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Never…well Maybe…No, Must!

“Never ever ever” you are told as you first learn the game about under-leading aces against suit contracts. Eventually, the message sinks in. Occasionally, you have an outstanding success where partner has the king and declarer the queen with or without the jack. There is the little matter about partner having to remember that third hand plays high, usually!

Otherwise, we all learn the hard way, like singleton king in dummy when an unkind declarer looks surprised and informs your partner without moving their lips as to what you have done!                                                                                          

There are occasions when you could try the under-lead, either at trick one or subsequently, when partner will not frown at you, like when the strong hand is known to be in dummy and where there is at least a reasonable chance that partner will oblige with the king or the queen. A “feel good” dream of many would be to underlead an ace against a slam, a small slam, mind you, and to give declarer that horrible guess of who holds the ace and the queen. (Side tip: if you attempt this play, have your mind made up early to do it. A 15-minute delay followed by a small club would make a declarer very suspicious!)

When declarer has a weak one or two suiter with the strong dummy to be tabled in game is a time you might try such a ploy. Not compulsory but a valid option…and perhaps not one we should tell less experienced players. Opening lead mayhem would be let loose.

However, there are, of course, times when you must underlead your ace, well an ace not every one. Did you?:

 

 

A little explanation to the bidding. The opening 1 shows a spade opener. Your 1 shows heart support and is interested in game… but North shows a strong hand and partner does not! When South puts their feet in the water, they find themselves raised to game.

You lead A and partner follows with 9 and declarer 10. Where to from here?

The first point to make is that your partner has at least 5 hearts from which to choose…maybe not the king if that was unsupported. They chose, therefore, to play 9, by no means their lowest heart. As is normal when a singleton appears on the table in a suit contract, it is a great idea to play suit-preference signals. Here, the 9 suggests a switch to the higher non-trump suit, diamonds.

That’s kind of great news as that looks like your only possible source of tricks. So, could your partner have a diamond singleton requiring you to play your ace now? That would give your side 3 tricks but would signal an end to the defence.

However, it is possible that your partner has the K. After all, they did overcall. So, lay down that A….and the defence may as well pack up and get on with the next board.

 

You were dealt, fortunately, both J and 10. Use them. Assuming your partner does have the king, you do not have to play the ace first up. If declarer covers, it will soon become apparent to your partner where the ace is. If declarer does not cover, you will still be on lead..and now you can play your ace. Down comes the king and the defence will soon score a diamond ruff to beat the contract. Note that if you have three diamond tricks to take, then it does not matter with which diamond you start. With Kx across the table, it matters a lot!

Do not be lulled by a computer program that tells you can beat the contract by two tricks if you lead J at trick 1 and when ducked follow with 10 to the king.. heart return, A and then a fourth diamond promoting partner’s J as a trick. It is all true but the J is a silly initial lead when you have a perfectly reasonable alternative of the A.

and if you are still at the stage when you are told never to lead low from an ace against a suit contract, the heart lay-out above is a perfect example why: you cannot guarantee that partner holds the K even though they overcalled.

Note also that the underlead of the A is required if the more normal (for this deal) North hand is declarer unless East is inspired enough to start off with the K. On a heart lead, covered (just in case an uninspired East led from AQJ!), declarer can guess to duck the second round after the A lead at trick 2.  

Never…well Maybe…No, Must! In order of frequency..but not at trick 1.

No worries about under-leading aces with tomorrow’s problem…or are there?

 North- South are playing 5-card majors.

Partner leads 8 to your Jack and declarer’s 10. You expose one little false card by playing K next with declarer following with 6 and partner 4. Where to from here for a successful defence?

You have all day to plan. See you Easter Saturday.

Richard Solomon

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