World Championship Wonders II by Ben Norton

A: ♣3. The Diamonds are well placed for declarer, indicating that an active defense is in order, despite East being a Passed hand.

You should aim to hit partner’s five-card suit, and while a Heart lead requires you to find slightly less across the table to succeed than a Club does, the chances of finding partner with a strong five-card Heart holding are very low, for he didn’t take the opportunity to overcall 1♥ at Love All. He could still have good Clubs though, for you can tell that he doesn't have enough for a two-level overcall, judging from the strength of your hand.

Your result so far:

A: ♦6. It would be a mistake to lead partner’s suit. Declarer must have them under lock and key and besides, partner can’t have many entries even if you could establish the Spades. You expect to gain the lead once or twice more in Clubs, which could give you enough time to set up your own suit.

What’s more, you should start with a low Diamond, in case partner has a short honor holding. You don’t want to block the suit or crash partner’s honor. If you had stronger intermediates, perhaps just the ♦8 more, you could consider leading the ♦K in an attempt to pin the Jack or Ten in dummy or retain the lead should partner have the same.

Your result so far:

A: ♦8. The Hearts rate to be breaking well for declarer and your Club suit is too long to expect to take enough tricks there - your slow winners won’t stand up. Kick off with a Diamond, hoping to establish a trick for partner and perhaps pave the way for a ruff. If a Club switch is necessary, chances are you’ll have time to attack them after winning the first trump.

Your result so far:

A: ♠2. Your opponents have investigated slam, yet they've stopped short. By that token, you know they have more than enough to make a four-level contract in terms of raw power. Meanwhile, all the suits are breaking well for them, so dynamite is what’s needed to break this. Kick off with a Spade, the suit in which you need the least help from partner, in the hope of finding him with something like ♠Q J x x x and an entry. Going passive won’t do any good.

Your result so far:

A: ♦4. There’s no need to do anything clever here. It’s unlikely that more than one round of Diamonds will stand up, but partner probably has only one trump, so kicking off with the ♣A in the hope of giving him a ruff won’t bear any fruit. A Spade would be a shot in the dark and a trump is akin to waving the white flag. Just lead partner’s suit. He’s in a better position to judge the defense than you are.

Your result so far: