the difference between teams and match points!
962
T7
JT98764
J