<p>It's hard to say exactly without knowing the rest of the hand.  Does East have reason to guess that South has the ace?  What does West's lead of the 8 mean?  Where in the hand are we?  What is the contract?  NT or trump suit, and is this trump or not?</p>
<p>Either way, W probably isn't underleading A8x.  Even if there were no other suit to play, there's just no reason not to play A. So E knows A is in South most likely; there's no reason for E to play the K there.  But, E also might have only two - 5 is a weird choice otherwise.  Why play 5 from K52 or K54?  It's not like E wants to encourage...</p>
<p>On the other hand, W really shouldn't underlead Kxx or Kxxx.  No matter the contract, it's probably a bad lead.  It's possible W has no choice - if this is the only suit left, for example - but if this is early and W likely has a choice, it makes more sense for E to have the K based on this lead.  It's just unclear why W led the suit in the first place.</p>
<p>You also may want to see their carding agreement - 8 from 842 is a reasonable lead in some agreements, it's not in others.  Would they lead 8 from 82?  2 from 842?  It's possible you can eliminate some holdings from the lead of the 8, but again this depends on their card.</p>
<p>As far as the play of the 6 goes, Declarer is announcing that they have the T by not covering, so they should cover with the 9.  There's just no reason not to, not even transportation-related reasons.  Put the 9 on and see if that draws out the K.  It might, might not, who knows, but you can always cover with the T anyway if you prefer to be in hand.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-12T01:09:53.713Z
Those underfed aces can be oh-so dangerous.
Forget I was ever here
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-09T00:35:47.207Z
2022-07-11T23:55:46.917Z
2022-07-11T23:55:46.917Z
Joe
<p>Consider West on lead in the middle of the game.</p>
<pre><code>Dummy   
QJ976    

Declarer    
A103
</code></pre>
<p>West leads 8 from the suit. Declarer plays 6 from dummy. East plays 5. Declarer wins with 10.</p>
<p>Couple of questions about this</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What do we interpret here from opposition's play - is the K with West? Or is it with East &amp; East didn't cover for some reason? If yes, then what reason?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Was playing 6 from the dummy the right play? Or would it have been better to play the Q hoping for East to cover with K if he did have it?</p>
</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-10T02:33:59.407Z
Please give the contract, the whole hand, the play so far (if it's not the first trick) and East/West's lead and signalling agreements.  All of that could be relevant.  Bridge is complicated.
Alexander Woo
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2022-07-10T13:22:33.247Z
The bidding is also relevant (because it tells us what the defenders know about declarer's hand).
Alexander Woo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-10T13:25:06.730Z
At a minimum, we need to know if the declaring side is short of entries to dummy and or short of entries to hand.
Alexander Woo
<bridge>
How to interpret 3rd hand not covering?
user93353
# How to interpret 3rd hand not covering?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-07-09)

Consider West on lead in the middle of the game.

```
Dummy   
QJ976    

Declarer    
A103

```

West leads 8 from the suit. Declarer plays 6 from dummy. East plays 5. Declarer wins with 10.

Couple of questions about this

1. What do we interpret username_3 from opposition's play - is the K with West? Or is it with East & East didn't cover for some reason? If yes, then what reason?
2. Was playing 6 from the dummy the right play? Or would it have been better to play the Q hoping for East to cover with K if he did have it?

**Tags:** bridge

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Please give the contract, the whole hand, the play so far (if it's not the first trick) and East/West's lead and signalling agreements.  All of that could be relevant.  Bridge is complicated.  
> **username_1**: The bidding is also relevant (because it tells us what the defenders know about declarer's hand).  
> **username_1**: At a minimum, we need to know if the declaring side is short of entries to dummy and or short of entries to hand.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-07-09. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

It's hard to say exactly without knowing the rest of the hand. Does East have reason to guess that South has the ace? What does West's lead of the 8 mean? Where in the hand are we? What is the contract? NT or trump suit, and is this trump or not?

Either way, W probably isn't underleading A8x. Even if there were no other suit to play, there's just no reason not to play A. So E knows A is in South most likely; there's no reason for E to play the K there. But, E also might have only two - 5 is a weird choice otherwise. Why play 5 from K52 or K54? It's not like E wants to encourage...

On the other hand, W really shouldn't underlead Kxx or Kxxx. No matter the contract, it's probably a bad lead. It's possible W has no choice - if this is the only suit left, for example - but if this is early and W likely has a choice, it makes more sense for E to have the K based on this lead. It's just unclear why W led the suit in the first place.

You also may want to see their carding agreement - 8 from 842 is a reasonable lead in some agreements, it's not in others. Would they lead 8 from 82? 2 from 842? It's possible you can eliminate some holdings from the lead of the 8, but again this depends on their card.

As far as the play of the 6 goes, Declarer is announcing that they have the T by not covering, so they should cover with the 9. There's just no reason not to, not even transportation-related reasons. Put the 9 on and see if that draws out the K. It might, might not, who knows, but you can always cover with the T anyway if you prefer to be in hand.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Those underfed aces can be oh-so dangerous.  

---

