The San Francisco call., 1906-10-28
Copyright, 1905, by r. F. Foster.
no. 70.

. H.
/ back in. this manner is the very zone
the original leader is most anxious to
know about II the 3 is returned in
stead of the Q. the dealer is credited
with the @, and the leader probably
( goes off to some other suit, when he
I and his partner actually hold every
+ thing between them.
Even if the cards held by the third
/ hand are in. sequence the same principle
| should be followed in return leads.
Holding Q, ], 10, 9, for instance, if the
1 8 is played to the first trick, the o is
the card to return, whether the holds
the trick or not
| In discarding. the rules for following
suit govern the selection of the card
It is important TO distinguish between
return leads and following suit or dis
carding Having played the K to the
first trick from K S 4, for instance. if
the player discards he should discard
the 4, just as if he were following
suit to a second round. To discard
the would be TO deny the 4, whereas
in return lead to play the 4 would be
to deny the s.
The rule about returning the lowest
of three cards remaining should be de-
parted from when II is seen that one or
more of the cards held are better than
dummy's It is always important to
beat dummy II you can. If you cannot
beat his best card do not let him win a
trick with some little spotlet like an
s or Q.
Suppose you hold K, 10. 4. 3. and
dummy lays down A, 8, 2. your partner
leading some small card which YOU win
with the K. II you follow the rule and
return your lowest your partner will
have to play an honor to shut out
dummys 9, whereas If you return the
10 dummy viii have to give-up his ace
70 ha fr;o
the O. which is as good as the ace. in
which place your play does not much
matter.
The reason that It IS so important TO
beat dummy's cards when you lead is
this: If the dealer does not cover the
card you lead your partner can pass IT
also, and you can lead again This fire.
quentiy places the dealer in a very en-
oarrassing position, because you are
leading through" him, as it is called
when he would much rather have your
partner lead up TO him. But If you lead
cards which will compel your partner
10 play high enough to shut dummy
out you not only lose the chance To
make trick with your own cards. but
you give up the advantage of the posi-
ton, because your partner is forced
into the lead. and If the dealer has
guarded honor in the suit he will prob
ably save tt
When third hand cannot return his
partners suit and has no very strong
suit Of his own-such as one headed
by two or three honors-it is ALWAYS
pest 10 pick out the weakest suit in
the dummy and lead up to that If the
third hand can lead cards that dummy
cannot beat so much the better This
does not mean that he should lead the
top of the suit, but SUCH as will save
the partner from being compelled to
put up high cards to keep dummy out
suppose that the weak suit in the
dummy is 10. 2. and that you hold K,
}. 3, 3. The usual opening lead from
such combination would be the g. but
IN order to prevent the possibility of
dummys 10 winning.a "a trick, you should
begin with the ]. II the dealer does
not cover the ] your partner can pass
1T also, and If 1T happens that the
dealer has the Q and your partner the
ace. the Q never makes. whereas If you
lead small your partners ace must go
up te-shut out the 10, and the guarded
@ will be good for trick.
II dummy has no particular weak
suit and Ii is necessary TO lead some
thing, avoid suits in which dummy has
two or more honors not in sequences.
such as A Q, or K, J. It is better to
lead up TO suit headed by an ace than
one headed by a K, because the ace
L.
not wise to lead up to a Q unless Won
have A or K yourself Holding such
combinations as A. K, J, when dummy
has the @ twice guarded, you may lead
the K to show the A and to indicate
that you do not want to continue the
suit yourself
When the third hand leads right up
to very strong suit in the dummy it
is usually because he wants to ruff the
second round of it. Good PLAYERS avoid
dummys strong suits unless they can
trump them. The partners must exer-
else some intelligence in divining the
object of certain leads after the first
suit opened is abandoned, and in the
next article we shall see some of the
methods they adopt to make the sftua-
tion clear to each other
In the meantime here is a sample
hand which illustrates the Importance
of leading up to weakness in dummy:
dealt and passed the make TO his
partner. who called hearts at the