The selection of the correct lead in Auction is not attended with so many difficulties as in Whist, or even in Bridge. In Whist, the original leader is obliged to begin the play in the dark, the turn-up const.i.tuting his entire knowledge of the strength or weakness of the other players. In Bridge, the extent of his information is limited to the inferences that can be drawn from the declaration and the double, but in Auction every player has made at least one announcement which is more or less instructive.

When there has been considerable bidding it is frequently possible to accurately estimate the length and strength of the suit of each player and the trick-taking value of the balance of his hand. When only one or two declarations have been made, so much information may not be obtainable, but even then the leader, from the failure of certain players to bid, may be able to make deductions of considerable value.

The Auction leader, therefore, must remember the various declarations, draw both positive and negative inferences therefrom, and whenever it is not advisable to open his partner's suit or his own, should follow the old principle which, since the days of Pole, has been applicable to all games of the Whist family, and realize "'Tis seldom wrong to lead up to the weak and through the strong."

The original opening is materially varied by the character of the final declaration, the system of leading against a No-trump being quite different from that employed when a suit is Trump.

HOW TO LEAD AGAINST A NO-TRUMP

When the partner has not shown strength, the leader, against a No-trump, should open his own long suit. If he have two long suits, he should pick the stronger except when he has declared it, and has not received support from his partner, in which case it is generally wise to try the other. The possible exception to the lead of a long suit against a No-trump is when that suit has been declared, has not been helped by the partner, and the No-trump has been subsequently bid to the right. In this situation, with a tenace in the long suit, it is sometimes advisable to try, by leading another suit, to get the partner in, so that he may lead through the Declarer's strength in the suit called by the leader. This, however, is a dangerous expedient when the partner has not declared. Should a suit be guessed which the partner cannot win, one of his high cards is apt to be sacrificed, and not only nothing gained, but the advantage of the lead transferred to the adversary. If two high cards be missing from the tenace suit, as in the case when it is headed by Ace, Queen, Ten, or King, Knave, Ten, and the Declarer hold the missing honors and one small card, it will take two leads to establish the suit. It is not likely that a partner without sufficient strength to declare will be able to get in twice, and trying to put him in once is most apt to establish a suit for the Declarer.

Therefore, as a general proposition, unless the partner have declared, the tenace suit should be led. When, however, the partner has shown a suit, opening it, in preference to a tenace, is elementary and compulsory.

When the partner has declared, the leader should open the suit named unless satisfied that his own affords a more potent weapon for the attack.

There are only three conditions which justify the leader in a.s.suming this, viz.:--

(_a_) When the leader has called his suit and his partner has advanced the declaration.

(_b_) When the leader's suit is headed by Ace, King, Queen, or King, Queen, Knave.

(_c_) When the leader has only a singleton of his partner's suit and has several reentries.

Innumerable tricks, games, and rubbers have been thrown away by a leader who, considering solely his own hand, has started with his suit in preference to that of his partner. There is some peculiar characteristic in the composition of many players which magnifies the value of their own cards, so that they seem of greater importance and more desirable to establish than their partners'. Even experienced players have been known to commit such an Auction absurdity as opening a suit headed by a Knave, in preference to the suit named by the partner, which, of necessity, contains the strength requisite for a Trump declaration.

It is fair to estimate that ten tricks are lost by denying the partner's declaration to one that escapes the player who leads his partner's suit in preference to his own.

When the partner has declared, his suit can be counted upon for both length and strength, and unless it be practically solid, his hand contains at least one reentry. The leader by his opening can attack only one-quarter of the No-trump fortification, and it is his duty to pick out the spot which promises to be most vulnerable. A No-trump call is very likely to spell game unless a suit can be established against it. In order to accomplish this it is generally necessary to start with the first card led. Therefore, making the right original opening is probably the only opportunity to save the game. When the leader selects his own suit in preference to his partner's, he should be able to say, "In spite of the strength you have declared, I am reasonably sure that we have a better chance to establish this suit than yours."

As a rule, however, the leader does not have sufficient strength to support such a statement, and, therefore, his lead generally says, "Partner, I know you have considerable strength, you may have declared expressly for the purpose of asking me to lead your suit, but I selfishly prefer to play my own hand rather than act for the benefit of the partnership."

It is but a puerile excuse for a leader who does not open his partner's suit to explain that the No-trump was called by the right-hand adversary after the partner's declaration, and that the bid, having been made with the antic.i.p.ation that the suit named would be led, he should surprise the Declarer. It is true that the Declarer expects that suit, but it may be the only opening he fears. It is more than possible that the suit is stopped but once, and that leading it will save the game, even if it do not defeat the declaration. It is certainly a very short-sighted or unduly sanguine player who selects a suit of his own, which has not nearly the strength of his partner's, merely on the wild chance that his partner, rather than the No-trump bidder, has the missing high cards.

When the partner has declared two suits and the leader has length or strength in one of them, he should open it, but when he cannot a.s.sist either, he should open the suit named first, as it is probably the stronger.

As will be seen from the tables of leads against a No-trump declaration, in some cases whether the leader has a reentry materially affects the manner in which he should open his long suit. By a reentry in this connection is meant either an Ace or King, unless the suit containing the King have been bid by the adversary to the left of the leader. In that case the King cannot be expected to win unless accompanied by the Queen. A Queen, or even Queen, Knave, cannot be considered a reentry, as the suit may not be led three times.

The reason for varying the lead, depending upon the presence of a reentry, is that the sole thought of the leader against a No-trump is to establish the suit led, and to insure so doing he opens his suit exclusively with that end in view, regardless of whether it would otherwise be the opening most apt to prove trick-winning. He knows that the Declarer will, if possible, hold up a winning card until the Third Hand is unable to return the suit. Therefore, if he be without a reentry, he must do all in his power to force the winning card from the adversary's hand as early in the play as possible. If he have a reentry, he may play much more fearlessly. An example of this is a long suit, headed by Ace, Queen, Knave. The most advantageous lead from this combination is the Ace (as an adversary may hold an unguarded King), and that would be the lead with a reentry; but the chances are that the partner does not hold more than three cards of the suit, and, if it be opened in the usual way, the King will be held up until the third round. The leader without a reentry, therefore, is compelled to open with the Queen, so as to establish the suit, while the partner, who probably has a reentry, still retains a card of it.

Another important convention which applies to the opening of the leader's suit against a No-trump declaration (but, of course, against a No-trump declaration only) is that the original lead of an Ace calls for the partner's highest card. An Ace, therefore, should be led from such a combination as a suit headed by Ace, King, Knave, Ten, since the drop of the Queen will permit the suit to be run without hesitation, and the failure of the partner to play the Queen will permit the leader to place its position positively, and to continue the suit or not, as his judgment and the balance of his hand dictate. This doctrine is extended to all cases of the original lead of an Ace against a No-trump declaration.

The Ace should not be led unless the partner's best card, regardless of its size, be desired, and the partner should play it unhesitatingly, be it King, Queen, or Knave, unless the Dummy convince him that meeting the demand of the lead will be trick-sacrificing, in which case the leader's command should be ignored.

In leading a partner's suit, the general rule of selecting the fourth best, when opening with a small card, is not followed. The object in leading that suit is to strengthen the partner, and it is more important to do that and also to tell him what is the leader's highest card than to post him regarding exact length. Holding either two, three, or four of a partner's suit, the top, therefore, should be led, followed on each succeeding trick by the next in order, the lowest being retained until the last. This is sometimes called the "down and out." The one exception to the lead of the top of the partner's suit is when it consists of three or more headed by Ace or King, and the right-hand adversary has called No-trump after the suit has been declared. In that case, it may be that the stopper which the Declarer thinks he has in the suit can be captured, and the lead, therefore, should be a low card.

NUMBER-SHOWING LEADS

The lead in Auction is materially simplified by the fact that number-showing is not nearly so important as in Whist, and really only becomes of value when opening a small card against a No-trump declaration. In that case the lowest should always be led with four in the suit, because the partner, having the Dummy spread before him, being able to count his own hand, and being informed by the lead regarding the leader's length in the suit, can generally tell the exact number held by the Declarer, and can, therefore, accurately determine whether it is better to continue that suit or try some other. It happens more frequently than would be supposed that when a four-card suit is opened with a small card, the Dummy and Third Hand have only four cards of it between them. The Third Hand can then, if the leader have shown exactly four, mark it as the long suit of the Declarer, and make an advantageous shift. This is the only method of giving this warning. If the fourth-best lead be not adopted, the suit must, in most cases, necessarily be continued to the great benefit of the Declarer.

Number-showing by the lead of a small card (one of the rudiments of Whist) is doubtless thoroughly understood by most Auction players; it consists in leading the fourth best, when the suit is not of such a character as to demand a high card or intermediate sequence opening.

This informs the partner that the leader has exactly three cards in that suit higher than the card led, and that he may or may not have any smaller card.

For example: the leader has Queen, 7, 6, and 4; the Dummy, a singleton (the 3); and the Third Hand, who wins the trick with the Ace, only two others (the 8 and 2). The Third Hand can place the Declarer with five, as the leader, having opened his lowest, can have had only four originally.

Number-showing leads in high cards, so advantageous in Whist, are absolutely unimportant in Auction, and only complicate the situation.

They are not given in the table of leads appended at the end of this chapter, nor is their use permissible, even by the Whist-player of the old school who is thoroughly familiar with their meaning. He must realize that Auction is not a number-showing game, and must be content to limit his skill in that respect to the fourth best, which is advisable when it is not higher than the 7. The limitation of the fourth-best lead to a 7 or lower card is a useful modern innovation.

When the 8 or a higher fourth best is led against a No-trump, the Declarer, with his twenty-six cards at his command, and with great strength in his own hand, is apt to receive information as to the exact high cards held by the leader which will prove of greater value to him than to the partner. Furthermore, the lead of an 8 or 9 as a fourth best is bound at times to conflict with the valuable lead known as the "top of an intermediate sequence."

The holdings from which the top of an intermediate sequence should be led are shown in the tables, and while some of the leads in such cases, which are absolutely conventional in Auction, may shock the Whist-player, they have, nevertheless, been found to be advisable in the present game. Trick-winning is far more important than giving numerical information, and the top of an intermediate sequence often succeeds in capturing a valuable card in the Dummy, does not give too much information to the Declarer, helps to establish the suit, and seldom interferes with the play of the partner.

Much has been written by those who contend that the fourth-best lead against a No-trump gives the Declarer too much information, and, therefore, should never be employed. The writers, however, do not consider that practically the only cases in which the lead is objectionable for the reason cited is when it is an 8 or higher card, while the great advantage of the lead is the warning above mentioned.

There are also instances in which the Third Hand is at some time in the play in doubt whether to return the original lead or try his own suit.

The knowledge of whether his partner holds three or more of the suit first led may in such case be of the greatest value.

The idea of leading the fourth best only when it is a 7 or smaller card eliminates the objection, yet in practically every case affords the advantage.

A player who adopts this system may at times, as, for example, with such a holding as Ace, Queen, 10, 8, 2, be obliged to open the 8, but inasmuch as he would lead the same card from Ace, Queen, 8, 7, 2, the Declarer cannot bank upon the 8 of such a leader showing three higher cards of the suit in his hand, and, therefore, no harm is done.

If the leader have any such four-card combination as Ace, or any one face card, accompanied by 9, 8, 2, or 8, 7, 2, showing that the lead is from four only is more important than opening the top of a two-card intermediate sequence. When, however, the intermediate is headed by a Knave or 10, the opening of the top of it becomes advisable regardless of the length of the suit. Of course, the 2, in the examples just given, is used to represent any small card, and the fourth best should be led if it be a 3, 4, or 5.

THE LEAD AGAINST A SUIT DECLARATION

Against a suit declaration, the original lead of the longest suit is not in the least imperative. Strength is far more important than length. As the tables show, many high-card combinations are opened very differently, the theory being to win with honors, not to establish small cards. If the leader be a Whist-player, he must remember that Auction is a very different game. The Trump has not been selected by chance, but has been named because of his adversaries' great length and strength. The establishment of an adverse suit against a Trump declaration is, therefore, an almost unknown proceeding.

The object of the leader against a suit declaration is to get as many tricks as possible, and he should utilize the two best methods for so doing: namely, winning with his own and his partner's high cards, and ruffing with weak Trumps.

He should avoid opening a tenace suit, regardless of its length. A singleton, if he be short in Trumps, is probably his best lead; his second choice should be high cards in sequence. When his hand does not contain either of these advantageous openings, he should try his partner's suit.

It goes without saying that if the leader have both the Ace and King of a suit, it is always well to lead the King, not only for the purpose of giving information and taking a practically a.s.sured trick, but also in order to obtain a look at the Dummy, which will enable him to more advantageously size up the entire situation.

When his partner has not shown strength, the leader need never hesitate about starting with a strengthening card of a short suit which has not been declared. He is also thoroughly justified, if weak in Trumps, in asking for a force by leading the top of a two-card suit. This, while not nearly so desirable an opening as a singleton, is better than leading from a tenace. When the leader is long in Trumps, he should open his own or his partner's strength.

The leader should bear in mind as a vital princ.i.p.al that, against a suit declaration, a suit containing an Ace should never be opened originally, unless the Ace (or King, if that card be also held) be led.

The leader should observe this convention, regardless of the length of the suit. The knowledge that a leader can be relied upon not to have the Ace unless he lead it will be of material a.s.sistance to his partner in the play. It is sometimes very tempting to lead low with an Ace, hoping that a King may be found in the Second Hand, and that the partner's Queen may capture the first trick. This play will occasionally prove successful, but in the long run, it is a trick-loser, there being so many instances of singletons, even of single Kings, and also of two-card suits, where, unless the Ace be led, the Declarer will win the first trick and discard the other card.

The leader must observe the distinction between opening a long and a short suit which has always been in force in Whist, Bridge, and Auction--that is, when leading a suit headed by a Knave or smaller card, if long, open from the bottom; if short, from the top. For example, holding Knave, 9, 7, 2, the 2 should be led, but holding Knave, 7, 2, the Knave is the card to open.

One other conventional lead should be mentioned, which, as an original opening, is advisable against a Trump declaration only. It is the lead of a two-card suit consisting of Ace, King. The Ace first, and then King, signifies no more of the suit, and a desire to ruff. Of course, by a.n.a.logy, the lead of the King before the Ace shows more of the suit.

HOW TO LEAD TO A DOUBLE

The question of what lead should be made when the partner has doubled is comparatively simple, although the answer depends materially upon whether the double has been of a No-trump or a suit declaration. When a No-trump has been doubled, the original lead should invariably be the suit the doubler has declared. When the doubler has not made any declaration, the suit the leader has called should be opened. When neither the doubler nor the leader has declared, a case that rarely occurs, the lead should be either the best Club or the highest card of the leader's shortest suit, depending upon which of these two conventions the doubler approves.

The theory of the advocates of the Club convention is that it is important for the doubler of a No-trump to know exactly what suit will be led, and that he is more apt to desire Clubs than any other, as the other suits, being of greater value, are more likely to be bid. The argument of the advocates of the high card of the short suit convention is that it enables a double to be made with any long suit.