Lead Towards Weakness for Beginners: Target Their Weakest Holding (Beginner Defence)

Lead Towards Weakness for Beginners: Target Their Weakest Holding

A lot of good defence comes from one question:

In actual fact, this is a very similar idea to leading through strength, even though it does not sound like it.

The full picture is this. Lets imagine we are going to play a suit. Declarer on our left will play next, then partner, then dummy.

This is the key point: dummy is last to play. If dummy has high cards, then they can be put to efficient use and capture whatever your side produces. That is a really efficient way for opponents to win tricks. That is why you want to try to lead suits which dummy (or whoever is last to play) is weakest in.

How this fits with lead through strength

These two ideas are teammates, not opposites:

• Lead through strength = challenge honors directly.
• Lead towards weakness = put the strong hand in the middle of the battle, and let the weak hand be the final hand to play, unable to do damage.

Final takeaway

Where to next

• -> Next: Lead Through Strength for Beginners: Attack Their Honors, Not Their Weakness
• -> Related: Second Hand Low for Beginners: Exceptions You Must Notice (When to Cover an Honor)
• -> Back to Beginner Defence Articles Hub