When to Underlead an Ace against a Trump Contract

(and a reminisce about Arthur Goldsmith)

by Stan Dub

If asked when to underlead an Ace against a trump contract, many top players would say "never". While the play can be spectacular if it succeeds, there are too many situations where it can lose a trick, or lose an important tempo. Worst of all is the situation where the play would actually succeed, but partner gets fooled and lets the opportunity get away. Nonetheless, the play can sometimes pay dividends, and it is possible to state some conclusions about when the play might have a chance of succeeding. Niel Waletzky once described a case where Laurie Kranyak, as a relatively new player, underled an Ace against a slam contract in a knockout match at the local regional. The declarer was the late, great, Marty Arndt. He went wrong and was sincere in his congratulations.

To understand my guidelines for underleading an Ace, it's useful to consider the position you are hoping to find. Thinking only of the suit, imagine, for example, that dummy has Kx and declarer has Jx, or dummy has KJ and declarer has xx. Maybe declarer has a suit to run that can provide pitches so we need to take our tricks fast. Or maybe partner has a possible ruff coming, for example if dummy has KTxx, declarer has J9x, and partner has Qx.

What we are worried about is that one hand will have a stiff, and we'll lose our Ace, or that the King will be in declarer's hand. With those thoughts in mind, here are my guidelines for when to underlead an Ace against a suit contract.

1). Never underlead an Ace when your suit also includes the Q or the J. What layout can you hope to find? If the King is on your left declarer will probably not have a guess and will just play the King.

2) Since you want the King to be on your left, save the play for hands when the dummy rates to have the majority of the opponents' combined strength, or where the auction suggests dummy will have the strength in the suit.

3) Don't make the lead when the bidding suggests the possibility that one opponent is short in the suit.

4) Only make this play when there is no other good lead. Make this lead only as a last resort.

As partner of the opening leader you should bear these guidelines in mind. If you're playing with me or someone who buys into these rules, you can know better what to expect in possible underlead situations. Let's say dummy has KJT9 of a suit and you have Qxxx. Partner leads small and declarer plays J. Ask yourself if the auction suggested that dummy would be strong or weak. If weak, assume partner is not underleading. If strong, he might be underleading, but are there clues that suggest he might have had a safer lead available? Did the bidding suggest the possibility that one opponent might be short in this suit? If so, partner should not be underleading. No guarantees, but these guidelines are better than nothing.

What does this have to do with Arthur Goldsmith, you may wonder? And who was he? Read on...

Arthur was one of Cleveland's greatest players. He died about 15 years ago but would turn 100 this year if he were still living. He won the Spingold in 1949, and also won the Chicago (now Reisinger) that same year. He also won three other national team events. He finished second in the Spingold twice, second in the Chicago once, and second once in another national team championship. All told that gave him 5 wins in major national team events, and 4 second place finishes. His winning team in the 1949 Spingold included teammates Jeff Glick, Al Landy, Bruce Gowdy and Elmer Schwartz (another Clevelander). The second place team that year included Oswald Jacoby and Waldemar Von Zedwitz.

In the early 1990's I had the honor of being Arthur's teammate in the Vichill League several times. Our team also included Elmer Schwartz, Lloyd Loux, Bill Babb and Jim Reiman. As I recall the best we ever finished was third! I played with Elmer, who was by that time about 90, but still a very good player. Arthur was even better, but he was six years younger.

I only played with Arthur a couple of times. Elmer was very volatile, and would occasionally start yelling at the table. But I don't recall Arthur ever uttering an unpleasant word. One time when I played with Arthur I underled an Ace on several occasions during a session, and it never worked. Each time he would look at me with a slightly amused look, and shake his head slightly. But he never said a word.

Happy 100, Arthur. I wish I was half the player you were, and I wish I could be more successful following your example of good comportment at the table.