The opening lead can be the most difficult lead in the whole game - and the most critical. When you are choosing your opening lead, you have only thirteen cards to contemplate and the auction to guide you, whereas for every other lead more than twice as many cards are known. A shrewd opening lead may provide a greater chance of successful defence than any card played at a later stage. This superb book shows how to predict the way the play will probably develop and what, therefore, is likely to be the best opening lead. The authors' consistent aim is to encourage the player to gather all the threads of information helpful in deciding what may be the crucial card to lead. And, for good measure, this guidance is amplified by a generous number of expert tips unlikely to be known to most players.

Author Biography

Mike Lawrence lives in Berkeley, California, and has written more than 20 books and is a professional bridge player. The late Alfred Sheinwold recognised his first book How to Read the Opponents' Cards as 'Bridge Book of the Year' in his newspaper column. His Complete Book of Take Out Doubles won the coveted American Bridge Teachers' Association prize for Book of the Year. In addition to his world championships with the Dallas Aces team, Lawrence won the Bermuda Bowls in 1970, 1971 and 1987, together with his teammates. Ron Klinger is a leading international bridge teacher and has represented Australia in over 20 world championships since 1976. An Australian Grand Master and a World Bridge Federation International Master, he has written over 60 books, some of which have been translated into Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, French, Hebrew and Icelandic. Two of his titles - Guide to Better Card Play and Right Through the Pack Again - won Book of the Year awards. He has created many new bridge ideas and devised a number of conventions. He lives in NSW, Australia, and has written a daily bridge column in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald for over 15 years.