Standard leads in bridge come down to four rules: lead the top card of a sequence of honors (the king from K-Q-J), fourth best from a long suit headed by an honor (the 5 from K-J-8-5-2), the top card of a doubleton (the 9 from 9-4), and the top card from three small (the 8 from 8-6-3). The chart below gives the standard opening lead card for every common holding, against notrump and against a suit contract.
Picking the suit is the hard part of the opening lead. Picking the card should be automatic, because partner reads that card to work out what you hold. If you are still deciding which suit to lead, start with opening leads in bridge and come back here for the card.
The Standard Opening Leads Chart
The card you lead is shown in bold. "x" means any small card. Where two methods are common, the chart gives the standard American choice.
| Your holding | Lead vs notrump | Lead vs a suit |
|---|---|---|
| A-K-x | A or K (partnership agreement) | A |
| A-K-J-x-x | A or K (partnership agreement) | A |
| A-K-x-x-x | Fourth best | A |
| K-Q-J-x | K | K |
| K-Q-10-x | K | K |
| K-Q-x-x | Fourth best | K |
| Q-J-10-x | Q | Q |
| Q-J-9-x | Q | Q |
| Q-J-x-x | Fourth best | Q |
| J-10-9-x | J | J |
| J-10-8-x | J | J |
| 10-9-8-x | 10 | 10 |
| 10-9-7-x | 10 | 10 |
| K-J-10-x | J | J |
| K-10-9-x | 10 | 10 |
| Q-10-9-x | 10 | 10 |
| A-Q-J-x | Q | A (better: lead another suit) |
| A-J-10-x | J | A (better: lead another suit) |
| A-10-9-x | 10 | A (better: lead another suit) |
| K-x-x-x or K-x-x-x-x | Fourth best | Fourth best |
| K-x-x or Q-x-x | Low | Low |
| A-x-x-x | Fourth best | A (better: lead another suit) |
| K-x or any doubleton | Top | Top |
| x-x-x | Top (or middle with MUD) | Top (or middle with MUD) |
| x-x-x-x | Second highest | Second highest |
| Singleton | The card | The card |
Three patterns run through the whole chart. From touching honors you lead the top one. From a long suit with one honor you lead low, which tells partner you like the suit. From a weak suit you lead high, which tells partner you have nothing in it.
Rule of ThumbTop of a sequence, fourth best from length, top of a doubleton, top of nothing. Those four rules cover most opening leads you will ever make. Learn them before you learn any of the variations.
Sequence Leads: Solid, Broken and Interior
A solid sequence is three or more touching honors: K-Q-J, Q-J-10, J-10-9. A broken sequence has a gap at the bottom: K-Q-10 or Q-J-9. From both you lead the top card. These are the safest leads in bridge. Even when declarer holds the missing honor, your lead sets up tricks without giving anything away.
An interior sequence is two touching cards under a higher honor: K-J-10, K-10-9, Q-10-9, A-J-10. You lead the top of the touching cards, so the jack from K-J-10-x and the 10 from K-10-9-x. Against a suit contract you rarely lead from an interior sequence headed by the ace, because declarer may hold a singleton and your ace would never take a trick.
The number of touching honors you need depends on the contract:
- Against notrump you need three touching cards, or a broken sequence like K-Q-10. From K-Q-x-x you lead fourth best instead, because you want to keep both honors over declarer's ace or jack and set up your long cards.
- Against a suit contract two touching honors are enough. From K-Q-x lead the king: you need to build a trick fast, before declarer ruffs the third round or throws losers on dummy's long suit.
What each honor lead tells partner
Partner reads your honor lead by what it promises and what it denies. With standard leads (ace from A-K):
| Card led | Usually shows | Usually denies |
|---|---|---|
| Ace (vs a suit) | A-K, or an ace you chose to cash | Nothing for sure |
| King | K-Q, or A-K doubleton | The ace |
| Queen | Q-J, or A-Q-J vs notrump | The king |
| Jack | J-10, or K-J-10 / A-J-10 | The queen |
| 10 | 10-9, or K-10-9 / Q-10-9 / A-10-9 | The jack |
The "denies" column matters as much as the "shows" column. When you lead the queen and dummy has A-x-x, partner without the king knows declarer holds it, because with K-Q you would have led the king.
Pairs that lead the ace from A-K play the king first from A-K doubleton. The odd order tells partner that you can ruff the third round.
Ace or king from A-K against notrump
Against notrump, many partnerships give the two top honors different jobs. The king asks for attitude: partner encourages with the queen or the jack. The ace asks partner to unblock: partner drops the queen or the jack if he has one, and otherwise gives count. So from A-K-J-10-x you lead the ace, and partner with Q-x throws the queen under it. If you have never discussed this, agree it at your next session. Until then, the king from A-K is the safer card.
Leads From Length: Fourth Best, Third and Fifth, Attitude
Fourth best means the fourth card from the top. From K-J-8-5-2 you lead the 5, and from Q-9-7-4 you lead the 4. The low card tells partner you have an honor and some length, and it keeps your honors in place over declarer.
Fourth best also gives partner arithmetic. Under the Rule of 11, subtract the card led from 11: the answer is the number of higher cards in the other three hands. You lead the 5, so 11 - 5 = 6 cards above the 5 are held by dummy, partner and declarer. Partner sees dummy and his own hand, so he knows exactly how many of those cards declarer has.
Two other length methods are common:
- Third and fifth. Lead the third card from an even number of cards and the lowest from an odd number. From K-8-6-3 you lead the 6; from K-9-7-6-3 you lead the 3. Partner gets a cleaner count of the suit. Many tournament pairs play this against suit contracts and fourth best against notrump.
- Attitude leads. A low card says you like the suit, a high card says you do not, and length does not matter. From K-8-6-3 you lead the 3; from 9-7-5-2 you lead the 9. They are popular with many players in Europe.
None of these is better for everyone. Pick one, write it on your card and play it every time.
Leads From Weak Suits: Top of Nothing, MUD and Second Highest
You often lead a suit with no honor in it: partner's suit, or a safe lead because every other suit looks dangerous. The standard cards are:
- Doubleton: lead the top card, then the lower one. From 9-4 lead the 9. The high-low order shows a doubleton, and against a suit contract it tells partner you can ruff the third round.
- Three small: lead the top (top of nothing). From 8-6-3 lead the 8. Partner sees a high card and knows you have no honor. The weakness is that the 8 can look like the top of a doubleton.
- MUD (middle, up, down): from 8-6-3 lead the 6, play the 8 next, then the 3. It removes the doubleton confusion for a while, but partner cannot read the first card alone. See the full method in the MUD lead.
- Four small: lead the second highest. From 9-7-4-2 lead the 7. Leading the 9 can waste a card that would win a trick later when partner holds the honors.
Some experts lead low from three small to avoid the doubleton problem. That is a fine agreement, as long as partner knows it.
Rusinow Leads
Rusinow leads are named after Sydney Rusinow. You lead the second highest of touching honors:
| Holding | Standard lead | Rusinow lead |
|---|---|---|
| A-K-x | A | K |
| K-Q-x | K | Q |
| Q-J-x | Q | J |
| J-10-x | J | 10 |
| 10-9-x | 10 | 9 |
Under Rusinow, an ace lead denies the king (except from A-K doubleton), and every honor lead tells partner exactly which card sits above it. A king shows the ace, a queen shows the king, a jack shows the queen. With standard leads, a king from a strong hand can be A-K or K-Q, and partner sometimes guesses wrong.
Most pairs play Rusinow only on the opening lead and only in a suit that partner has not bid. Many use it only against suit contracts. Later in the hand, and in partner's suit, they go back to the top of touching honors.
The cost shows up with doubleton honors. From K-x you still lead the king, and partner may read it as A-K. That is the price of the method, and most strong pairs find it a fair one.
You and partner play Rusinow leads. Against 4♥ you have decided to lead a spade from this hand. Which card do you lead?
Your hand:
Worked Example: Why the Top of a Sequence Matters
Here is a real deal, solved double dummy. East opens 1NT, West raises to 3NT, and you are on lead with a quiet hand. Spades is the obvious suit. The question is the card.
East opens 1NT (15-17). West raises to game. You are South, on lead.
You lead against 3NT by East. Choose the card from Q-J-10-4 of spades, then reveal the other hands.
You hold 6 HCP and a 4-3-3-3 shape, with Q-J-10-4 of spades. Declarer has 15 HCP and dummy has 11.
Lead the ♠Q and 3NT goes down one. Lead the ♠4 and declarer makes ten tricks. The double dummy solver gives the defense five tricks after the queen and only three after the 4.
Watch the spade suit. Dummy has A-7-5, declarer K-9-8, and partner 6-3-2. If you lead the 4, declarer plays low from dummy and wins with the 8, because partner's best spade is the 6. Declarer still has the ace and the king, so spades produce three tricks for him instead of two. If you lead the queen, declarer can win only the ace and the king. Your jack and 10 then beat every spade that is left.
The jack or the 10 would also beat the contract double dummy. Only the queen tells partner what you hold: the queen promises the jack and denies the king, so partner knows the king is with declarer.
TipFrom three touching honors, the honor lead almost never costs and the low card often does. When you are not sure which card to lead from a sequence, lead the top.
The Worst Leads in Bridge
Some leads give away a trick so often that good players avoid them unless the auction gives a strong reason. Against a suit contract, roughly from most dangerous to least:
| Lead | Example | Why it costs | When it is acceptable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low from an ace | 3 from A-J-6-3 | Declarer's king wins a trick it never would, and your ace may get ruffed later | Almost never on opening lead against a suit |
| Away from K-J | 4 from K-J-4 | It lets declarer win cheaply with the queen or the 10 | When you must take tricks fast |
| Singleton honor | Q alone | It can crash partner's king or give declarer a free finesse | Partner bid the suit |
| Doubleton honor | Q from Q-5 | It often costs partner's honors or sets up declarer's finesse | Partner bid the suit |
| Trump from Q-x or J-x-x | 4 from Q-4 | It picks up your own trump trick | A trump lead is badly needed |
| Unsupported ace | A from A-7-5-2 | It sets up declarer's king | Against a slam, or with nothing better |
| Low from a king | 3 from K-8-6-3 | Declarer may hold A-Q | Often right when you must attack |
Against notrump, the classic bad leads are different. A short suit chosen only because it looks safe often helps declarer, because the defense needs long cards to beat notrump. An ace from a suit with no length gives up your stopper and sets up declarer's winners.
The lesson is the same for both: a lead from a sequence or from nothing gives very little away, and a lead from a broken honor holding can cost a full trick.
The worst opening lead against a suit contract is a low card from an ace. Declarer's king takes a trick it should never take, and the ace you kept may be ruffed later. If you must lead the suit, lead the ace.
Reading the Opening Lead Card as Partner
The opening lead card is half of a conversation. Partner looks at your card, dummy and his own hand, then decides whether to encourage, discourage or show count:
- Honor led: place the touching card in your hand. If you lead the jack, partner places the 10 in your hand and the queen somewhere else. If the queen is not in dummy or in his own hand, declarer has it.
- Low card led: use the Rule of 11 against notrump to count declarer's higher cards. Against a suit, assume you hold an honor and play to protect it.
- High spot card led: assume shortness or no honor. Partner should not return the suit hoping to cash your winners.
Then partner signals. The usual agreement is high to encourage and low to discourage, or the reverse with upside-down signals. The full system is in bridge signals.
Agree Your Leads and Write Them on the Card
Your lead agreements are part of your system, and the opponents are entitled to know them. Every standard convention card has a leads section where you mark the card you lead from each holding and your length leads (fourth best, third and fifth, or attitude). See the bridge convention card for how to fill it in.
A short checklist for a new partnership:
- Ace or king from A-K, against suits and against notrump?
- Standard or Rusinow on the opening lead?
- Fourth best, third and fifth, or attitude from length?
- Top of nothing, MUD or low from three small?
- Do the same rules apply in partner's suit?
Five questions, five minutes, and you will not lose a trick to a misread lead.
East opens 1NT, West raises to 3NT. You are on lead.
Against 3NT you lead a spade from this hand with standard leads. Which card?
Your hand:
Practice Choosing the Lead Card
Charts stick when you use them at the table. BridgeDummy has two good ways to train leads:
- Lead puzzles: you are South with a hand and an auction. You choose a card, and every card in your hand is scored double dummy across hundreds to thousands of deals that fit the auction. You get 1 to 5 stars and see how much each other card would have gained or lost, at matchpoints or IMPs.
- Lead Gym: robots bid a fresh random deal, you choose the lead, and every card in your hand is scored on deals that fit that auction.
After a week of puzzles you stop thinking about which card to lead from K-Q-10, and that leaves your thinking for the real question: which suit. For that, read what to lead against a suit contract and what to lead against 3NT. To see how the solver behind these scores works, read double dummy analysis explained.