| Show William McKenney Improving Your Bridge Selection of the correct lead in response to your partners partner's opening lead is often as vital to successful defense as the choice of the opening lead itself A response is a card pl played in following suit or in discarding discarding discarding discard discard- ing to give your partner some information The response is usually a small card since you are making no effort to win a atrick atrick atrick trick but the principles of re responding responding responding re- re can sometimes be used in leading a winner to get the same sort of information across to partner At any time that you follow suit with or discard your lowest lowest low low- est eat card of a suit you say to your partner I have no reas reason n nto to ask you to lead this suit Many beginners think this re response response response re- re means Dont lead this suit but the notion is erro erro- The negative response of the lowest card means I have no reason to direct your play play use use your own judgment The positive response is the play of an unnecessarily high card when making no effort to win a trick It says Partner continue this suit or lead this suit when you get in or I have a stopper in this suit according ac- ac according according ac ac- cording t to circumstances Some players believe that the positive response always shows a high card in the suit sult This is not necessarily so The response is a command to partner Please let me direct the d defense at this point Usually you ask for the lead of a suit only if it you hold stoppers stoppers stoppers stop stop- pers in it but not always Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Some Some- times it is very vital to command your partner to lead a suit because because because be be- cause your side has no tricks in it and nothing to lose while some other lead might wreck a stopper When your partner has led a alow alow alow low card and you must make an effort to win the trick you do not have the opportunity for indicating yo your r wishes But you do have a chance to give him himan himan himan an idea of your top strength Inthe in inthe inthe the suit An important principle here is if you are going to play a acard acard acard card from a s sequence quence play the lowest of the sequence Note that this is just the reverse of what you should do in leading The blind lead of a queen shows that you do not have the king but that you do have the jack unless the suit is very short In following suit with witha a queen on the other hand you positively deny having the jack but you may have the king By following with the lowest of a sequence you frequently enable your partner to Infer that you hold the higher cards by observation of what card is forced from declarers declarer's hand to win the trick or by the f fact Ot t that he does not win the trick |
