Slow Opening Lead

[lamford]

[hv=pc=n&s=saqt53hkq5dq74ck5&w=sk62ha986d93cj963&n=sj974ht3dkj65caq4&e=s8hj742dat82ct872&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=1sp3sp4sppp]399|300[/hv]

Table Result 4S-1 NS-100

 

East-West were venturing into their first duplicate at the local club in Brighton, after a great time at the Really Easy Congress, and this was the second board. They had the misfortune to defend it against the club's pedant, SB, who was eager to have them for breakfast. The first board was quickly flat, with the defence taking the ace and king of hearts against 3NT, and SB claiming the remainder. On this second board, West decided after perhaps ten seconds to lead the nine of diamonds, as he had read a book by Mike Lawrence which warned against trump leads, against leads from aces, and against leading from Jxxx, so that seemed the best of a bad job to him. SB played the king from dummy, at his normal tempo, and East decided to duck mainly because he thought that SB playing the king was luring him into winning the trick. He played the ten, encouraging. SB tried the jack of spades and played ace and another when it was ducked smoothly, but West returned another diamond and the defence found their ruff.

 

SB had a near-zero but was not happy, however. He called the director, unusually politely, and asked for a ruling. "East took advantage of the UI that West took about ten seconds over the opening lead, which he would not have done with a singleton diamond. On the first board, West had led the ace of hearts from ace, king and took four seconds to do so - I timed it." He continued, after a brief pause for breath, "Winning the first diamond was a logical alternative which would be selected by at least 20% of players, and therefore the score should be adjusted." East-West had no idea what SB was going on about, but it was beginning to put them off duplicate bridge. How do you rule on the hand?

[pran]

I would tell South to play bridge rather than violating Law 74A2.

[blackshoe]

I am tempted to take SB out behind the barn and shoot him in the head.

[wank]

sb is probably right. people normally lead their singletons at the speed of light. however, i wouldn't call a lead from ace king to provide much evidence. ideally the director would observe west in action and see how quickly he does lead a singleton. personally, i try to lead singletons in normal tempo, but don't make such a great effort with ace-king leads (naughty).

 

in all likelihood the variation in tempo worked to the advantage of east west. as we know, they need to take care in such situations as it generates UI. east obviously has a logical alternative of winning the ace and returning one.

 

i don't know what they do in really easy congresses but a lecture on the importance of tempo would be a good way to stop them being put off when they play in proper tournaments.

[sfi]

I like East's logic - it looks clear to duck. East knows that South has the queen, and with Qxxx why would declarer play the King at trick one?

 

But seriously, they're beginners. Tempo is going to be all over the place and it's never clear why.

[steve2005]

But seriously, they're beginners. Tempo is going to be all over the place and it's never clear why.

 

Absolutely correct. Besides at our club were lucky if opening lead is made within 10 seconds (even when lead obvious). how about other people's clubs?

:D

[lamford]

I like East's logic - it looks clear to duck. East knows that South has the queen, and with Qxxx why would declarer play the King at trick one?

 

But seriously, they're beginners. Tempo is going to be all over the place and it's never clear why.

The main issue in this thread is whether we should rule differently with beginners or with top players. I think we should make allowance, and I would not adjust here, but we should still explain to the beginners the benefit of playing at a uniform pace to avoid giving UI. Some other situations, like hesitating with a singleton, are still ruled against even for beginners.

 

For what it is worth, I don't think East's argument that South seemed to want him to win the trick carries much weight.

[aguahombre]

Can't compare treatment of top experts with these guys at all, in this case. If you had a "top expert" who communicated via tempo, that would be a huge problem. A top expert in 3rd position defending would smoothly play the 2, not the ten...not caring whether it was a singleton lead or not. And a top expert opening leader (regardless of UDCA or right side up) would know nothing is going away and he can safely continue diamonds.

[pran]

I have never in my life experienced anybody refusing opening leader the right to fully consider his opening lead, whether it is a singleton against a trump contract or an Ace against a slam. He has 13 cards to choose between and the auction to consider before selecting his tactics for that particular board.

 

Beginner or not makes no difference (except that we must always be more lenient with beginners) and 10 seconds isn't at all excessive.

[lamford]

A top expert in 3rd position defending would smoothly play the 2, not the ten...not caring whether it was a singleton lead or not.

I believe a top expert would smoothly play the ace and return the suit. She fails on this hand, it is agreed, but she only succeeds when partner has at least Kxx of trumps and a doubleton diamond, and there is nowhere for South to park his third diamond before playing on trumps. This hand would be much more of a problem if a top expert played as you suggest, with the other pertinent facts as stated. On this hand SB should have succeeded, playing three rounds of clubs and discarding a diamond before playing on trumps. He was so keen to call the director that he breached Law 73B1.

 

For the avoidance of doubt, we would not deny SB redress against top players as his failure to play three rounds of clubs is not remotely SEWoG.

[lamford]

Beginner or not makes no difference (except that we must always be more lenient with beginners) and 10 seconds isn't at all excessive.

I agree entirely that taking 10 seconds every time is fine. The infraction would be a variation in tempo when leading a singleton, or, of course, a variation in tempo when leading a doubleton.

[blackshoe]

Many players don't understand that "tempo" does not mean "whatever time you need in this particular instance". In fact, many players, including almost all beginners, don't think about tempo at all.

[barmar]

I think we need to remove the second hand from SB's watch. Asking for a judgement based on a difference of only 6 seconds, really? I think a tempo break would have to be much more noticeable than that to warrant an adjustment. The simple fact that he had to time it supports the idea that the opponent might not even have noticed the difference.

[nige1]

[hv=pc=n&s=saqt53hkq5dq74ck5&w=sk62ha986d93cj963&n=sj974ht3dkj65caq4&e=s8hj742dat82ct872&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=1sp3sp4sppp]399|300| Table Result 4S-1 NS-100

East-West were venturing into their first duplicate at the local club in Brighton, after a great time at the Really Easy Congress, and this was the second board. They had the misfortune to defend it against the club's pedant, SB, who was eager to have them for breakfast. The first board was quickly flat, with the defence taking the ace and king of hearts against 3NT, and SB claiming the remainder. On this second board, West decided after perhaps ten seconds to lead the nine of diamonds, as he had read a book by Mike Lawrence which warned against trump leads, against leads from aces, and against leading from Jxxx, so that seemed the best of a bad job to him. SB played the king from dummy, at his normal tempo, and East decided to duck mainly because he thought that SB playing the king was luring him into winning the trick. He played the ten, encouraging. SB tried the jack of spades and played ace and another when it was ducked smoothly, but West returned another diamond and the defence found their ruff.

SB had a near-zero but was not happy, however. He called the director, unusually politely, and asked for a ruling. "East took advantage of the UI that West took about ten seconds over the opening lead, which he would not have done with a singleton diamond. On the first board, West had led the ace of hearts from ace, king and took four seconds to do so - I timed it." He continued, after a brief pause for breath, "Winning the first diamond was a logical alternative which would be selected by at least 20% of players, and therefore the score should be adjusted." East-West had no idea what SB was going on about, but it was beginning to put them off duplicate bridge. How do you rule on the hand?" [/hv]

Suppose an expert defender leads the ♦9, after a tempo-breaking tank, and the defence proceeds as above. The TD might rule for declarer.

For these beginners, the tempo-break seems even more significant, so why should the TD bend the rules in their favour? IMO, Lambert is quite right that most Bridge-rules are even more incomprehenible and off-putting to beginners than they are to the majority of players. Of course, the rules should be simplified and rationalised. But until that happens, they should be enforced against expert and beginner alike.

[lamford]

For these beginners, the tempo-break seems even more significant, so why should the TD bend the rules in their favour?

I would guess the average beginner would not even think about the fact that partner would have led a singleton diamond quickly, unless they spend their time reading the Laws of Bridge rather than, say, The Easy Guide to Bridge. For them, playing partner for a doubleton diamond is not demonstrably suggested by the BIT.

[weejonnie]

Compare this case to a hand in one of David Bird's St Titus books where the Abbot's partner takes a while to select a lead and the Abbot then returns the suit saying (in the post mortem) that he had no option but to return the suit as he knew from the pause before the lead that partner could not hold a singleton.

 

I hope I'd rule that, as a beginner, the pause before leading did not convey UI to partner. I would then take the opportunity to advise the beginners of UI in bridge and how to avoid it.

 

If I felt that SB was trying to take advantage of opponent's inexperience then I might ask him why he hadn't called the director when he became aware of the BIT.

[richlp]

I would guess the average beginner would not even think about the fact that partner would have led a singleton diamond quickly, unless they spend their time reading the Laws of Bridge rather than, say, The Easy Guide to Bridge. For them, playing partner for a doubleton diamond is not demonstrably suggested by the BIT.

 

I came across this sort of situation in real life about 45 years ago. Playing in a Sectional Swiss in Upstate New York I was in a slam and opening leader led a diamond after a 20 pause. RHO won the Ace and, after another 20 second pause, switched. Asked why she didn't give the ruff RHO said "It took you so long to lead it that it couldn't have been a singleton." Even as a relative novice myself, I was astonished, not at the reasoning, but that anybody would actually SAY it out loud.

[nige1]

I would guess the average beginner would not even think about the fact that partner would have led a singleton diamond quickly, unless they spend their time reading the Laws of Bridge rather than, say, The Easy Guide to Bridge. For them, playing partner for a doubleton diamond is not demonstrably suggested by the BIT.

I think it's a matter of judgement for the director; but I don't think that reading a law-book would help the beginner to draw conclusions from partners' BITs; although, conceivably, it might affect his actions.

[barmar]

Leading singletons isn't always so obvious. A couple of weeks ago I had a hand where declarer had bid the suit of my singleton twice, but ended up playing in a different suit. And I'd preempted with a 7-card suit headed by the ace, which partner hadn't supported. So I had to decide whether to lead my ace and try to give partner a ruff, or lead my singleton and hope to get a ruff (with my singleon trump). I thought a bit, and made the wrong decision -- partner did have the ace. Dummy also had a singleton in the suit, but his trumps were all smaller than my jack.