The most important clue in choosing an opening lead is the bidding. It provides a head start in your campaign to set up and cash tricks before declarer can do the same. Bridge master ron klinger answers some of the worlds most common bridge questions. Since partner has shown strength in spades, leading an unprotected honor is safe.
Journalist leads overcomes the ambiguity of a j lead. If you lead an ace, you will often learn what you should have led. The answers to these questions and hundreds more are in this book. Notrump contract opening leads quiz choosing the correct opening lead im ready against 3nt what do you lead. In this issue, well focus on leads against a suit contract. Online bridge game playing and opening leads quiz, bridge. Bridge quizzes there are 31 questions on this topic. One quarter of the hands you play will feature an opening lead by you. Bridge books, bridge cards, bridge games, bridge bidding, bridge products, bridge supplies.
The opening lead is the one advantage defenders have over declarer. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Bridge bid and play techniques, with prepared hands. How the experts win at bridge by burt hall, lynn rosehall and larry cohen. If you see books you want eddie to send you print out these pages, circle the books you want to buy, fill in your info, and mail this to him at his address below along with your check. If dummy makes a wild leap to slam in partners suit no blackwood, assume a void, strong trump, a powerful side suit, and perhaps a control in the shorter side suit. Founded in 1980, baron bridge supply soon purchased barclays in new york and became the biggest bridge supply company around baron barclay. Lead a higher card from a suit without an honour 1106. What can you tell about your partners holding from hisher opening lead. Bridge opening leads for notrump contracts and suit contracts. Bridge bid and made strategies for playing opening lead.
Does it look like declarer will use dummys trumps to ruff out his losers. Feb 01, 1978 this problem is taken from the daily telegraph bridge quiz, the latest in a long line of excellent quiz books that have come from england in the past decade. Defensive leads when your partner has not bid, you have no long strong suit to lead and hold a hand with a sprinkling of isolated honours andor tenaces it is best to make a defensive lead. A lesson in choosing the correct opening lead for bridge.
For current quizzes accepting entries go to open bridge quizzes. Bridge laws bridge leads bridge laws bridge opening leads bridge tips bridge suit bids bridge country bridge updates bridge sitemap a lesson in choosing the correct opening lead for contract bridge notrump contract opening lead quiz to improve your opening leads choices. Challenge your declarer play by danny roth list price. Bridge depot weblog basic blackwood and gerber bidding and play bridge leads bridge quiz counting points general bridge information opening leads opening preemptive bids in a minor suit opening strong hands opening the bidding responses to 1nt openers some bridge websites statistical distributions stayman. Choose your longest and strongest suit and usually lead the 4thhighest card in it. If you follow all the guidelines in these lessons you still wont make the best opening lead every time but you will increase your percentage of successes. Here we shall only consider which card to lead in a specific suit, although some references are made to the desirability of leading a suit with specific cards. A team of editors takes feedback from our visitors to keep trivia as up to date and as accurate as possible. With length in the trump suit lead from a long side suit not a short suit. There is no specific rule that applies to every deal thats one of factors that makes bridge exciting.
Card games this category is for questions and answers related to bridge, as asked by users of accuracy. Lead through beatable strength but, up to weakness. Good suits to lead in any contract nt or suit a suit partner has bid or the suit you deduce that he has. The first decision to be made on defense is the opening lead. Leading against suit contracts audrey grants better bridge.
Bridge books for intermediate players the new york times. None of the answers in this quiz book involve anything in the least bit difficult. Bridge defense opening leads third hand play placing the honors second hand play declarers plan. Opening leads for acol players master bridge series mike lawrence, ron klinger. Choose opening leads that tell partner something about your hand and she will be able to make appropriate plans and followup plays, which leads to better results and a happier. You usually want to make an opening lead that will set up tricks for your side without giving declarer extra tricks.
Buy bridge books online ron klinger bridge books ron. If you want to look at the quiz without suggested answers first, then click on the link above. Rusinow leads are now considered a standard part of the roman club system. This was the opening lead quiz used at the manly leagues improvers group on 23 feb 2012 with answers. From your highlow leads, partner will know you have only 2 spades. When to make an attacking lead and when to make a passive lead. Mostly they will, but when they dont, you should accept it. Play a hand, find tallies, scorepads, playing cards. Baron barclay bridge supplies playing cards, books. Here are some practice games to put your bidding into action and to help you develop problemsolving skills by applying your knowledge to different situations.
Very often the choice of opening lead determines whether or not you defeat the contract. Opening lead choosing the best opening lead requires careful consideration of bidding, holdings, and other relevant factors. Bridge is a card game played by 220 million people worldwide. When the auction goes 1nt3nt by the opponents, there isnt much imagination required. The impact of opening leads audrey grants better bridge. The convention proposes that the opening lead be the jack from the first sequence and the 10 from the second in order to better inform his partner about the nature of his holding. There are lots of good books on opening leads which teach you to think in these general terms the link in thesuns answer is good with examples, and overlaps with this answer partly. Defense is the toughest part of bridge, and opening leads are one of the difficult parts of defense. Bridge practice games for bidding and playing i hear and i forget. It would take an entire book to give opening leads the attention they deserve but we can look at some useful general principles. But four spades is excessive with only a sixcard suit. By the way, blackwoods book is still worth reading, especially for his scientific approach to opening leads.
This problem is taken from the daily telegraph bridge quiz, the latest in a long line of excellent quiz books that have come from england in the past decade. Available in person at 5 glen park, or call barbara, 4164878321, or by email to. Ez guide flipper for play of the hand in the 21st century. Choosing the right card once the suit has been decided is more a matter of rote. Opening leads are a huge part of defensive play and ewen had them down pat. That all depends on which suits the opponents bid, which suit your partner bid if any, and what the final contract is. Some of the most famous and beloved characters and stories in history originated in childrens books that have been passed down over generations. Chapter one considers opening in first and second position.
When the auction has ended, the player to declarers left plays a card, and thats that. The defender sitting to the left lho of the declarer is the one who makes the opening lead. See if you have what it takes to be a winning bridge player or dont and see if i care. You are hoping to shorten declarers trumps and he might lose control 5. The impact of opening leads against no trump contracts by audrey grant. One spade is also not nearly enough, especially since partner is a passed hand. Choosing the suit choosing the card choosing the suit to lead requires good judgment. Since it is the only card played while dummys cards are still concealed, it can be critical for the outcome of the deal. Of the points made in these four hands, the one about not leading aces is the big one. A singleton hoping partner can lead the suit back for you to trump. The focus of this book is on the opening bid and how it impacts the entire auction. However, these principles alone can guide you to the correct lead on a majority of hands, and when you learn more about bidding you can, at the same time, improve your opening lead technique. Opening the bidding is an area of the game that provides many chances to improve your judgment and to think critically. When to lead your suit and when to lead partners suit.
There are numerous sections on inferences from bidding that are archaicusing strong twos and other such relicsbut the principles are invaluable. It is on virtually every magazines and players list of the top ten bridge books of all time and has become a bridge classic. Bridge quizzes step right up, ladies and gentlemen. An introductory bridge lesson, however, must talk of many things, and the time has come to switch sides and follow the defenders as they try to prevent declarer from making his contract.
Eddies app discover bridge designed to promote bridge for beginners. The impact of opening leads against notrump contracts 4 experts advise that its an advantage to count length as well as highcard points, even in auctions that start with a notrump opening bid. When should you lead an ace against a suit contract. Standard opening leads which card there are two main aspects to deciding the opening lead. The opening lines from 44 timeless childrens books. A great book for all bridge players, but novices and beginners should beware this book is very demanding, and the material requires full understanding to really be valuable.
Like all books by lawrence it is very extensive and gives many examples. South held this beautiful hand, but faced strong preemption. The material in this book covers all of the standard lead considerations plus many that have never seen print. This book is very gentle and is written for less experienced players. Opening leads in bridge sowter, tony intermediate defender. Opening leads for acol players master bridge series. Mar 04, 2014 mostly they will, but when they dont, you should accept it. The opening lead is the first card played in the playing phase of a contract bridge deal. You learn that the most important information for your opening lead is the bidding. This and klingers losing trick count are the two indispensable bridge books, in my mind.
One of the five best bridge books to be shipwrecked with. After the group finishes bidding, check the bidding recommendations before playing out the hands. The material in this book will make you a much better player. Write it on your convention card under opening leads. Main menu beginners bidding opening lead playing deals quiz. Instruction and practice deals that focus on how to improve your opening leads to notrump contracts and how the lead affects decisions later in the play. Buy improve your opening leads master bridge by ron klinger isbn. On the surface, opening leads may seem absurdly simple. Bridge lesson 5 practice opening leads practice the first decision you need to make when you are the player on lead is which suit. The book ends with a quiz with 50 questions on what to lead after 2 or 3. Opening leads practice learn to play bridge and solve. You can change the bidding to match the recommendations or you can leave the bidding as it is, play it out, and compare the results.
It is usually right to lead the shorter side suit if you can figure out which it is. The real deal larrys acbl column deals a taste of the high life. Let this collection of the opening lines from childrens books serve as a nostalgic walk down memory lane and as inspiration for books you may want to share with your children too. Online bridge game opening leads quiz, bridge supplies.
And at the end of it, there is a comprehensive lead quiz to pull it all together. It reinforces the value of getting the opening card right by looking at it from the partners viewpoint. Bear in mind though, that both my books, and one of my partners all fell apart after the first or second reading due to the binding splitting down the whole length of the spine, and the pages falling out. This was the opening lead quiz used at the manly leagues improvers group on 23 feb 2012. Bridge bid and made bridge opening leads cribsheet. Buy opening lead bridge lessons by robson, andrew isbn. Just remember this helpful acr0nym, iylaaywolwyshl. Opening leads by mike lawrence csbnews your bridge. If your king holds the trick, youll lead the spade 4 to partners ace and be able to trump the third round. Based on mike lawrence and ron klingers acclaimed book opening leads for acol players, this fast fact finder provides the general questions you. Eddie will autograph andor inscribe any books you purchase upon request.
The second looks at how things are significantly different in third and fourth. A few whatifs 1 what if it is just about a tie for longest and strongest. Also see passive lead, trump lead, notrump game doubled, lightner double, fisher double, journalist, active defense, forcing defense, carding, fourth best or third and fifth leads, coded 9 and 10 jack denies, 10 implies, obvious suit preference, and middle up down. We proudly manufacture and retail quality bridge supplies and publish bridge books, including many that have won the abta book of the year award. This deal comes from the 2012 san francisco nabc open boardamatch teams. Notrump contract opening lead quiz to improve your opening leads choices. In this quiz book, the wellknown author, danny roth, has compiled a set of challenges that will test readers ability as a declarer, and at the same time, introduce some stratagems that may be unfamiliar.