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Never…well Maybe…No, Must!

“Never ever ever” you are told as you first learn the game about under-leading aces against suit contracts. Eventually, the message sinks in. Occasionally, you have an outstanding success where partner has the king and declarer the queen with or without the jack. There is the little matter about partner having to remember that third hand plays high, usually!

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Otherwise, we all learn the hard way, like singleton king in dummy when an unkind declarer looks surprised and informs your partner without moving their lips as to what you have done!                                                                                          

There are occasions when you could try the under-lead, either at trick one or subsequently, when partner will not frown at you, like when the strong hand is known to be in dummy and where there is at least a reasonable chance that partner will oblige with the king or the queen. A “feel good” dream of many would be to underlead an ace against a slam, a small slam, mind you, and to give declarer that horrible guess of who holds the ace and the queen. (Side tip: if you attempt this play, have your mind made up early to do it. A 15-minute delay followed by a small club would make a declarer very suspicious!)

When declarer has a weak one or two suiter with the strong dummy to be tabled in game is a time you might try such a ploy. Not compulsory but a valid option…and perhaps not one we should tell less experienced players. Opening lead mayhem would be let loose.

However, there are, of course, times when you must underlead your ace, well an ace not every one. Did you?:

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West Deals
None Vul
A K Q 8 5
4
Q 3 2
A K Q 5
10 6
A 6 3 2
A J 10 7
J 8 6
 
N
W   E
S
   
West North East South
You Dummy    
Pass 1  1  Pass
1  Dbl 2  2 
3  4  All pass  

 

A little explanation to the bidding. The opening 1Diamond-small shows a spade opener. Your 1Spade-small shows heart support and is interested in game… but North shows a strong hand and partner does not! When South puts their feet in the water, they find themselves raised to game.

You lead Heart-smallA and partner follows with Heart-small9 and declarer Heart-small10. Where to from here?

The first point to make is that your partner has at least 5 hearts from which to choose…maybe not the king if that was unsupported. They chose, therefore, to play Heart-small9, by no means their lowest heart. As is normal when a singleton appears on the table in a suit contract, it is a great idea to play suit-preference signals. Here, the Heart-small9 suggests a switch to the higher non-trump suit, diamonds.

That’s kind of great news as that looks like your only possible source of tricks. So, could your partner have a diamond singleton requiring you to play your ace now? That would give your side 3 tricks but would signal an end to the defence.

However, it is possible that your partner has the Diamond-smallK. After all, they did overcall. So, lay down that Diamond-smallA….and the defence may as well pack up and get on with the next board.

West Deals
None Vul
A K Q 8 5
4
Q 3 2
A K Q 5
10 6
A 6 3 2
A J 10 7
J 8 6
 
N
W   E
S
 
J 9 3
Q J 9 8 7 5
K 8
10 4
 
7 4 2
K 10
9 6 5 4
9 7 3 2
West North East South
Pass 1  1  Pass
1  Dbl 2  2 
3  4  All pass  

 

You were dealt, fortunately, both Diamond-smallJ and Diamond-small10. Use them. Assuming your partner does have the king, you do not have to play the ace first up. If declarer covers, it will soon become apparent to your partner where the ace is. If declarer does not cover, you will still be on lead..and now you can play your ace. Down comes the king and the defence will soon score a diamond ruff to beat the contract. Note that if you have three diamond tricks to take, then it does not matter with which diamond you start. With Kx across the table, it matters a lot!

Do not be lulled by a computer program that tells you can beat the contract by two tricks if you lead Diamond-smallJ at trick 1 and when ducked follow with Diamond-small10 to the king.. heart return, Diamond-smallA and then a fourth diamond promoting partner’s Spade-smallJ as a trick. It is all true but the Diamond-smallJ is a silly initial lead when you have a perfectly reasonable alternative of the Heart-smallA.

and if you are still at the stage when you are told never to lead low from an ace against a suit contract, the heart lay-out above is a perfect example why: you cannot guarantee that partner holds the Heart-smallK even though they overcalled.

Note also that the underlead of the Diamond-smallA is required if the more normal (for this deal) North hand is declarer unless East is inspired enough to start off with the Diamond-smallK. On a heart lead, covered (just in case an uninspired East led from AQJ!), declarer can guess to duck the second round after the Diamond-smallA lead at trick 2.  

Never…well Maybe…No, Must! In order of frequency..but not at trick 1.

No worries about under-leading aces with tomorrow’s problem…or are there?

South Deals
E-W Vul
J 10
A 10 9 2
K Q 4
Q 9 5 3
   
N
W   E
S
 
7 6 4 3
K
9 7 5
A K J 7 2
West North East South
  Dummy You  
      1 
Pass 4  All pass  

 North- South are playing 5-card majors.

Partner leads Club-small8 to your Jack and declarer’s 10. You expose one little false card by playing Club-smallK next with declarer following with Club-small6 and partner Club-small4. Where to from here for a successful defence?

You have all day to plan. See you Easter Saturday.

Richard Solomon

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