Don't Lead Unsupported Aces!

Dealer:  West Vul: N/S	Michael ♠AJ53 ♥5 ♦AQ32 ♣T652
Eddie ♠84 ♥A8632 ♦JT7 ♣J84		Molly ♠K9 ♥T94 ♦K965 ♣KQ97
	Leah ♠QT762 ♥KQJ7 ♦84 ♣A3

South	West	North	East
Leah	Eddie	Michael	Molly
	Pass	Pass	Pass
1♠	2♥	4♥1	Pass
4♠	All Pass

4♥¹ = Splinter

Opening Lead: ♥ A

Playing with Leah in a recent STaC, we played in 4♠ with this hand. Despite the fact that I didn't think my hand was strong enough to open, I thought it was strong enough to force to game when Leah opened 1♠. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to pull out a convention Leah and I recently agreed to play, a splinter bid.

Unfortunately Leah's points were mostly in hearts, making my singleton heart not very valuable. Luckily we were playing against Eager Eddie. Eddie led his ♥A, hoping I had one. I guess he was worried that if he didn't take his ace now, my singleton might go away.

I can't tell you how many doomed contracts I've made because the opponents led an unsupported high card for me. This hand was no different. If Eddie leads anything other than a heart, Leah will eventually lose 4 tricks and get set. But by leading the ace Eddie made Leah's KQJ of hearts good. She was able to use these hearts to discard 3 clubs from dummy, allowing her to ruff her ♣3, and make the contract.

Look what happens if Eddie never leads hearts. He can save his ♥A to take Leah's ♥K (or Q or J). Now she only has 2 good hearts and that isn't enough to get rid of either of dummy's minor suits.

Why do people like Eddie like to cash their aces early?

I think this is a psychological issue. People remember when they didn't take their ace and then never got it good. What they don't recognize is all of the times they led their ace prematurely and gave up tricks because of it. Make declarer work to knock out your aces, don't give gifts!