Listen to the Auction #11-47

IMPROVE YOUR PLAY

with Larry Matheny

There is no doubt opening leads can be difficult. There are several rules to guide you such as the old standard “Lead 4^th down in your longest and strongest suit.” However, there are hands where the auction is your best source of information.

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

#11-47
Dlr	E
Vul	None

	32
	KQ5
	AQ104
	10732

	AJ76
	73
	J9
	QJ954

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	K1085
	8642
	752
	86

	Q94
	AJ109
	K863
	AK

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1NT
Pass	3NT	Pass	Pass
Pass

BIDDING: North–South had a routine auction to game.

PLAY: Since North-South made no attempt to uncover a major suit fit, West felt a club lead might not be best. Instead he led the six of spades and soon there were four tricks for the defense. Declarer then claimed nine tricks and made 3NT. The reason this interesting is that in a local 18-table game, this West was the only one to lead a spade. His score of -400 was top because everyone other West led a club and those declarers easily claimed ten tricks for +430.

The rule the other West players should have followed was “Listen to the Auction.”