In Bridge the term short suit implies a singleton or a two-card
suit, although, strictly speaking, any suit of fewer than four cards
is short. With a very weak hand (no high cards in any suit) it is
evident that the only possible way of making tricks is by a short
lead, which may enable you to ruff the suit on the second or third
round. With a hand that contains tenace suits or suits with a single
honour, it is often advisable to lead short; this opening gives you a
double advantage; you may have an opportunity to ruff, and you throw
the lead with the purpose of having your honour suits led up to.
With most players the desire to make a small trump is very strong,
and often leads to thoroughly unsound openings. It is always wrong
to open a short suit when you hold an ace king suit. Why play in the
dark, when by leading the king of your ace king suit, you are in a
position to hold the lead until you have seen dummy and can judge as
to the advisability of the weak lead? A suit headed by king queen
is also a safer opening than a short lead, which may establish the
suit for the dealer; although, if you hold an honour that will stop
the adversaries’ trump lead, say an ace or a guarded king, you are
almost certain to be in the lead before the dealer has an opportunity
to discard worthless cards on his established suit. Any short lead
may establish a suit for the dealer or dummy; in fact, the chances
are that it will. If you are weak in trumps and have little or no
strength in the side suits, you have not much to lose by the short
lead. The dealer will establish and make his suit with or without
help. On the other hand, if you are strong in trumps, you may be able
to make it most difficult for the dealer to exhaust the trumps and
make a suit unless, by your weak lead, you establish it for him.
With strength in trumps the short opening is unsound, particularly
with four trumps is it apt to ruin your hand. One force given your
hand makes it easy for the dealer to exhaust your trumps and to make
the suit that you, by your short lead, have established.
With four trumps open your long suit. The maker probably holds five
trumps, and when one force is given to his hand, you have an equal
number. Even though your trumps are small the dealer must exhaust
his own to draw them, and a card of re-entry in your hand or that of
your partner will probably enable you to make your suit. At any rate,
you have made it difficult for the dealer to establish his suit, or
retrieve any subsequent error in his play.
With five trumps and any good suit the latter should be opened.
When the make has been passed, should you hold no long suit, choose
preferably a short red suit. In other words lead up to the dealer’s
supposed weakness.
With six trumps little or no objection can be raised to the short
lead. When the trump situation is known you may be forced to lead
them to the maker, so that you should early in the hand try to take
as many trump tricks as possible.
At all times select the highest card of a short suit for the lead.
This is done to give requisite information to your partner. Unless he
can see, in his hand or dummy, great strength in the suit, the lead
of a very low card is most difficult to read as short.
The following are given as examples of hands from which a short suit
may be led. The trump (hearts) declared by the dealer. The card
underlined indicates the lead.
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| Transcriber's Note: |
| The underlines have been replaced with square brackets. |
| For example [K]. |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| ♥ | ♣ | ♦ | ♠ |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| K 5 2 | A J 6 4 |[10] 9 | A Q 5 3 |
| A 9 3 |[8] 6 | 9 7 4 2 | Q 8 6 4 |
| A Q 8 | K J 6 3 |[J] 10 | K 8 4 2 |
| A 9 3 |[Q] | K 8 6 4 2 | J 8 5 3 |
| Q 5 2 |[J] 10 4 | K 8 4 | K 5 4 2 |
| J 7 3 | A Q 9 6 |[K] Q | K J 4 2 |
| 8 6 2 |[9] | J 8 6 4 2 | 10 8 4 |
| 7 5 | Q 6 4 3 |[9] 8 | 10 6 5 3 2 |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+