Rusinow Leads: Second Highest of Touching Honors

Rusinow leads are an opening lead method in which you lead the second highest of touching honors: the king from A-K, the queen from K-Q, the jack from Q-J and the ten from J-10. Because each honor lead shows exactly one holding, partner knows at once which higher honor you hold. An ace lead says you do not hold the king.

The method is named after Sydney Rusinow, an American player who devised it in the 1930s. Many strong partnerships use it today, mostly against suit contracts. It changes only your opening leads of touching honors; small-card leads, signals and later leads stay as they were.

Read the first column the other way to see what partner learns:

• The K promises the A.
• The Q promises the K.
• The J promises the Q.
• The 10 promises the J.
• The A denies the K.

In standard leads the king is the problem card: it can come from A-K or from K-Q. If you, the leader's partner, hold neither the ace nor the queen and dummy does not show them either, you have to guess. In Rusinow there is no guess.

The usual agreement has three limits:

1. Opening lead only. Later in the play, lead the top of touching honors as usual.
2. Only in a suit partner has not bid. In partner's suit you are not showing a sequence, so lead the normal card: the top of a doubleton, or low from three to an honor.
3. Only from two or more touching honors. A singleton or doubleton honor is led as it is, so partner must use the auction to tell it apart.

Against notrump, opinions differ. Some pairs play Rusinow there too; others keep standard leads, where the king from K-Q-10-9 or A-K-J-10 asks partner to unblock or give count. See what to lead against 3NT for those leads. Whatever you choose, write it on your convention card so the opponents can read your leads too.

The weak spot of Rusinow is the short honor lead. If you lead the king from K-x, partner reads it as A-K. If you lead the queen from Q-x, partner reads it as K-Q. Two simple rules help:

• Lead a doubleton honor only when the auction makes it likely to be right, for example in partner's suit, where the Rusinow rule does not apply.
• From a doubleton A-K, agree a special order. A common choice is to lead the ace and then the king, the reverse of normal Rusinow order: the switch tells partner you started with exactly two.

These problems also exist in standard leads, in another form. They are a reason to know your partner's style, not a reason to avoid the method.

You lead the ♥Q, Rusinow from K-Q. Put yourself in partner's seat. He holds ♥A-3 and the ♣A, and he knows from your lead that you hold the ♥K.

The winning defense is for partner to overtake with the ♥A and return the ♥3. You win the ♥K and play a third heart, which partner ruffs. Partner then cashes the ♣A: one down.

Double dummy, this is the only way to beat 4♠ once the ♥Q is led. If partner plays low at trick one, your queen wins, but the hearts are blocked: when you lead a second heart, his ace falls under it or wins alone, and he has no heart left to return. You have no other entry, so there is no ruff, and declarer makes ten tricks.

Be fair to standard leads here: with K-Q you would lead the king, and partner, holding the ace, could also work out that you have the queen. Rusinow shines most when third hand holds neither of the touching cards, as in the next section.

Say partner leads the ♠K against 4♥. Dummy has ♠8-6-4, and you hold ♠9-7-2. Declarer has the remaining honor.

• In standard leads, partner holds A-K or K-Q, and you cannot tell which. So you do not know whether declarer holds the ♠A or the ♠Q. Later, when you count declarer's high cards to place the missing honors, that one card can decide the defense: 4 points or 2 points is often the difference between "declarer has the ♣K" and "partner has it".
• In Rusinow, partner holds A-K for sure, so declarer has the queen. You know the spade suit exactly, your count of declarer's points is accurate, and you can concentrate your signal on what partner needs to know.

Note that the same card can mean opposite things in the two methods. A standard queen lead shows Q-J and denies the king; a Rusinow queen lead shows K-Q and may or may not include the jack. A partnership that is unsure which it plays will misread every honor lead.

Because you know which honor partner holds, your signal answers a sharper question. Assume standard attitude, where a high card encourages.

Partner leads the king (A-K). He can cash the ace next, so the question is whether a third round works. Encourage with the queen, or with a doubleton when you can ruff the third round. Discourage otherwise, and partner will think about a switch.

Partner leads the queen (K-Q). Declarer may hold the ace. Encourage with the jack, which makes partner's suit solid, or with a doubleton if you want a ruff. With the ace, ask yourself whether you need the lead now: overtake when you must return the suit or switch at once, as in the example above, and play low when the queen can hold the trick while you keep your ace.

Partner leads the jack (Q-J). Encourage with the king or the ace. A low card says you have neither, so declarer has them.

Partner leads the ace (no king). If you hold the king, encourage loudly. If you do not, declarer has it, and partner will usually switch.

If you play upside-down signals, reverse the high and low cards: the logic stays the same.

If you have a regular partner, Rusinow is easy to learn and costs very little. If you play with many partners, stay with standard leads unless your partner already plays it. Either way, the bigger gains come from choosing the right suit to lead, which the standard opening leads chart and opening leads against suit contracts cover.

To practice opening leads with real simulations behind them, try the Lead Gym or the opening lead puzzles. Then read bridge signals and upside-down signals, the other half of the defense, and the general opening leads guide.