Intermediate Opening Leads 2 by Ben Norton

A: ♠K. You should spurn partner’s suggestion, instead lead your own five card suit.

You have an excellent Spade suit with a side entry in the ♦A. After leading the ♠K it’s very likely that you’ll be able to cash four tricks in the suit when in with your ♦A, especially seeing as East has denied four Spades with his failure to make a negative Double of 1♥.

If you were to obediently lead a Heart it probably wouldn’t have an immediate detrimental effect as it’s unlikely to give away a trick, but the fallout would be disastrous for you would lose a vital tempo. Declarer may well be able to knock out your ♦A entry before your Spades are established, in fact he’s likely to as Diamonds is dummy’s long suit.

In this way you elect to lead the ♠K, knowing it gives you the best chance of defeating the contract.

Partner has only promised five Hearts, and even though he’ll have a good suit most of the time, he could be overcalling on a shapely hand with a Heart suit of say Q J x x x in the hope that your side could compete the part score. If you were a Passed hand this notion wouldn’t apply nearly as well, for partner would only want to overcall on a good hand or with a good Heart suit, knowing that it’s likely that the opponents have the balance of power.

Given East’s 1NT bid he’s likely to have a good Heart stop, or even a double stop, which makes a lead of partner’s suit even less attractive. This is especially so when you consider that the opponents might even have the majority of Hearts!

Your result so far:

A: ♠6. Here it's not only partner's intervention that guides you, but the auction as a whole.

The opponents' auction reeks of indecision. They have settled in 3NT after bidding No-trumps for the first time at the three level and showing two other suits. Thus it seems likely that they have only one Spade stop between them, or maybe even just a partial stopper.

With a firm Spade stop East may well have tried 2NT instead of 3♣ and West's suggestion to play in Hearts, which shows a doubleton there for with three he would rebid 2♥ initially, strongly suggests that he doesn't have a good Spade holding. After all would he really want to offer to play in game on a 5-2 fit in preference to 3NT if he had a high card in Spades?

The evidence from the auction, coupled with the fact that partner has overcalled opposite a Passed hand, implying that he has a good suit, makes a Spade lead stand out from the crowd.

Your alternative of the ♦Q lead isn't so appealing, for with no outside entry and the ♣K likely under dummy's tenace, you'll probably need to find partner with four cards to an honor there for it to be successful.

Partner holding ♦K x x x (or even K x x) isn't very likely given he is marked with at least five Spades, probably three Hearts as East didn't bid 4♥, and at least two Clubs as the opponents would have elected to play in their ten card fit if they had one. That leaves him with a maximum of three Diamonds.

The huge downside to a Diamond lead is that it could present declarer with the tempo to establish the Heart suit before partner's Spades are set up. In the distinctly possible scenario wherein partner has ♠K Q J x x and the ♥A, a Spade lead will be your only chance. It's also worth considering that the opponents could have nine running tricks, in which case you have to play for the Spade suit to be running, albeit an unlikely position.

Your result so far:

A: ♥4. It's very likely that East has seven or eight solid Clubs and can see nine tricks on a Spade lead, so you mustn't grant him his game bonus with a robotic ♠Q. He must have a Spade stop for his wild bid, most probably the Ace.

With a Spade lead out of the picture you turn to the red suits. Your Diamonds aren't strong enough to warrant a lead from that suit, for declarer may well have nine top tricks so you'll need to cash five tricks before he gets in.

A Heart lead is much better, not only does it require less from partner (a Diamond probably needs him to have the ♦A K Q or A K 10), but it allows you to beat the contract pretty much whenever it's beatable, for you have a fifth card in Hearts and could be able to set the contract without looking to another suit for your tricks.

Against these types of auctions, when the opponents have proclaimed an ability to take nine top tricks, it's worth noting that the lead of a side suit Ace can often be a good idea. It allows you to get a look at the dummy and gives partner an opportunity to signal, all together increasing your chances of finding the right switch.

Here it wouldn't be best to lead the ♥A though, for that is the suit that you hope to cash, and with no outside entry you might succeed in blocking the suit if partner has K Q x. Overall a low Heart lead is the most likely to set up five quick tricks for the defense.

A Diamond lead could beat the contract if partner has the ♦A and declarer has a finesse-able Heart holding. But this is a pretty specific set of requirements, you're much more likely to beat the contract on a low Heart lead.

Your result so far:

A: ♣J. This is another situation which calls for a keen ear, for the auction speaks volumes.

West has shown five Diamonds, four Clubs and three Spades for his bidding, therefore he has at most a singleton Heart. A Heart lead won't promote any tricks for the defense, and may well force partner to use his potential ♥A before he's ready to do so.

If you were intending on initiating a passive defense then a Heart lead may well be right, but here when you're holding Q x x in dummy's long suit it seems that East won't be short of tricks because the cards are lying well for him. In this way an active defense is called for.

Since a Heart lead won't serve to establish any tricks, you turn your attention to Clubs. If partner has the ♣A Q then you'll have your two tricks immediately, unless declarer has a singleton there in which case you won't be beating this anyway.

Not only this, but a Club lead has the additional chance of establishing partner's ♣K while he still has the ♥A (or another key card) as an entry. This would probably need declarer to have a singleton Diamond in something like a 6.4.1.2 shape. If left to his own devices you can visualise that East may well play a singleton Heart from dummy and partner may well be stuck in the mud. Unable to fly with his Ace for fear of giving declarer three parking spaces for dummy's Clubs and he couldn't play low as East's Heart loser would disintegrate.

Thus a Club lead is by far your best chance. Not only might it allow you to cash two quick tricks there, but it also could maintain a crucial tempo by establishing partner's ♣K before his key card is knocked out.

Your result so far:

A: ♥A. Knowing that partner has a key card it's incredibly likely that card is the ♠A, given his natural 2♠ overcall. Having come to this conclusion most players would have the ♠9 on the table at the speed of lightning, but those with a good appreciation for partner's potential difficulties wouldn't, do you see why?

The trouble mainly arises from the size of your singleton Spade. If you were to nonchalantly lead the ♠9 partner may not be able to tell if it's a singleton or top from a doubleton. In the latter case he may well duck to maintain communication, hoping you have the ♥A and will be able to play another Spade through to take your ruff later on.

After all, partner rates to hold only five Spades and it's hardly impossible for dummy to come down with three cards there, making a third round ruff feasible.

Although it's an unlikely scenario, you have very little to lose by making sure that partner won't go wrong by cashing your ♥A before switching to your singleton Spade. Now partner won't duck because you don't control the trump suit anymore. He will have no choice to play you for a singleton Spade, knowing there must be a reason for you to cash the ♥A first.

It's true that even with ♠A x x x x and three on the dummy partner may well decide to win the Ace and return the suit immediately on the ♠9 lead, reasoning that you're more likely to have a minor suit Ace than the ♥A. But it's good practice to help partner out whenever you can, and here you removed any chance of him getting the defense wrong.

There's very little danger in leading the ♥A if partner doesn't have the ♠A. The opponents have freely investigated a slam, so must have a great amount of values or playing strength. It's not very likely that partner will have the ♠K along with a minor suit Ace, but even if he does and you find a Spade lead, declarer may well be able to get his Spades away on dummy's Diamond winners.

This play of cashing the Ace of trumps before leading your singleton in defense is more commonly seen in the middle of the hand, when each player has a very good idea of the forces at their disposal. But here, since a Spade ruff was your only real chance of beating the contract, you rightly chose to clear the situation up for partner right away, displaying great foresight.

Of course, if your Spade had been the Two, there wouldn't really be any case for cashing the ♥A first, for partner would know that your Spade is a singleton.

When considering whether or not to lead partner's bid suit, keep in mind that partner has only made a suggestion, and that you should always take into the account other indicators from the bidding and your own hand.

Your result so far: