New Year Mix and Match by Ben Norton

A: ♦7. It’s very unlikely that the Spade suit will provide enough nourishment for the defense. Partner presumably has four-card support so the most you can take from Spades is one trick. It’s best to use your time on lead to attack the unbid suit, Diamonds. You never know, partner could have a good tenace sitting over dummy.

Your result so far:

A: ♥5. Even though partner has raised Diamonds, it would be a mistake to lead the suit. East almost certainly has an excellent Diamond holding, such as A Q J or A Q, to justify wanting to play in No-trumps rather than trying to find a fit. The goal when defending 6NT is usually to defend passively, thus a Club lead is out as well. Try a Heart, dummy’s suit. That won’t give anything away, while a Spade lead could expose the layout.

Your result so far:

A: ♥A. When you have a seven-card or longer suit headed by the Ace it generally doesn’t cost to kick off with the Ace. Most of the time someone has a singleton so you won’t have given away a trick in the suit, and a pitch on the ♥K might not be useful to declarer. Leading a Spade is far more likely to cause damage and a Club is risky as well. Moreover, the upside of kicking off with the ♥A is that partner might have a singleton, leaving a clear line of defense to follow.

Your result so far:

A: ♣Q. Here you can construct a good plan for the defense. Partner’s minor is likely to be Clubs, in which case he’ll have some strength in the suit. Your trump holding suggests that you control the suit, since the Ace rates to be on your right, and because you have the ♥10 as well as the King there’s a strong possibility that you could score a ruff or a trump promotion. If not, at least you’ll be establishing a Club trick or two.

Your result so far:

A: ♦8. A Club lead seems natural, but it rates to blow a trick too often given that the strong hand is on your right. What’s more you have very little defensive strength, so the aim should be to find partner’s long suit. Dummy has shown Spades and although you know partner has at least four of them you’ll only be able to lead Spades through twice at most, which probably won’t be enough. Try a Diamond, which may well hit partner with some strength. Even if it doesn’t, you won’t have given anything away. The major suits look like they’re badly placed for declarer at any rate.

Your result so far: