Which card do you lead from a side suit headed by the Ace-King? I've long been a champion of the King-lead, as most of you know, but there are still some folks who prefer the Ace. "I don't want to tell the opponents where the King is," they may say. How good is this idea? Let's find out.

J42 A954 Q106 AK6 103 K1062 K8 QJ743 AQ976 QJ87 93 102 K85 3 AJ7542 985 West North East South 2 3 4 3 North led the A

North and South should have had no trouble making their 3+3 bids. North has three quick tricks, and South has two high cards plus an easy cut value. How could they possibly take a detour to Setsville?

North won the A. Where I come from, this play denies the King. North now took the A and led a second heart, trumped by South. South won the A and wondered what to do next. There was no point in leading a club if the suit belonged to the opponents, so he continued diamonds, West winning the K.

Since East had bid 4 but had shown no previous signs of life, West guessed correctly that East was loaded in spades. The lead of West's 10 was ducked around to South's K, his side's fifth trick. Still under the notion that North could not possibly hold the K, South tried a third round of diamonds. This was the final break that East/West needed. West trumped with 3 while East shed his last club. When West led a club, the K came out of hiding, fooling everyone (except North), but it was too late to do any good. East trumped the club, ran spades, and E/W took the rest with good hearts. North/South still had only five tricks.

Take my advice. Lead the King from Ace-King. The problem with concealing your cards from the opponents is that you also deceive your partner. This is serious. Your partner is the one who needs to know. The opponents? They already know what they don't have.