Trump Leads?

Are trump leads more aggressive (in terms of defense), or more passive in nature?

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Bidding.

The opponents here make use of the Stayman sequence and find themselves in 4♠ after an invitational sequence.

Play.

Against a slow invitational sequence such as the auction here, it should allude to you that both opponents are stretching their limits to bid the game contract. This usually means that they have nothing to spare - and thus, a passive defense is usually best.

Partner (North) gives the defense the best start by leading a trump - certainly the best choice on this hand as a lead of any other suit would only help declarer. Although trump leads should be avoided as much as possible, they're the suit we should fall back to when the auction calls out for a passive lead. Often trump leads are of a passive nature (as they give the tempo back to declarer), so they are especially useful if you do not want to play a suit that will hand a trick over to declarer.

As we (South) win the opening lead with the ♠A, we should continue with partner's plan and continue with another Spade (as you can see, any other switch would be quite deadly).

Dummy takes the second trick as declarer proceeds to take the successful Diamond finesse. Taking the ♦A followed by the ♦J, declarer ruffs a Diamond, plays a Club to his King, and ruffs the last Diamond in dummy. A Heart to his ♥10 (for a finesse) sees him win ten tricks via three Spades, two Diamonds, two Diamond ruffs, two Clubs, and a Heart.

Sometimes even the best defense doesn't bring down the opponent's contract - but it sure did stop the overtricks! 

How to Play:

There is a Chinese saying:
'An image is worth 1000 words!'

You may want to take the
Online Player Guided Tour

1 - Bidding: Click the 'Play' button in the middle of the page to display the bidding box.

When you are ready, click the 'Start Bidding' button.

When a bid is alerted, it is shown on a yellow background. You can then click that bid to display the related alert.

When there is a comment or a question about your own bid, you can read it on the bidding box comments pane, and then, click the 'Ok' button to continue bidding.

Click 'Close Bidding Box' to proceed to playing the hand.

2 - Playing: The lead is automatic if you are declarer, otherwise you'll see the 'It's your lead' warning in the center pane.

You will play your cards and dummy's as if you were at a live table.

2.1 -Touching cards are considered equivalent! e.g. if you have 876 and you play the 7 while Vu-Bridge expects you to play the 6, then the 7 will blink and the 6 will be played.

2.2 -Sometimes there will be a comment or question during the play.
You should read it and click the 'Click to continue' button at the top of the comment text.

If its a question, there will be a 'Show Answer' button to click at the bottom of the comment panel.

2.3 - When a comment bears a 'Finish flag' button, you can click it to reveal hidden hands and continue playing. We use this to explain technical coups like end-plays, squeezes etc.

2.4 - You can review the last trick by clicking on the last won or lost trick (back of card) at the bottom of the screen. The last trick will show during 3 seconds and then play will continue.

2.5 - You can click the 'Undo last trick' button at the left of the screen in order to redo one or several tricks and review the attached comments.
You can review the auction by clicking the 'Auction' tab in the same area.
3 - Moving the comment panel:

When the mouse hovers the dark green background of the bidding box or the comment panel, you'll see a crosshair cursor and you can drag and move it around the page.

The left and right arrows on the top left corner of the comment panel allows you to increase or reduce the width for better readability.

4 - When a hand is finished, you can click the 'Board List' at the top of the comment panel, and play other hands From the same Series.

To play other Series, visit the Vu-Bridge's home page and click the 'Bridge Hands' button.