When opposed to the dealer, it should be your aim both to protect your hand and to give your partner information. As the eldest hand, your opening lead indicates strength or weakness; any subsequent discard is simply the card that you can best spare, and is not intended to convey any definite information. As the original leader, it is important that you know your partner’s suit, and this information he should convey to you by a recognised system of discarding decided on before beginning the game. Thus the discard from the strength or from weakness refers only to the first card thrown away by the younger hand.
There are three methods of discarding used by Bridge players, each having the same object--to protect the hand and to give information.
1st. Strength both with a trump and at “no-trump.”
2d. Strength with a trump and weakness at “no-trump.”
3d. Weakness both with a trump and at “no-trump.”
Some merit may be claimed for each; but there is a wide difference of opinion regarding the relative values of these discards. In Whist, as well as in Bridge, there has always been more or less discussion on this point. It can, however, be stated that the foremost authorities on Whist have uniformly agreed that with strength declared against you, the best discard is from your strong suit.
The great majority of Bridge players use the strength discard against a trump declaration, and there is little doubt that this is sound. It is imperative that you protect honours in the weaker suits, for rarely will your long suit be brought in against the dealer.
The claim made by those who use the weak discard against a trump make is that it permits them to throw away a short suit, and thus eventually to establish a “ruff.” When a player is discarding from strength, this “ruff” can be obtained with equal facility by the proper use of the reverse discard.
Without a doubt the weak discard should be used on a spade declaration that has been doubled either by you or your partner. In this case, trump strength is probably with you, not against you. The same argument cannot be used, however, on a doubled heart, diamond, or club, whereas spades may have been declared from weakness, the other declarations indicate trump strength.