Originally published in the March & April 2009 issues of the ACBL Bridge Bulletin
In Part 1, we looked at the types of auctions that provide clues about whether to make a passive or aggressive opening lead. You have a different type of decision when considering a trump lead, which, depending on the auction and your hand, may be an aggressive or a passive choice.
On some hands, a trump lead can actually be your strongest attack because it shortens declarer's or dummy's trump length. The types of auctions that will give you the strongest clues about this possibility include those where:
Declarer has shown a two-suited hand, especially if you have strength in declarer's non-trump suit. Many players consider it virtually mandatory to lead a trump to an auction such as:
West East
1D
1H 2C
2D Pass
If you’re South holding ♠1098 ♥KQJ ♦643 ♣AJ96 , lead the ♦3. There’s a strong possibility that dummy will be relatively short in declarer's second suit (clubs), and you expect declarer will try to use dummy's diamonds to trump his club losers. Both opponents have shown minimum values, so they may not have enough in high-card power alone to make their contract.
A trump lead can also be an effective attack in other situations where the weaker hand shows limited trump support. These include auctions where responder takes a preference after opener makes a two-suited bid (Flannery 2D, for example) or a three-suited bid (Roman 2D opener). The same principle applies to two-suited overcalls:
You LHO Partner RHO
1S 2NT * DBL 3D
* (both minors)
Pass Pass DBL All Pass
You don’t even need to see your hand to know that a trump lead must be right. Partner’s first double showed values (around 10+ high-card points) and his second double showed a desire to defend. Even if you don’t have a strong holding in the other minor, it’s likely that partner does, so you want to prevent the short-trump hand (declarer) from using his diamonds to trump dummy’s club losers.
The short-trump hand (usually dummy) is marked with shortness in another suit. You can almost see dummy's singleton club after this auction:
West East
1D
1H
1S
1NT
2H
4H
Opener's
sequence here typically shows some extra values with 3-card heart support.
Since opener pulled out of 1NT, he should have an unbalanced pattern --
probably 4-3-5-1. If you hold
109
865 
QJ76
AK82
,
resist
the temptation to cash a high club, which may give declarer the tempo to
eventually trump two club losers in dummy. You want to lead trumps as many
times as possible, so start with the
5. If declarer wants to set up ruffs in
dummy, he'll have to lead clubs himself, and you'll be in again for a second
trump lead.
You have a clear advantage in overall power. This may be especially important if you've doubled the contract.
You LHO Partner
RHO
1NT Pass
2C 2S
Pass Pass DBL All Pass
After this auction, a trump lead is a good idea, even if you have an unattractive holding such as ♠Q84 ♥QJ10 ♦KQ102 ♣AJ6
Although partner should have moderate spade length and strength, his double may be partially based on knowledge that your side owns significantly more than half the high-card strength. In this case, declarer's only prayer may be to score tricks with a few of dummy's trumps. Every trump lead you can make could cost him a trick.
You have a clear advantage in trump length and strength.
RHO You LHO Partner
1D DBL All Pass
Holding ♠QJ102 ♥KJ76 ♦8 ♣AK63 , lead the ♦8. Partner rates to have better trumps than declarer, so start attacking declarer's suit. Partner may even be able to draw all of declarer's and dummy's trumps. This is one of the rare exceptions to the "rule" about never leading a singleton trump.
“When in doubt, lead a trump” is an old guideline that tends to be invoked too often. Ideally, you’ll have a good reason and a clear strategy when you choose a trump lead. Sometimes, however, the good reason will be that no other lead is safe.
After a 1S-2S auction by your opponents, you have an unappealing choice of leads from ♠754 ♥A1082 ♦KJ32 ♣J4 . There are dangerous honor holdings in all the unbid suits, so try the ♠4. You don't necessarily expect this to hurt declarer, but you hope it won't help. Since partner has only one or two trumps, probably the worst that can happen is that you’ll locate his doubleton queen -- and that's something declarer may have found for himself anyway.
A few caveats: You should avoid leading a trump when:
Declarer has shown a long suit and dummy hasn’t raised. A trump lead into a one-suited hand isn’t likely to be an effective attack (trumps is probably dummy’s shortest suit) and it’s not always safe.
It’s a singleton. Your trump shortness is a clue that partner has length, and this lead will often pick up his honors. It's better to lead a long suit and try to force declarer to trump himself down to the same or shorter length than your partner.
You have a dangerous honor holding such as Jxx, Jx, K10x, A10x or Ax. Leads from these trump suits will be safe only if partner holds no trump honors. If he has the jack or queen, a lead from one of these combinations can make one of your natural trump tricks disappear immediately. Or, more likely, it may give declarer a finessing position that picks up your honor on the next lead.
© Karen Walker
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