Golden Opportunity by Ben Norton

A: ♥3. You would normally aim to set up a trick to cash when you take your Ace, but dummy has short Clubs and you have short Diamonds, so there’s nothing doing in those suits. Declarer surely has a Spade control for his keycard-ask, and partner is unlikely to be ruffing the second round; he would have bid with eleven minor-suit cards at favorable vulnerability.

It follows that a side-suit lead can’t help and might give away a trick. Try a trump instead, which might work well by cutting down ruffs in dummy.

A Club lead would solve declarer’s problems by taking a finesse for him, while a Diamond would have a similar effect. Only a trump lead (or the ♠A) would give declarer a problem.

Your result so far:

A: ♦7. It’s between the pointed suits, and a Diamond is not only safer than a Spade, but it also carries a greater potential for taking tricks, via ruffs. The conditions are perfect for a doubleton lead; you have a control card in trumps and can expect partner to have some entries.

Partner had the ♦K J sitting over dummy’s A Q 10, good for two tricks. You had to lead the suit twice, so a Diamond was required at trick one. Partner had the setting trick in a black suit.

Your result so far:

A: ♦A. You’re not going to lead a Club into declarer’s suit, and the singleton trump is out. You could try a Spade, but partner didn’t raise and the lead could easily blow a trick. Perhaps your best shot is to attack the unbid suit, which may allow you to get a force going. Partner is very likely to have four trumps, and making declarer ruff in either hand could make things tricky for him.

A Diamond lead did set up a force. Partner had the missing Diamond honors and ♥K Q x x under declarer’s A J 10 x. Despite having all the Heart spots and only following to one Diamond, declarer couldn’t pick up the trumps after taking two ruffs in hand, and you would come to the setting trick in Spades.

Your result so far:

A: ♣4. There’s no need to go on the offensive with a Heart lead; West is limited by his initial pass and you have a useful trump holding, so things are hardly desperate. Put the ball in play with a passive Club lead. Anything else could easily blow a trick, leading around to a strong No-trump opening.

Declarer might well go wrong on a passive Club lead by misguessing twice. Any other start would give the game away.

Your result so far:

A: ♣Q. Defending passively might not be enough; trumps are 3-2 and the ♠Q is onside for declarer, so he’s likely to make it if left to his own devices. Go active with the ♣Q lead, hopefully setting up tricks in partner’s hand or perhaps paving the way for a third-round ruff. This is probably your only time on lead and you should make the most of it, in case you need to pick off an honor in dummy.

The ♣Q lead picked up dummy’s King beneath partner’s A J 10 x x. Partner had the ♠A as well, making three black-suit tricks, and the 4-1 trump split proved too much for declarer on a Club force.

Your result so far: