Boston Leads

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Boston leads are an acronym for making an opening lead from the "Bottom Of Something and Top Of Nothing."

In "Barbara Seagram's Beginning Bridge", Barbara Seagram states:

“Lead BOSTON when you are leading from a suit that does not include a sequence or two top honors.”¹

When you hold a jack or higher honor, the Boston principle directs you to lead low. It is worth noting that most players do not lead their absolute lowest card as a rigid rule; instead, they commonly employ either fourth-best leads or third-and-fifth leads.

For example, playing 4th best leads:

• J8632 - lead the 3
• K932 - lead the 2
• Q65 - lead the 5

When a suit contains a touching honor sequence or a doubleton honor, the lead comes from the top of the honor holding, not from fourth-best:

• KQJ83 - lead the K
• QJ7 - lead the Q
• K5 - lead the K

The phrase “top of nothing” refers to leads from suits headed by no card higher than the ten. In these cases, the lead is the highest card in the suit, signaling the absence of an honor.

Examples:

• 86542 - lead the 8
• T873 - lead the T
• 974 - lead the 9
• 65 - lead the 6

¹ Seagram, B. & Linda Lee. (2008). Barbara Seagram's Beginning Bridge. Master Point Press.