Finding the best opening lead is one of the most difficult problems we all face when defending.  Very often it can cost a trick and give away a top to the declarer.

The 'Standard Leads' are shown on the back of the scorecard. It is always helpful to agree with partner whether you play them or something different. This only tells you which card to lead from a suit with different card combinations - what is more of a problem is which suit to lead!

There are lots of reasons for choosing a suit - you may simply want a 'safe' lead, or an aggressive lead to try and take your tricks before they disappear.

When you have to make the opening lead you have the least information as you cannot see dummy and only have your own hand and the bidding to consider.

Some useful points to consider on every hand are what you know about the opponents' distribution and point count - and consequently what you know about partner's hand!  For instance, the opponents have bid confidently to 3NT indicating that they have 25 or 26 points minimum.  If you have 11 points then how many can partner have? 4 at most so don't be too optimistic that they will have more than 1 trick.  Once they have played an Ace or King then they have nothing else!

You can get a good idea of the opponents' distribution from the bidding.  Take the opponents' sequence:

1H - 1S

3D - 3H

4H

Declarer has 5 or 6 hearts and 4 or 5 diamonds and dummy has 4 or 5 spades and 2 or 3 hearts and could be short in diamonds or clubs. Depending on what you have in trumps it could be a good time to lead one to stop ruffs in Dummy.  However, if the sequence has simply gone:

1H - 2H

4H 

then Dummy probably has 4 trumps and trying to stop a ruff will be pointless - better to try to find a safe lead and let Declarer work it out.

What is a 'safe lead'?  Imagine that Declarer has opened 2NT showing strong hand.  Leading away from an honour up to a strong hand will probably give a trick away or at least give Declarer the time to develop another suit.

Lead the middle card from 3 small (MUD - middle/up/down - Standard Lead) may finesse partner but the finesse was right anyway so may not cost a trick.

Many players are taught to lead 4th highest from their longest suit but this is not always wise. Have the opponents bid this suit? Are you playing in NTs? Have you got an entry even if you do set up a winner?

Say the opponents are in 3NT and you have QJ10xxx in suit. Is it worth leading? Yes, if you have a probable entry but no, if you haven't. A good Declarer will hold up their winners so you never get in to make your long suit winners. May be best to lead your short suit if it has not been bid by opponents - it could be partner's long suit who has got entries.

Can you help partner find the right opening lead?  Yes - sometimes by bidding even when the opponents have most of the points. Imagine the sequence when Partner is dealer and passes:

P - 1H - P - 2C 

?

Partner has not got an opening hand but could have a hand worth an overcall with a decent 5 card suit.  If it is diamonds then surely they would bid it to tell you what to lead against a probable heart contract by opponents.  If they bid 2D then lead diamonds. If not, they don't have good diamonds so perhaps a spade will be better, even if they don't bid 2S,  As a general rule always lead partner's suit. Consequently be wary of bidding weak suits, especially on weak hands that you don't want partner to lead!

Watch out for more tips on opening leads another day.