Whenever you are dealt a long spade suit you must look for an opportunity to attack with your trumps. In general, the player who started with five or more spades should lead the spade suit as soon as possible.

Attack with the Proper Lead.

Which card do you lead? There is never a problem if you have a sequence of cards such as KQJ95 or QJ1082, or if you have a broken sequence such as KJ832. In the first case you lead you highest card while in the second case you play a low one.

Where most players go wrong is when they have a long spade suit headed by the Ace. When it is time to lead spades from A10742, for example, they invariably lead the A. The correct card to lead is a low spade.

There are many reasons why the low-spade lead works better than the Ace as I demonstrate below. In each case, South is the first player to break spades which he does by trumping a plain suit with the 2. He then correctly continues by playing the 4.

Of course, South cannot know the actual spade distribution. He simply takes his chances. In each example you should verify for yourself that the low-spade lead yields better results than the lead of the A.

A. North K Q West J 9 8 6 East 5 3 South A 10 7 4 2

B. North 8 6 West K Q J 9 East 5 3 South A 10 7 4 2

A. Use Partner's Honors. You don't know what partner has in spades, but the low-spade lead allows for a useful spade or two across the table.

B. Maintain Control. If South leads the Ace and then a small spade, West could draw the remainder of South's trump -- which is not what South had in mind. The low-spade lead keeps control of the spade suit.

C. North K 3 West 8 7 6 5 East Q 9 South A J 10 4 2

D. North Q 8 5 3 West K 6 East J 9 South A 10 7 4 2

C. Avoid Blocking the Suit. Sometimes the North-South spades are strong enough to draw all of the enemy trumps. Here, the second spade trick should be won by South so he can continue the trump plays.

D. Give Them a Guess. South leads the 4. If West plays low he loses his King, and North and South will win all the spades tricks. From West's point of view, North could easily hold the A and South the Q.

E. North Q 5 3 West 8 6 East K J 10 South A 9 7 4 2

F. North J 8 West Q 9 3 East K 7 6 South A 10 5 4 2

E. Only Two Rounds of Spades. A particularly common stratagem in Spades is to play exactly two rounds of trump and then go about your business in the side suits. In this example, East is always assured of two spade tricks no matter how North-South play. The low-spade lead prevents East from winning the second spade to play off the third round.

F. Three Rounds. Other times, South may wish to play three rounds of spades. With no entries outside the spade suit, South's low-spade lead keeps open the lines of communication with his partner.

G. North J 7 6 5 West 3 East K Q 8 South A 10 7 4 2

H. North 9 West K Q J East 8 6 5 3 South A 10 7 4 2

G. Set up a Finessing Position. After North's J (which denies a higher honor) is won by East, North regains the lead and plays a spade. South can finesse against East's other spade honor. He may be able to place the location of this card using the Count Card Principle.

H. Change of Plan. When West wins the first spade with the J, South reads North's 9 for a singleton and decides he no longer wishes to push spades. Instead, he will try to win his 7 and 10 by ruffing, which can be done if North has two entries and West cannot overtrump.

If South had started spades by playing the Ace and another, West would win the second round and could play a third spade, silencing South's 7.

Not Always...

The low-spade lead is not always an automatic winner. We say the low-spade lead is correct because it is the best play more often than not, but there are occasions when the Ace lead works better. In Example I below, the lead of the A picks up the entire spade suit, while the recommended low-spade lead loses two spade tricks. These matters can't be helped.

I. North Q 9 5 3 West J 8 6 East K South A 10 7 4 2

There are also tactical situations that call for two quick rounds of spades lest the opponents use their trump cards to immediate advantage. They may have a cross-ruff or they may be able to promote an extra trump trick for themselves.

I would estimate that the low-spade lead works better 75% of the time, while starting with the Ace is preferable the remaining 25%. The game of Spades always depends heavily on guesswork. The best anyone can hope for is to go with the percentages unless your judgment tells you otherwise.

Regards,
Popsicle