The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-01-30
IN LEADS
AT ROYAL AUCTION
Important Points to Remcm-
Der in Playing Against a
No Trumper.
ODD DUPLICATE RESULTS

After a person has mastered the con-
ventlonal leads from combinations or
high cards at royal auction and has be-
come familiar with the uses Of the
fourth best from suits NJ four or more.
there remain certain exceptional leads
that require attention.
Having ace king alone, for instance.
in playing against a trump declaration
II Is usual to lead the ace hrst and to
follow with the king. This IL a sort OF
down and out play to show that YOU
have no more of that suit and are will
ing to ruff n third round.
When leading against a no trunper
Il often happens that there is no pos
slble reentry for the longest suit. and
the only nope of making Il Is that the
partner may be able to get In on some
other suit and lead your suit to you
after II is established. This requires
you to avoid e~xhausting his hand OF
your suit too early.
with ace king and several others. for
instance, n you start with the winnirE
, cards and have TO lead three rounds TO
get the queen out Of the way you Will
never make another trick unless your
partner had four OF that suit originally.
which Is very improbable.
But IL you start with q small card. no
matter who wins the first round. YOU
may drop everything on the second and
third rounds with your ace and king u
your partner can get in and lead the
suit To you again. He should be abb"
to do this. even IL he had only two OF
the suit in the first place. of course
II your partner cannot win a trick any
where Il does not matter much what
you lead. as the game IL gone and your
two tricks would not have saved IL
Az we shall see in future articles. the
d~eclarer adopts the same tactics when ne
wants to make long suit in the dummy
and dummy has no winning card in ANY
other suit. This is called "ducking' Ia
distinguish il from fincssiuE.
Another defensive lead against no
truinpers, when there Is no reentry else
where. Is the queen from ace queen jack
and others. The object Is 10 Cc' the
kin. out ~ the way at once, no matter
who has Il. and 10 leave your partner
with u card ~ tho suit To- return to you
even II he has only two. The rack from
acc tack ten is on tho same 'heory.
An important point IN the Selection
Of . suit To lead aCainst a 40 trumpc'
when YOU partner has not maj" a bl'
and YOU have two suits that are nearly
equal is to prefer the suit in which "a,
d~eclarer is not likely to the long. ever
If H." has the winning cards ia II.
The writer has found that 1t usual
pays to lead the tramp when your par
ncr's no trunpcr has been ovcrcallot
with u suit which has been left In. The
theory * thai the trump hand is prob
ably weak IN high cards. and hopes l.
TRUMP some of them. Applying the shm'
principle to the lead against a NJ
trunper. it Will usually be found tht
such hands are not long or strong Il
either Of the major SUITS. hearts nj
spades. and that such suits are the safes
to open. # there is & choice.
4 cautious player Will never risk ~
trumps II h" has a good major SUIT. hu
all sorts Of chances are taken on lori
minor suits. with sure shoppers in TN
major suits to protect them. and ever
time YOU lead "A minor suit up to "A N
trumpsr YOU ar" liable 4" INT "a snag
Here Is a curious illustration Of IN
importance Of this rule that came una
tn. writer's notice the other day