Leading Against 1NT by Ben Norton

A: ♥6. Generally when leading against 3NT and you face a choice between two four-card suits you’d lead the stronger one because you stand more chance of setting up tricks there, however here you should opt for the safer option of a Heart.

A Spade lead could establish tricks in the suit, but it could so easily blow a trick and is therefore just too committal a choice at this stage. In contrast a Heart lead from x x x x will hardly ever give a trick away, at least not one that declarer could always take for himself, and you still stand to establish slow tricks in the suit. If it turns out that a Spade lead would have worked well, you can still switch to Spades later on. It’s very unlikely that declarer will be able to get to seven tricks by the time he’s only given you the lead once.

Your result so far:

A: ♥8. Again, with no clear indication that any of the other suits will provide a wealth of tricks, the best idea is to go for a passive Heart.

There’s a saying – ‘never lead from J x x x’. While the word ‘never’ should never be used in Bridge, since every scenario should be taken in its own context, the general principle stands firm, and here a Spade lead will give away a trick very often. The same applies to a Diamond and, less obviously, to a Club. A Club lead isn’t too likely to give anything away but it won’t often be necessary to lead the suit at trick one even if that’s where your tricks are coming from. Either you have quick tricks in the suit in which case they can wait until later, or partner has length there and you’ll have the tempo to establish the suit when you gain the lead.

A Heart lead from 9 8 x won’t blow the suit and while it is passive in nature it could serve to establish tricks for the defense if partner has unexpected length there.

Your result so far:

A: ♠J. You have a choice between both majors both suits which both seem safe to lead because they are headed by sequences, so opt for the one that rates to set up the most tricks for the defense.

The ♠J lead will so rarely give away a trick (probably H H 9 x on dummy opposite H x in declarer’s hand is the only real position), but from an offensive point of view it stands to promote tricks in Spades if partner has an honor. The ♥10 lead could establish the suit, but it needs more from partner than a Spade lead does, whereas a committal Club lead will give away a trick very often and will only work when partner has length there anyway.

Your result so far:

A: ♥K. Even though a Heart lead could easily give away a trick, you don’t want to be too passive on this hand else you could find that your ability to take Heart tricks disappears.

If you were to choose a passive Club lead from your five-card suit, declarer may be able to knock out your Spade entry before you establish the Hearts. In this way you need to seize the opportunity to play on Hearts before declarer gains the lead. In fact the Club lead is far too passive on this hand, because of the danger presented by your lack of entries outside the Heart suit, and with no honor in Clubs you aren’t likely to set up lots of tricks there.

As a side point it’s best to lead a Heart honor from K Q 10 x (but not from K Q x x). You should lead whichever honor asks for an attitude signal in your methods, which could be the Queen.

Your result so far:

A: ♦3. Here your five-card suit is headed by an honor so there’s a good chance of establishing tricks there.

Even though a Diamond lead could give away a trick the cost will be reimbursed when you set up long tricks there, as opposed to leading from K x x x where you’d only stand to score at most one trick by length in the suit. A Club lead from K Q x x isn’t safe either, since you don’t have a supporting intermediate card.

A Spade lead would be a very passive choice, but in general you should strive to lead your five-card suit. Even if you do blow a trick it’s likely that you would always need to give away a trick in the suit if you’re going to cash your long cards anyway, and it’s best to start on the suit sooner rather than later for tempo reasons.

When leading against 1NT the goal is usually to not give away a cheap trick and to not be too committal by leading from a shaky holding, but to opt for a passive lead then make an informed switch later. There normally isn’t a big rush to establish tricks seeing as both sides rate to have the same amount of power on the auction.

But keep in mind that there is a fine balance between active and passive leads. If you have a five-card suit you should probably lead that suit unless there is a good reason not to, but if your longest suit has only four cards in it then a passive lead (best from low cards or a low sequence like 10 9 x) is indicated unless your four-card suit is very good (e.g. K Q J x), or you have a sequence there (e.g. J 10 9 x).

Your result so far: