Would you lead your singleton? by Matthias Huberschwiller

You will have to choose a lead from 5 hands which all have a singleton.

You'll need to figure out when leading your singleton is a good bet, and when it's a really poor choice.

Good luck.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ Q J 10 9
♥ 10 8 6
♦ 5
♣ J 9 6 5 2

Q: 1 - What do you lead as West?

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

A: Q♠ - There is no point in leading your singleton here. You will always make two natural trump tricks, so you don't want to ruff.

Instead, you need to lead a trump yourself, to try and prevent your opponents from ruffing in the hand with short trumps.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A 3 2
♥ 5
♦ J 10 9 2
♣ Q 9 6 5 2

Q: 2 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
1♣	Pass	1♥	Pass
1♠	Pass	3♠	Pass
4♠	Pass	Pass	Pass

A: 5♥ - Here you have good chances of taking a ruff by leading your singleton. Even if your partner doesn't have the Heart Ace, you'll get back on lead with the Spade Ace, and will probably be able to give him the lead to get a ruff.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 6 5 4 3 2
♥ 8
♦ 7 6 4 2
♣ 8 6 2

Q: 3 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	1♥
3 NT	Pass	Pass	Pass

A: 8♥ - Even if the opponents have a good Heart stopper, your best defense is to set up your partner's suit.

Your Spades look hopeless: they are really bad and you won't get back on lead anyway.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 10 9 8 7
♥ 7 6 4 2
♦ A 6 5 3
♣ 7

Q: 4 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	2 NT*	Pass
4 NT**	Pass	5♥***	Pass
6♥	Pass	Pass	Pass

2 NT - Jacoby, forcing to game with 4 trumps
4 NT - Keycard Blackwood
5♥ - 2 keys without the trump queen

A: 10♠ - Your opponents have used Blackwood and have got to slam. With an Ace of your own, your partner won't have one.

There is no point in leading a singleton, because your partner won't get the lead. Your best hope is to lead a Spade and try to set up a trick there, while you still have the Diamond Ace.

South wouldn't have used the Blackwood without a Diamond control, so he must have the King of Diamonds, or a singleton. Therefore you can't take two Diamond tricks immediately.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 2
♥ 7 6 2
♦ A K 6 5
♣ 9 8 6 5 2

Q: 5 - What do you lead as West?

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

A: A♦ - When you have the Ace-King in a suit, it's a better lead than a singleton, because you get to see the Dummy and you will still be able to play your singleton at trick two, if you think it's a good idea by the looks of dummy.

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

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