Today’s column is about opening leads, one of the most difficult parts of the game to get consistently right. There are certain rules that are easy to follow, such as “fourth best of your longest” against NT but for the most part the leads are determined predominantly by the bidding.

Whole books have been written on the subject, but today I’m just going to concentrate on trump leads — when to use them and when not to.

I’m a fan of trump leads, because for the most part I’m a fan of passive defences against a majority of contracts, unless the auction makes it clear that you should try and get your tricks early. Consider this hand and this auction — you hold 65, K1053, 653, Q654 and you hear this auction.

This is a really frightening auction — the opponents have two strong hands, LHO has a five- or six-card diamond suit and RHO has a diamond fit so it looks like declarer will have lots of discards available once trumps are drawn — time to panic! You cannot settle for a passive lead and your most aggressive lead is a low heart — well done as these were the East-West hands:

You collect your two heart tricks for a near top — on any other lead declarer makes an easy 12 tricks.

Trump leads usually work well when there are two flat hands opposite each other — I also like them when you know they are in a tight contract and you don’t want to give something away from a hand like this:

654 J965 Q8 K987

There are some hands, however, where the auction screams for a trump lead.

You hear LHO open one diamond and then this auction:

What do you know about this hand? RHO is certainly 5-5 in the majors.

LHO probably has three spades and two hearts based on his 1NT rebid

Declarer is going to try and ruff hearts in dummy but has to give you a heart first so you are getting in again.

A club lead looks “safe” but a trump lead here is mandatory — I would lead a low one but would not argue with Ace and another at trick one — the full hand.

You can stop declarer from ruffing even one heart and you win three hearts and the trump Ace to beat the hand.

General advice is “don’t lead trump because you don’t know what else to lead” — well, I’m not sure about that — if your holdings in the other suit look dangerous, a trump lead is often a good escape route.

The next set of Beginners Bridge Lessons will start on September 14, 2026 from 6.45pm to 9pm and run until the end of March with a break for Christmas. Message bridgelessons@bermudabridge.com for details and registration.

• David Ezekiel can be reached at davidezekiel999@gmail.com

BRIDGE CLUB RESULTS

Friday, July 31

1 Sancia Garrison/Jane Smith

2 Molly Taussig/Magda Farag

3 Julia Tadman/Joshimar Hussey

Monday, August 3

1 Sancia Garrison/Jane Smith

2 William Pollett/Linda Pollett

3 Charles Hall/Tony Saunders

Tuesday, August 4

1 Wilena White/Sanja Thompson

2 Sandra Ogden/Eldon Lewis

3 Ross Cooper/Desiree Woods

Wednesday, August 5

1 Sancia Garrison/Magda Farag

2 Aida Bostelmann/Kim Simmons

3 Richard Gray/Wendy Gray

Thursday, August 6

1 John F W Glynn/Rachael Gosling

2 Betsy Baillie/Delton Outerbridge

3 Gertrude Barker/Magda Farag