| "Beginner's Korner"
Defensive Play -- Opening Leads -- Part III
Bidding Strategy
Defense against Loners
The "leads" series concludes with this month's column.
If the dealer decides to pick up the trump card, he has the option of going alone. This is a declaration to play the hand without a partner. If the upcard is turned down, then second round of bidding occurs and the maker (or namer) of trump may choose to go alone. A future column will review Loner bidding strategies. In any case, the opening lead is made by the player to the left of the declarer. There is a lot at stake here. A "Sweep" or "March" by the loner hand is worth a whopping 4 points! That is 40% of game, and in some instances, the Loner may rescue a hopelessly lost game. The defense must go all out to prevent the Sweep and hold the offense to 1 point. (Euchring a Loner is most unusual!)
The impulse to lead an Ace (when holding only one side-suit Ace) against a Loner can be almost irresistible -- avoid it! If you hold a Singleton Ace, it will not run away. If you hold two side-suit Aces, by all means lead one. This will remove a potential squeeze play.
A very effective lead against a Loner is a long suit -- preferably one with three cards. This may allow your partner the chance to trump early, and prematurely force a trump from the declarer. Effective long suits are those with sequential holdings (for example, A-K-Q; A-K; K-Q-J; Q-J-10). Avoid broken sequences such as K-10, or A-Q. In this way, you are not leading into a "ten-ace" combination and giving the declarer a "free" finesse.
Another comfortable lead is a side-suit worthless Singleton. You might catch your partner with the Ace. The only down side of this is that you also might trap your partner's King into the declarer's A-Q!
Bad leads: Generally speaking, trump leads are a very poor choice. Do not lead trump unless you hold a long natural sequence (for example, A-K-Q), and side-suit strength. The idea is to prevent declarer from winning cheap tricks with 9s or 10s. Never underlead a Bower -- especially the guarded Left! A Singleton small trump is a miserable lead, as it may finesse partner and allow an otherwise unmakeable Sweep!
When playing against a lone hand, keep cards of the suit that your partner discards, as you may be sure that he is weak in that suit. Depend on your partner for strength in the suits he keeps. Do not discard an Ace, even if your partner has opted to keep the suit in which you hold said Ace.
There is a lot of judgment here, and a little guesswork, to be sure. However, those in an effective partnership will become familiar with each other's tendencies and defensive plays.
Defense against "assisted" hands
To begin, let me clarify a misconception. There is no rule that states the dealer's partner must go alone if he orders the trump to his partner. He may go alone if he so chooses. This is an option or variation that is played in some locales.
When the dealer's partner accepts the upcard as trump, you may rest assured that he has a decent hand, with at least two strong trump and a side-suit Ace. Perhaps the upcard is a Bower, and he wants to take it out of play by going alone. Once again, your job as a defender is to attack accordingly (refer to last month's column). If there are four hands in play, Aces are effective leads. As usual, avoid trump leads. If the "Assister" opts to go alone, then you must revert to your "Loner" defensive tactics.
There is a lot of randomness in the game; however, there is also quite a bit of psychology and common sense. Awareness of the score is also essential.
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