NORTH
; J 10 7
k Q 8 7 5 2
l Q 9 7
' 10 8
WEST EAST
; K Q 4 2 ; 6 5 3
k 9 4 k 3
l 8 6 5 2 l A J 10
' 9 7 4 ' K Q J 6 3 2
SOUTH
; A 9 8
k A K J 10 6
l K 4 3
' A 5
Vulnerable: Neither
Dealer: South
The bidding:
South West North East
2 NT Pass 3 l* Pass
4 k All pass
*Hearts
Opening Lead: Spade king
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
-- Psalm 46:1.
This week, our deals come from the 2023 World Transnational Open Teams.
South upgraded to a two-no-trump opening and followed up by jumping to four hearts when North transferred. What should West lead?
With all the strength lying to the leader's right, the chosen spade lead was even more dangerous than usual, and it was, indeed, costly.
As South, even on this lead, you can see four losers, thanks to your hands' mirror distributions. You could try to tackle diamonds for one loser yourself, but it is far better to have the defenders lead them for you.
Win with the spade ace, draw trumps, and then knock out the spade queen. You take the club shift, play a third round of spades, then get off play with your club. Here, East must win the club and is endplayed, forced either to give a ruff-and-discard or to open the diamonds. When he switches to the diamond jack, you run the lead around to dummy and play a diamond back toward the king.
If West had won the second club and switched to a low diamond, you would have had to decide whether to insert the seven (and then play low to the nine, if that fetched the 10 or jack from East, picking up ace-jack or ace-10 on your right). Alternatively, you could just play the diamond nine at once, allowing for jack-10 with West. Since East could surely have won the second club himself, the diamond ace must be with East.
Your best chance would probably be to play the seven and then take a deep finesse on the way back.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
; 6 4 2
k Q 5
l A 7 6 5 3
' A J 6
South West North East
Pass Pass 1 '
1 l 1 k 2l 3 '
All pass
ANSWER: Lead the spade six. There is no hurry to cash the diamond ace, which could easily give away a trick. Put the ball into play with a lead of the unbid spade suit, and table the six. The four might mislead partner into thinking you have an honor (often the case with MUD leads), and he will almost certainly be able to figure out that you do not have a doubleton from the auction and the sight of dummy.
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