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Against a bidding sequence of 1NT, 3NT, partner, West, opens with what looks like the fourth highest of a suit. Dummy goes down with two small cards in the suit. I have four to the king in the suit, two of them little ones, with this question revolving around my second highest card.

I take the king, which is allowed to hold. If my original holding was something like K642, I was taught to return the 2, my original fourth highest. On the other hand, if my holding were KJ42, with the second card being the J, one is supposed to return the Jack.

With KJ2, I would return the Jack to "unblock." Does a similar reasoning hold here with two small cards?

One thought is that partner (West) and declarer (South) probably have the ace and queen between them. If South has Axx, it doesn't matter what I lead, but if South has Qxx, leading the Jack will "trap" the queen. Is that the reason to lead the Jack?

More to the point, how high does my second card have to be, before I lead it in preference to the 2? That is, would I also do this with KTxx or K9xx?

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From KJ42 you are supposed to lead the Jack? Where did you get that? – Aryabhata Feb 2 at 20:21
@Aryabhata: From various bridge books. – Tom Au Feb 2 at 20:21
Can you provide a reference? If this was stated as a general rule, this sounds strange to me. If you have four cards, and there is no danger of blocking the suit, you lead back the 4th best. (Of course, depending on the hand, that might change, but this is a general rule). The idea of the rule is to help partner determine how many cards you have. – Aryabhata Feb 2 at 20:34
As I remember,it was Victor Mollo's book, "Defense, Where the Points Are Won." Maybe "blocking" was the issue, and maybe it was a matter of trapping Qxx in South. – Tom Au Feb 2 at 20:37
Yes, depending on the hand, things might change. But as a general rule, with nothing to go on, from KJ42, you lead back the 2. (Check Bill Root's How to defend a bridge hand, for instance). – Aryabhata Feb 2 at 20:40

1 Answer

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The most common reason you'd lead back your second highest card from four would be to smother a relatively high card in dummy. With KJxx and 10x in dummy, leading the J seems right. This way you pick up the suit if declarer started with eg Q8x, and doesn't hurt on other holdings. But if dummy started with eg 6x (ie something that can't force your partner's high honor if declarer ducks) and your high spot is low enough that you won't block the suit when partner holds 5, it's important to convey the count to your partner by leading low.

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+1, but when dummy has Tx, playing the J can hurt too . For instance, declarer has Q9x opposite Tx. If you play the J, declarer can cover with the Q easily. By playing low, you give declarer a guess as to who has the J. Note: I am not claiming/disputing correctness of any play. – Aryabhata Feb 5 at 20:31

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