sceptic Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 I was just reading about coded 9's and 10's can I have some opinions on the advantages and disadvantages of this please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whereagles Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 It's a good method, although last time I used it vs 3NT, the suit broke .............xxAT9xx...............QJ.............K8xx I led the 9 to the jack and declarer took the king, blocking the suit. OOOPS :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walddk Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 I was just reading about coded 9's and 10's can I have some opinions on the advantages and disadvantages of this please There is no secret to the so called coded 9's and 10's really. If you play standard leads, the 10 could be from an interior sequence like for example K109 (xx), whereas the 9 is used by players who play 3rd and 5th leads. The 9 promises none or two cards higher. In other words: 9x or H109 (not the jack though). The same goes for the 10 if you lead 3rd and 5th. Again it will be from either 10x (109x possible) or HJ10 (not the queen though). None or two higher. If you play standard the 10 is revealing in the sense that you can only have one card higher if it's from an interior sequence. I have no strong preference, but I usually play 3rd and 5th leads, also against NT. Roland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pclayton Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 We've gone back and forth on these. Cohen suggests NOT playing them because it gives too much info to declarer. I'm ambivalent about them on opening leads, however they are priceless in middle game when 3rd hand is leading and dummy has an honor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Tu Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 It's clear that they give more information than standard leads. So the advantage is that partner can more easily tell what you have. The disadvantage is that the same applies for declarer. It's easy to construct hands where it's the only way for partner to know what to do without guessing. It's also easy to construct hands where you give declarer a roadmap to the contract. There is also a middle ground approach, suggested by Wirgen in an old Bridge World article ("Scanian Leads"), where one leads standard (top of interior sequence) when there is only a one card gap (KJTx, QT9x), but the third card when there is a 2 card gap or more, (AJTx, AT9x, KT9x). I guess he feels that the first combinations are the ones that more often give declarer an advantage than the defense, while in the others the defense gains more. I haven't had enough experience with these leads to decide whether this is right; only one of my partners will play this with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke warm Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 i think if you play any lead like this, coded 9/10 or journalist, you should false card on occasion... sometimes it even works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 I've seen the advantages, but I've also seen the disadvantages :( Indeed, it gives too much info to the declarer, and if you have an exceptional lead where you need to play the 9 or T where you don't have the correct higher cards, then you get some discussion B) In the end, I just like them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
han Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 I like them too, especially when my opponents use them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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