Trump Leads by Matthias Huberschwiller

Inexperienced players are often scared by trump leads, since it's the opponent's suit, they may think it's always a bad idea.

But it can be a very good lead, for example when declarer wants to set up a cross-ruff, it can prevent him for making as many ruffs as he would like to.

But it can also be dangerous, blowing a trick in the suit, if done at the wrong time.

Let's find out when to lead trumps, and when not to.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ 7 4 2
♥ K 6 2
♦ K 7 6 5 2
♣ K 3

Q: 1 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	4♠	Pass
Pass	Pass

A: 2♠ - North has a weak hand with 5 cards in Spades. Your partner is probably void. Therefore, you won't give away any tricks in trumps.

On the other hand, every other suit could be very dangerous, since declarer could have a tenace in any of them, and you would have no clues of which is safe and which is dangerous to lead.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ J 6 2
♥ A 6 5 2
♦ Q 2
♣ J 6 4 3

Q: 2 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
4♠	Pass	Pass	Pass

A: 3♣ - Every lead is dangerous, you need to choose the lesser evil.

Spades is too dangerous: Every time your partner has an honor, you may blow a trick. For instance: with Jxx opposite Qx, you are certain to make a spade trick. But if you lead the suit, declarer will capture the Queen, and later finesse your jack.

You can't lead Hearts or Diamonds. The only choice is Clubs, even though it could also give away a trick, the risk of this is lower than the other suits.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ Q 6 5 2
♥ 7
♦ K 6 4 2
♣ A 9 6 3

Q: 3 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	2 NT*	Pass
4♥	Pass	Pass	Pass

2 NT - Jacoby, 4 card-Heart fit, forcing to game

A: 2♠ - Leading a singleton trump is too dangerous: If your partner has Queen third, you'll blow the suit, since declarer would not finesse with a 9-card fit.

The least dangerous of the other suits is Spades, which is headed by the smallest honor card.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ Q J 10
♥ 7
♦ K J 6 5 2
♣ Q 7 6 3

Q: 4 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
4♠	Pass	Pass	Pass

A: Q♠ - This singleton looks attractive, but let's think about it: You have a natural trump trick, so you will be ruffing "with your own money". And with that quite strong hand of yours, you won't be able to get back to your partner enough times for that lead to be worth it.

The minor suits look very unattractive, while leading a Spade could prevent ruffs, and with no risk of blowing a trick, since you are 100% certain of making a trick in that suit (maybe 2 if your partner has an honor of his own).

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 9 6
♥ A Q 9 7
♦ J 4 2
♣ K 6 3 2

Q: 5 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
2♣	Pass	Pass	Pass

A: 2♣ - Listen to the bidding. North has passed 2♣, he must have a weak hand, very short in Hearts, with a small fit in Clubs.

What is declarer going to do? He's going to ruff his Heart losers with dummy's trumps.

You must try and prevent this by leading a trump. You won't endanger your King, you will make a trick with it later on.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
More informations on our website: www.VuBridge.com

Rate yourself:

0 - 40%	We applaud your effort. Review the subject and try again. You'll be surprised how much better you'll do. We're here for you!!
41 - 50%	Buy your mentor a cuppa and ask for clarification on the ones you got wrong. No mentor? Make finding one a priority!
51 - 60%	Nice improvement! One more review and you'll have this down solid!
61 - 80%	What a good job! All that's left is some fine tuning
Over 80%	Wow! It's time for you to become a mentor. Find someone who needs help and share your knowledge!