Teams League II by Ben Norton

A: ♥10. It seems natural to lead partner’s suit, but that won't achieve anything here. Dummy is the weak hand and won’t have a source of tricks for declarer to discard his losers on, especially looking at your Club holding, so East’s Spades aren’t going anywhere.

The danger in leading a Spade is that partner may play to promote a trump trick in your hand, leading Spades every time he gains the lead. You don’t want him to do this, looking at your tremendous Heart spots, which will translate into natural trump tricks.

Lead the ♥10 instead, letting partner in on the secret and potentially cutting down dummy’s ruffing potential.

Your result so far:

A: ♠Q. Dummy is unlikely to have a four-card major, so this lead rates to be productive. The problem with a Club is that it could provide declarer with his game-going trick straight off the bat, while a Spade stands to establish tricks and potentially an entry to partner’s hand. In other words, a Spade is less unilateral.

On auctions like these, it’s often the case that declarer is hoping to run off lots of tricks in his long suit and come to three or four outside. Try not to help him with your opening lead.

Your result so far:

A: ♣7. A Club lead is marked, but the question remains as to which card. A top Club could bring down a significant doubleton in an opponent’s hand, but it might scupper your communications. Partner can have very little, so the other purpose of leading the ♣A – to potentially shift to Hearts at trick two – isn’t going to bear fruit.

You do have a side-suit entry, but that might not help. After all, dummy rates to have Club length on the auction, having failed to look for a 5/3 Spade fit. Say partner has ♣Q x and dummy ♣J 8 x x. If you lead the Ace and continue with a low one, partner will win, but will be unable to return the suit and you won’t be able to cash your long card when you get in with the ♦A. By leading a low one, you stand to unblock the suit.

Your result so far:

A: ♣10. With your opponents having a double fit and Spades apparently splitting badly, there’s little need to adopt an all-out attack with a pointed-suit lead. Kick off with a passive Club, which might strike gold in itself. You’d prefer partner to tackle Diamonds from his side.

Your result so far:

A: ♦A. You can see two tricks and the ♠K is likely to produce a third. Don’t hold your breath for a second Diamond trick, certainly. However, there is a danger that declarer will be able to establish the Club suit for some discards. It could be necessary to establish your Spade trick immediately.

Partner can’t have very much and what he does hold is presumably in Diamonds, so a Spade lead is out. What you might consider is a low Diamond, putting partner on play for a Spade through the strong hand.

You can often construct such specific plans on lead to high-level contracts, but that doesn’t make this one right. A low Diamond is simply too committal. Declarer might have a source of tricks in Clubs, but you have no guarantees. Lay down the ♦A instead.

Your result so far: