Leading After a Strong 2NT Opening by Ben Norton

A: ♦J. Having Passed 2NT, West will have very little. It’s likely that declarer will have no help from the dummy and will have to come to eight tricks by himself, which will no doubt be very difficult without any entries to dummy to take finesses. Thus you should strive to not give declarer anything that he can’t take himself, then the defense will be able to score a lot of tricks from stray honors which declarer can’t pick up by leading from his hand.

The most passive option is the ♦J. It will only give something away if declarer has the Ace and Queen over partner’s King, but even then you’re only blowing one trick, as opposed to a whole suit if you lead from one of your other holdings. A lead of any other suit could even give declarer an undeserved entry to dummy.

When leading passively it’s generally best to lead from sequences headed by: 10 9, J 10 or Q J 10, and not from unsupported honors. Leading from low cards is often a good passive choice as well, although it can pick up partner's holding for declarer.

Your result so far:

A: ♠3. Now West has implied some values there isn’t so much of a need to be passive on lead. Declarer will have entries to dummy this time. Thus your intention on lead should be to establish tricks, and a Spade from Q 10 x x stands to set up tricks whenever partner has an honor in the suit. As with the auction 1NT-3NT, a major suit lead is indicated here since West didn’t employ Stayman, which is another point in favour of a Spade lead.

A Heart lead would be more dangerous, and doesn’t have as much offensive potential since your intermediates are very poor. While the ♠10 could be used to finesse against the Jack in declarer’s hand, there’s no such position in Hearts.

Your result so far:

A: ♣6. East has shown Spade length and West Heart length by his use of Stayman, so a major suit lead will just give away a trick or a tempo. Out of the minor suits a Diamond lead stands to set up a trick more often than a Club, but rates to give something away much more often. Leading from Q x x will only really work when partner has two honors in the suit, or if he has five, neither of which are particularly likely here.

Therefore the more passive Club lead is best. It’s true partner didn’t take the chance to Double Stayman for a Club lead, but the purpose of a Club lead isn’t to set up tricks, but to leave declarer to his own devices since you have no other attractive offensive options.

Your result so far:

A: ♦Q. When your opponents have made a serious try for slam yet end up in game, they are very likely to be able to make their contract on their own thanks to their excess high cards. Thus you should strive to lead aggressively, hoping to set up enough tricks to cash when you get in. A Spade lead from x x x x x will hardly ever break the contract, because even if partner has enough in the suit (he’ll need at least two high honors) to make your cards winners, you’ll never be able to get on lead to cash them.

Here you should try and find partner’s long suit, and even though partner rates to be longer in Hearts than in any other suit, your ♥x x mean that partner would need something like ♥K Q J 10 and an entry for you to take four tricks, which isn’t possible when you consider that declarer will have around 31 points at his disposal. Your only chance is to find partner with length in Diamonds, so as to make use of your Q J x, which will be supporting his honor. You might only need partner to have ♦K x x x and an entry for this to work.

Your result so far:

A: ♦10. When your opponents bid to 6NT it’s usually based on power. They probably haven’t got any long suits that will act as sources of tricks else they would have attempted to play in a suit contract, so they can only expect to make twelve tricks from the weight of their high cards. As such, the best plan is to lead passively in this sort of situation.

It’s nigh on impossible that partner has the ♠K, so you won’t be able to set up a trick there to cash when you win the ♣A. You must focus on giving declarer nothing. If left to his own devices there’s every chance that declarer will struggle to come to twelve tricks, and he may even end up finessing into your ♠Q. As in question 1, leading from a high sequence is a good passive choice, and 10 9 x will work just as well as J 10 x.

When your right-hand opponent opens a natural 2NT and you find yourself on lead, consider the strength that dummy has advertised on the bidding and think about how the play is likely to go for declarer given that information. Also keep in mind that unless the auction calls for an aggressive lead or a particular suit to be led, it’s usually best to go for the passive option so as to not give away a cheap trick by leading into one of declarer’s tenaces.

Your result so far: