Opatija Open by Ben Norton

A: ♦6. With dummy having shown short Hearts, there is little future in that suit. Partner’s hypothetical ♥A can hardly be going away anytime soon, and you need two tricks to beat the slam. You do best to try and establish an outside trick for partner while you have the chance to lead through dummy.

Since West has shown Clubs, the Diamond suit offers your best shot. You hope to find partner with the ♦K and a quick trick in one of the black suits, which declarer will no doubt have to play on before throwing his losers on the Clubs.

Your result so far:

A: ♠10. You’re flying blind. A Club lead is far too dangerous and has little to gain, given your length there, while a red-suit attack is both random and risky. There’s no sign that you need to defend actively anyway.

Best lead your singleton trump. Yes, such a lead isn’t usually recommended, for you might expose partner’s holding, but here, with your having shown short Spades in the auction, the Spade lead is relatively safe. Declarer would have played you for this holding in any case.

Your result so far:

A: ♥4. Your 1♠ overcall has told you not to lead a Spade! The opponents appear to be well-prepared for a Spade attack and partner didn’t take the opportunity to double 2♠. Given your poor holding in the suit, it will take too long to establish the Spades.

You should turn to your other long suit. West has denied four Hearts, after all, so your chances of hitting Heart length in partner’s hand are good.

Your result so far:

A: ♠A. How is declarer going to make tricks on this hand? By ruffing, of course. You have strength in the side-suits and partner’s decision to pass for penalties indicates a powerful trump holding.

Leading the ♠A may, on occasion, help declarer in that he might have misguessed the suit if left to his own devices, but then the trick will surely come back, perhaps with interest. Leading from one of the side-suit Aces is much more dangerous.

Kick off with the ♠A, not only because you don’t know what else to lead, but also to unblock the Spades, paving the way for partner to pull the opponents’ trumps. When dummy comes down, you’ll have a good idea about which suit it’s safe to switch to.

Your result so far:

A: ♦A. You should certainly lead Diamonds, hoping to set up four tricks there to go with the ♠A. You can’t count on any high cards from partner, but you don’t really need anything.

Given that your primary concern is to establish the Diamonds, it must be right to lay down the Ace. Communications with partner are not an issue. Meanwhile, you’d like to know the layout of the Diamonds. If dummy presents with ♦10 x x x, for example, you’ll know to continue with a low one, smoking out the doubleton King, whereas if dummy has ♦10 x x, the Queen will be necessary.

It wouldn’t do to take a guess at trick one. The ‘normal’ opening lead of the ♦Q would be disastrous on the former layout.

Your result so far: