Opening Leads 2 by Paul Bowyer

A: The ♠J. A two-way shot - it acts as a sort of a sequence lead, maybe setting up tricks for North and it might pave the way for a Spade ruff. It all depends on partner's holding in the suit - who knows?

Still, it is by far the most promising lead on this hand.

Your result so far:

A: The ♦5. Now, by contrast with Question 1 you don't have the ♠10 (so the ♠J lead may open up a can of worms) and - in any case - you don't want or need a ruff.

The choice is between an attacking Diamond or a passive Club (the ♣6 is second highest from a bad suit). You have to have a long term philosophy on deals like this: Attack or Defend. This author prefers to attack so a Diamond it is.

Your result so far:

A: The ♦2. Some players lead the singleton trump from a hand like this; whether that's because they have forgotten what trumps are or whether they think mangling partner's trump holding is a good idea is not clear...

Don't lead a singleton trump except in exceptional circumstances. If partner has ♥Q x x he is not going to be pleased with you.

Of the other three suits it's a case of what is least dangerous. Leading from Jacks is actually not a good idea - it can often open up a suit best left undisturbed. Of the other two suits we prefer a Diamond lead as it's less likely to cost a trick and (on the other side of the coin) it may well set us up a trick if partner is well at home there.

Your result so far:

A: The ♣7. Here is a hand that screams for a passive lead if ever one did. You can't lead a trump from the Queen, a Diamond into declarer's second suit is foolish and a Spade unnecessarily speculative.

Best is to lead a Club (the unbid suit, note) and let East get on with it. Note that we follow the modern practice of leading the second highest from rubbish, alerting partner to the fact that we don't want the suit returning. (As an aide-memoire: Lead LOW for LIKE and HIGH for HATE).

Your result so far:

A: The ♦5. You may have wanted to lead a passive Club but you should be wary of these awful Hearts. Declarer may well be getting discards on dummy's long suit (you know West is going to display a five-card Heart suit).

In these cases you need to grab your tricks before the rats get at them. The watchword here is Attack and you should do that by leading a Diamond and hoping partner has the ♦A (sometimes the ♦Q will do)

Your result so far: