Spectacular Spring Fours by Ben Norton

A: ♦10. East has been forced into action, so his side may well not have enough firepower for game, as long as you don’t help him with your lead. You can’t expect anything useful outside Hearts in partner’s hand. As such, a Spade attack rates to give away a trick more often than gaining one.

There’s no need to go active here. Your side has three suits sewn up, so just lead passively with the ♦10 and let declarer do his own work.

Your result so far:

A: ♠10. Partner has made a Lightner double, requesting an unusual lead. He probably has a void in one of the black suits. To determine which one, you should think back to the bidding. If partner wanted a Club lead, he could have doubled one of the Club cue-bids. As he didn’t, you can place him with a Spade void.

You could argue that a Club lead is safer because even if partner has a Spade void, you might score the ♠K anyway. You may do, but you shouldn’t bank on it. On the actual hand, a Club lead would have sufficed for one down, as you would take a Spade trick, but a Spade lead would defeat it by two, sending a valuable five extra IMPs your way when your teammates played 6♠ down two.

Your result so far:

A: ♥A. Your side has the balance of power and all the side-suits wrapped up, so the only way declarer is going to score tricks is via ruffs. You should lay down the ♥A, intending to put partner on lead with a minor suit (the sight of dummy and partner’s suit preference signal will help you decide which) for him to continue the attack on declarer’s ruffing potential.

Your result so far:

A: ♣A. Declarer must be 4=3=0=6 to eschew the possibility of playing in 3NT. It’s therefore clear what you must do - lead trumps to prevent declarer from cross-ruffing the hand. You have the Spades under control, so if declarer is left playing on that suit, he’s bound to go down.

A low trump might not get the job done. You should fully commit by playing out Ace and another. This way, declarer will score at most one ruff in dummy. Even if this sacrifices a slow trump winner, the trick is sure to come back.

Your result so far:

A: ♥K. While you could punt with a Diamond lead, hoping to set up a ruff or even a trump promotion, that would be a shot in the dark. Declarer may be waiting to discard his Heart losers on the Clubs. At any rate, a Diamond attack is too committal. You should lead partner’s suit and wait for the hand to develop.

As you have nothing in the minors, it’s best that you be the one to switch to them if necessary, through to partner’s supposed strength. As such, you should lay down the ♥K, retaining the lead so you can switch through dummy at trick two.

Your result so far: