{"id":2573,"date":"2011-06-16T00:10:53","date_gmt":"2011-06-16T08:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/?p=2573"},"modified":"2013-01-08T20:35:50","modified_gmt":"2013-01-09T04:35:50","slug":"polling-you-68-bridge-defense-broken-leads-day-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/?p=2573","title":{"rendered":"Polling You #68, Bridge Defense, Broken Leads, Day 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this lesson, again we focus on the opening lead when the opponents work their way into a 3 Notrump contract.\u00a0 As we\u2019ve seen earlier in our Incredible Defender series when playing against Notrump contracts, sound opening leads include top of sequence leads, fourth best leads, leading partner\u2019s bid suit, signaling count to partner, etc.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to view Part 1a of the video commentary<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to view Part 1b of the video commentary<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Free Membership – Click here to view Part 2, hand #1 of our video commentary<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Premium\/ULTRA – Click here to view Part 3, hand 3 of our video commentary<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

In this lesson, we turn our attention to leads from broken suits.\u00a0 Among the most common lead opposite a Notrump contract is:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Fourth best leads promising an honor \u2013 i.e., the bottom of \u201csomething.\u201d <\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Lead the top of a broken sequence \u2013 an honor sequence with 3 of 4, missing the third spot (as Queen from QJ9\u2026).\u00a0 <\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Lead the top of an interior sequence \u2013 an honor sequence again with 3 of 4, missing the second spot (the Jack from KJ109\u2026). <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    While we may have heard of these leads, perhaps we are not entirely convinced of their effectiveness to maximize our defensive trick taking ability.\u00a0 Fair enough, few opening leads are guaranteed to work flawlessly under all conditions!\u00a0\u00a0 Indeed, aspiring Bridge players are still required to think.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In earlier lessons we\u2019ve discussed inferences, pointing out the benefits of going far beyond looking at your 13 cards.\u00a0 Listening to the bidding is critical.\u00a0 Be an inquisitive Bridge player, asking yourself questions like:<\/strong><\/div>\n
      \n
    1. What were the opponents\u2019 bids?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/li>\n
    2. How high did they go and what are their estimated combined points?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/li>\n
    3. What do you know about their hand shape? <\/strong><\/li>\n
    4. How many points does that leave for your partner?<\/strong><\/li>\n
    5. Did your partner bid? (or perhaps pass an opportunity to double opponents\u2019 artificial bid)<\/strong><\/li>\n
    6. Did the opponents auction proceed smoothly or did they hesitate, make inadvertent gestures and the like (players must never deliberately signal their partner), make inaudible noises and the like?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      On the first three hands, the opening leader West has identical cards.\u00a0\u00a0 So having given due diligence analyzing the bidding, you\u2019re ready to table your opening lead from a broken sequence hoping for the best.\u00a0 Okay, here we go\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

      <\/p>\n

      Polling You 68, Lead 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n
      Board 3<\/em><\/strong>
      \nSouth Deals
      \nE-W Vul<\/td>\n      		\u2660 7 6 5
      \n\u2665<\/span> K 4 2
      \n\u2666<\/span> A J 10 3 2
      \n\u2663 5 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      \u2660 10 4
      \n\u2665<\/span> J 10 8 5 3
      \n\u2666<\/span> K Q
      \n\u2663 A 9 3 2<\/td>\n      		\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      N<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      W<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\nE<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      S<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\u2660 K 9 8 3 2
      \n\u2665<\/span> A Q 7
      \n\u2666<\/span> 5 4
      \n\u2663 8 7 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      <\/td>\n\u2660 A Q J
      \n\u2665<\/span> 9 6
      \n\u2666<\/span> 9 8 7 6
      \n\u2663 K Q J 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n
      West<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      <\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n1 \u2663<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Pass<\/td>\n1 \u2666<\/span><\/td>\nPass<\/td>\n1 N<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      All pass<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      Trick<\/em><\/td>\nWest<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      1. W<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> J<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 2<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 7<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      2. W<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 3<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 4<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> Q<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      3. E<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 5<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> K<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> A<\/span><\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      4. E<\/td>\n\u2663 A<\/span><\/td>\n\u2663 4<\/td>\n\u2663 8<\/td>\n\u2663 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      5. W<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 10<\/span><\/td>\n\u2660 5<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 4<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      6. W<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 8<\/span><\/td>\n\u2660 6<\/td>\n\u2663 6<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      7. W<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> K<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> A<\/span><\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 5<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      8. N<\/td>\n\u2660 4<\/td>\n\u2660 7<\/td>\n\u2660 2<\/td>\n\u2660 J<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      9. S<\/td>\n\u2663 2<\/td>\n\u2663 5<\/td>\n\u2663 7<\/td>\n\u2663 K<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      10. S<\/td>\n\u2663 3<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 2<\/td>\n\u2660 3<\/td>\n\u2663 Q<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      11. S<\/td>\n\u2663 9<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 3<\/td>\n\u2660 8<\/td>\n\u2663 J<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      12. S<\/td>\n\u2660 10<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 10<\/td>\n\u2660 9<\/td>\n\u2660 A<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      13. S<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> Q<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> J<\/td>\n\u2660 K<\/span><\/td>\n\u2660 Q<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

      Lead #1 –\u00a0<\/strong>With 13 High Card Points, South opens 1 Club \u2013 the stronger four card minor suit.\u00a0 North descriptively bids 1 Diamond with 3 honors and a 5 card suit.\u00a0 Looking for extra points in a Notrump contract, South rebids 1 Notrump.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      The declarer\u2019s side appears to hold 19-22 points, leaving 18-21 remaining points.\u00a0 Holding 10 HCP, West deduces partner East may hold 8-11 points.\u00a0 West attempt to pin a Heart honor in the dummy, lead the Heart Jack hoping to promote your Hearts before the opponents promote their long Diamond suit.\u00a0 North holds the King back until the third trick.\u00a0 While East no longer has an entry to West\u2019s promoted Heart suit, East returns a Club to West\u2019s Ace for 6 tricks.\u00a0 Eventually, East\u2019s Spade King takes the setting trick.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Polling You 68, Lead 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n
      Board 1<\/em><\/strong>
      \nNorth Deals
      \nNone Vul<\/td>\n      		\u2660 7 6 5
      \n\u2665<\/span> K
      \n\u2666<\/span> A 7 6
      \n\u2663 K Q J 10 8 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      \u2660 10 4
      \n\u2665<\/span> J 10 8 5 3
      \n\u2666<\/span> K Q
      \n\u2663 A 9 3 2<\/td>\n      		\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      N<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      W<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\nE<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      S<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\u2660 K Q J 9 8 3 2
      \n\u2665<\/span> 4 2
      \n\u2666<\/span> 4 3 2
      \n\u2663 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      <\/td>\n\u2660 A
      \n\u2665<\/span> A Q 9 7 6
      \n\u2666<\/span> J 10 9 8 5
      \n\u2663 6 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      West<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      <\/td>\n1 \u2663<\/td>\n1 \u2660<\/td>\n2 \u2665<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Pass<\/td>\n3 \u2663<\/td>\nPass<\/td>\n3 \u2666<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Pass<\/td>\n3 \u2660<\/td>\nDbl<\/td>\n3 N<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      All pass<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      Trick<\/em><\/td>\nWest<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      1. W<\/td>\n\u2660 10<\/td>\n\u2660 5<\/td>\n\u2660 J<\/td>\n\u2660 A<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      2. S<\/td>\n\u2663 A<\/span><\/td>\n\u2663 7<\/td>\n\u2663 4<\/td>\n\u2663 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      3. W<\/td>\n\u2660 4<\/td>\n\u2660 6<\/td>\n\u2660 8<\/span><\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      4. E<\/td>\n\u2663 2<\/td>\n\u2660 7<\/td>\n\u2660 K<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      5. E<\/td>\n\u2663 3<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 6<\/td>\n\u2660 Q<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      6. E<\/td>\n\u2663 9<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 7<\/td>\n\u2660 9<\/span><\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      7. E<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 3<\/td>\n\u2663 8<\/td>\n\u2660 3<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      8. E<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 5<\/td>\n\u2663 10<\/td>\n\u2660 2<\/span><\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

      Lead #2 \u2013\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

      North bids 1 Club with 13 High Card Points plus a few more for the excellent Club suit minus one for the stiff Heart King.\u00a0 With a 7 Losing Trick Count hand, East should be 1 Spade (too nice to preempt 3 Spades).\u00a0 South responds 2 Heart, the higher of the two 5 card suits.\u00a0 With an excellent 6 card Club suit, North rebids 3 Club.\u00a0 South responds 3 Diamonds, using \u201cpicture bids\u201d to fully describe South\u2019s red-suited hand.\u00a0 Unsure what to do next after South\u2019s forcing bid, North cuebids East\u2019s Spade suit at the 3 level.\u00a0 East wastes no time doubling the artificial cuebid for lead direction and South rebids 3 Notrump.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      When East expresses strong interest in the Spade suit (Spades bid and doubled opponents 3S cuebid), West cooperates with partner East, lacking a better plan.\u00a0 While the opponents seem to have 25 distributional points, holding 10 points and an opportunity to help partner along with a re-entry (Club Ace or high Diamond), West leads the Spade 10 \u2013 the top of doubleton.\u00a0\u00a0 With West\u2019s Spade re-entry, South is set 3 tricks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Polling You 68, Lead 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n
      Board 1<\/em><\/strong>
      \nNorth Deals
      \nNone Vul<\/td>\n      		\u2660 A K Q J 9 8 7
      \n\u2665<\/span> \u2014
      \n\u2666<\/span> 2
      \n\u2663 J 10 8 7 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      \u2660 10 4
      \n\u2665<\/span> J 10 8 5
      \n\u2666<\/span> K Q 3
      \n\u2663 A 9 3 2<\/td>\n      		\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      N<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      W<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\nE<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      S<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\u2660 6 5 3 2
      \n\u2665<\/span> 3 2
      \n\u2666<\/span> 9 8 7 6 5 4
      \n\u2663 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      <\/td>\n\u2660 \u2014
      \n\u2665<\/span> A K Q 9 7 6 4
      \n\u2666<\/span> A J 10
      \n\u2663 K Q 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      West<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      <\/td>\n1 \u2660<\/td>\nPass<\/td>\n3 \u2665<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Pass<\/td>\n4 \u2660<\/td>\nPass<\/td>\n4 N<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Pass<\/td>\n5 \u2666<\/span><\/td>\nPass<\/td>\n5 \u2665<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Pass<\/td>\n5 \u2660<\/td>\nPass<\/td>\n5 N<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      All pass<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      Trick<\/em><\/td>\nWest<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      1. W<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> K<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 2<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 4<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> A<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      2. S<\/td>\n\u2663 2<\/td>\n\u2663 5<\/td>\n\u2663 4<\/td>\n\u2663 Q<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      3. S<\/td>\n\u2663 3<\/td>\n\u2663 7<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 5<\/td>\n\u2663 K<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      4. S<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 5<\/td>\n\u2660 7<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 2<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> A<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      5. S<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 8<\/td>\n\u2660 8<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 3<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> K<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      6. S<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 10<\/td>\n\u2660 9<\/td>\n\u2660 2<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> Q<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      7. S<\/td>\n\u2663 A<\/span><\/td>\n\u2663 8<\/td>\n\u2660 3<\/td>\n\u2663 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      8. W<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> J<\/span><\/td>\n\u2660 J<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 6<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      9. W<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> Q<\/span><\/td>\n\u2663 10<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 7<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

      Lead #3 –\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

      North opens 1 Spade with a fantastic Spade suit and a black handed 4 Losing Trick Count Hand, despite only holding 11 High Card Points.\u00a0 With a huge 19 HCP hand and excellent Heart suit, South makes a strong jump shift to 3 Hearts.\u00a0 From here the auction goes bad, North disregarding South\u2019s assertion as captain, questionably jumping back to 4 Spades.\u00a0 Befuddled, South bids 4 Notrump, both probably clueless whether the bid is \u201cto play\u201d or Ace asking.\u00a0 Uncertain, North bids 5 Diamond showing 1 Ace.\u00a0 South returns to 5 Heart, ostensibly to play but with a void North makes another questionable call balancing in 5 Notrump buying an overboard auction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      On defense, it\u2019s clear the opponents have shown long major suits with a misfit.\u00a0 At a lower contract level, West would lead the Heart Jack from a broken sequence.\u00a0\u00a0 But with South strongly bidding Hearts, try leading the Diamond King hoping to later win a Heart (or partner a Spade).\u00a0 On play, West must not let North win a Club trick, holding back with the Club Ace.\u00a0 After East shows out on the second Club trick, West knows the suit splits 5-4-3-1.\u00a0 Incidentally, when opponents are in 6 Notrump (as opposed to 6 in a suit contract), we seldom lead away from a King or Queen \u2013 better to make the declarer guess finesses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Free, Premium and ULTRA members – please login to view video of additional hand\/s <\/strong><\/p>\nPlease login or register to view this content.<\/strong> \u00a0<\/strong> Please login or register to view this content.
      \nPlease login or register to view this content.<\/p>\n

      Happy Bridge Trails and Tales,<\/strong><\/p>\n

      BridgeHands<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      JavaScript needs to be enabled for polling to work. Online Surveys by Constant Contact. —— In this lesson, again we focus on the opening lead when the opponents work their way into a 3 Notrump contract.\u00a0 As we\u2019ve seen earlier in our Incredible Defender series when playing against Notrump contracts, sound opening leads include top […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2573"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2575,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573\/revisions\/2575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}