| Opening Leads Against No Trump |
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♣ |
♥ |
♦ |
♠ |
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| Opening leads
are based on your hand and the bidding. |
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| 1NT |
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pass |
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3NT |
pass |
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| pass |
pass |
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| versus: |
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| 1 |
♣ |
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pass |
1 |
♦ |
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pass |
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| 3 |
♣ |
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pass |
3 |
♦ |
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pass |
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| 3 |
NT |
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pass |
pass |
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pass |
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| In the first
case there are no clues. |
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| Second case
you eliminate the clubs or diamonds because you |
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| don't want to
establish their suits. You would lead
a heart or a |
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| spade depending
on your hand. |
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| GENERAL
RULE: YOU WANT TO ESTABLISH YOUR LONG
SUITS |
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| When leading
your long suit, lead 4th best. Count
it down from the top. |
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| If you have a
sequence of 3 touching honors (or more) lead the top. |
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| (The third
card can be missing by one spot
QJ92 ) |
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| The rule for
leading from a suit of 4 or more cards is this: |
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| lead
fourth highest unless the suit contains a sequence, if it does, lead |
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| the sequence
instead. |
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| a) |
KJ765 |
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d) |
KQJT2 |
g) |
JT764 |
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| b) |
A872 |
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e) |
KQT85 |
h) |
QJ8732 |
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| c) |
KQJ2 |
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f) |
KQ8432 |
i) |
JT853 |
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| Sometimes you
have a choice of suits to lead; |
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Q763 |
JT92 |
A3 |
542 |
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| Sometimes the
opponents have bid your long suits: |
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K7642 |
QT42 |
JT7 |
2 |
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| 1 |
♠ |
pass |
2 |
♣ |
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pass |
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| 2 |
NT |
pass |
3 |
NT |
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| Or the bidding
may have gone: |
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| 1 |
♠ |
pass |
2 |
♥ |
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pass |
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| 2 |
NT |
pass |
3 |
NT |
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| You don't want
to lead their 2 suits so you have to lead from another suit. |
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| When leading
from a 3 card suit: |
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1) |
if you have 2 touching honors* lead the top |
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2) |
if you have
either 1 honor or 2 non-touching honors |
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- lead lowest
(Q T 4 ) |
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3) |
if you have 3 small cards, lead top of nothing |
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| With two cards
in a suit, lead the highest. |
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| a) |
J9753 |
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g) |
KQ32 |
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m) |
KJ8643 |
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| b) |
J75 |
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h) |
KT4 |
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n) |
Q3 |
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| c) |
53 |
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i) |
AK3 |
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o) |
962 |
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| d) |
QJ973 |
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j) |
AK752 |
p) |
Q742 |
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| e) |
A2 |
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k) |
T932 |
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q) |
T63 |
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| f) |
KQ3 |
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l) |
T94 |
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r) |
432 |
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s) |
KJ932 |
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| THESE RULES DICTATE OPENING
LEAD ONLY. |
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| COMMON SENSE
RULES AFTER YOU SEE DUMMY. |
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*T and 9's are honors |
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