Leads against a slam by Matthias Huberschwiller

A: ♦3 – You will take a trick with the ♣A, but as South has a Club stopper, you will not capture it if you lead the Ace.

In order to find a second trick, your best chance is to lead a small Diamond and to hope that your partner has the Queen. The chances are higher that he has the ♦Q rather than enough to get a Spade trick all by himself.


Your result so far:

A: ♥4 - Leading a singleton against a slam when you have an ace is useless: Your partner will not get on lead to give you a ruff.

You don’t know what declarer’s plan will be, but you know that South has the Club stopper: Leading the Ace bears the risk of giving his King a trick. It is better to lead neutrally, a trump. A Spade into declarer’s second suit is too risky because it might deliver an honour from your partner’s hand.


Your result so far:

A: ♣6 – Against 6NT, you need to lead neutrally because you don’t know what declarer’s plan will be. Therefore, Spades are excluded, but you also need to exclude Hearts because underleading a ten is dangerous as soon as your partner has an honour.
When it comes to the two minors, it is better to choose the longer one, Clubs, because it bears less risk of helping declarer to capture an honour from your partner.


Your result so far:

A: ♠8 – Your partner has doubled this slam. As he is not on lead, his double means he thinks he can beat the contract, but that it depends on your lead. It is a Lightner double and it’s goal is to make you find the “impossible” lead.

Here, as the dummy has shown five cards in Spades, your partner has doubled to get a Spade lead. You need to lead the eight.


Your result so far:

A: ♣2 – There is no hope of establishing a Spade trick as North has shown a good stopper in the suit. In addition to the Heart Ace, the only potential to get a trick is in Clubs, so you need to lead the Club two, hoping that your partner has the king.

Your result so far: