In leading to trump contracts, you were trying to do one of three things:
1) pull trump off the dummy
In NT contracts below slam there is no trump, so none of
those things can apply. Instead we are going to try to ESTABLISH A LONG SUIT.
We are going to try to find a long suit held by partner and me, then KNOCK OUT
THE STOPPERS IN THAT SUIT HELD BY DECLARER SO THAT WE CAN THEN RUN ALL THE
SMALLER CARDS IN THAT SUIT!
TAKE YOUR TIME. When you play bridge at high levels, you will find that the proper way to play this game is with carding. What that stands for is RHYTHM, rhythm in the bidding, and rhythm in the play of the cards. Each bid should be made in rhythm, pausing the same amount of time after opponent bids or passes, bidding in a cadence, bidding in rhythm. Once the play begins, it can be slow or fast, it doesn’t matter, just do it in rhythm. THERE are FOUR TIMES WHEN YOU BREAK RHYTHM:
STEP 2: LOOK AT YOUR HAND, REVIEW THE BIDDING AND ASSESS YOUR HAND IN LIGHT OF THE BIDDING ALL AT ONCE. YOU MUST MAKE THE ASSESSMENT AS TO WHAT IS THE BEST SUIT THAT YOU AND PARTNER CAN SET UP. It must have at least seven cards long between you. If it is only 6 cards long, it belongs to your opponents. Further the suit must have some honors held by your side. If you have a seven card spade suit with no honors, YOU ARE GOING TO BE QUITE FRUSTRATED IN ANY ATTEMPT TO SET IT UP. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE LONG SUIT HELD BY THE PARTNERSHIP WHICH CAN BE ESTABLISHED, not just your long suit in your hand.
IF YOUR PARTNER HAS OPENED A MAJOR SUIT, and you have at least two cards in that suit, YOU KNOW YOU HAVE SEVEN. Your pard has 5, you have 2 and you can assume partner has an honor or two in the suit she bid. Step two only becomes more difficult if your PARTNER HAS NOT BID -- this is called "LEADING BLIND." Remember, if you have five cards in a suit think about how many are outstanding – 8. And they will be split usually 3/3/2, so you have a very strong chance of finding partner with two of them.
IF PARTNER HAS TWO, YOU LEAD THE QUEEN PULLING ACE OR KING. THEN PARTNER GETS IN LATER PULLING THE OTHER HIGH HONOR FOR YOU WITH A FINESSE THRU DECLARER THEREBY PRESERVING YOUR JACK AND 10. NOW YOUR JACK AND 10 WILL TAKE THE REST OF THE HEART TRICKS. HOPEFULLY
ALL IT NEEDS IS THE 8 OR 9 TO FALL IN THE FIRST FOUR TRICKS.
There is one time when that easy lead must be forgotten, and THAT IS WHEN YOU HAVE NO OUTSIDE ENTRIES.
Rule:
Type 1: your partners bid suit:
Type 2: leading your longest suit:
NORTH IS IN A NOTRUMP CONTRACT, AND YOUR PARTNER, EAST HAS JUST MADE A LONG SUIT LEAD OF THE 3 OF HEARTS. YOU and partner always lead fourth down in long suits, so you take the number on the card she played, and you subtract it from 11
11 minus 3 = 8. The Rule of 11 states that there are 8 cards in the remaining three hands that CAN BEAT THAT 3. YOU SEE FOUR OF THEM IN DUMMY, and YOU HAVE TWO IN YOUR HAND = 6. BY THE PROCESS OF elimination, DECLARER MUST HAVE TWO CARDS THAT BEAT THE THREE OF HEARTS. AND IN FACT, SINCE YOU LED FOURTH DOWN, AND PARTNERS LEAD WAS THE THREE, AND YOU HAVE THE TWO IN YOUR HAND, partner must HAVE LED EXACTLY FROM A FOUR CARD SUIT..
and now you ABSOLUTELY KNOW THAT DECLARER HAS TWO CARDS BOTH OF WHICH BEAT THE THREE. He has only 2 cards in hearts, not 3.
Type # 4: when YOU AIN'T GOT A THING IN YOUR HAND
Many times partner is making a long suit lead or a short suit lead HOPING THAT THE SUIT IS A SEVEN CARD OR LONGER SUIT WITH THE STRONG CHANCE OF ESTABLISHING THE SMALL CARDS. It is therefore your responsibility to tell partner if he was right, and you tell him this with your first card: