Leads against a Suit Contract Slam by Matthias Huberschwiller

Your opponents are about to play a slam in a suit.

This means they have a lot of strength. Should you defend aggressively, trying to set up a trick before it's loo late, or stay passive and hope they go down?

You will have your hand and the bidding sequence to guide you.

Good luck.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ J 10 8 7
♥ A 6 5 2
♦ 7 2
♣ J 10 9

Q: 1 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2 NT *	Pass
4 NT **	Pass	5♠ ***	Pass
6♠	Pass	Pass	Pass

2 NT - Jacoby, showing four-card support and forcing to game
4 NT - Keycard Blackwood
5♠ - Two keys and the Queen of Spades

A: ♥A - You can see two tricks: the Ace of Hearts and a Spade.

Don't let declarer discard his Heart loser. Take the ♥A right away and wait for your trump trick to come.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ 7 4 2
♥ A 6 5 2
♦ 7
♣ J 10 9 8 5

Q: 2 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	3♠	Pass
4 NT	Pass	5♦ *	Pass
6♠	Pass	Pass	Pass

5♦ - 4 or 1 keycard(s)

A: ♣J - There is no point in leading your singleton against a slam when you have an Ace. Your partner won't have an Ace to get on lead with and give you a ruff.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 5 2
♥ 9 8 4 2
♦ K 9 6 5
♣ J 7 4

Q: 3 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
4♠	Pass	4 NT	Pass
5♠ *	Pass	6♠	Pass
Pass	Pass

5♠ - 2 keycards with the Queen of Spades

A: ♦5 - After the pre-emptive 4♠ North has driven to a slam. You don't know much about dummy, but you know he didn't have any room to ask about controls. You need to lead the suit you have something in, so declarer can't discard his losers in time.

Maybe you have two Diamond tricks to take, or maybe you need to set up a Diamond trick right now, before declarer draws out your partner's Ace.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 7 4 2
♥ 10 9 6 5
♦ K 9 4 2
♣ J 6 2

Q: 4 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2 NT	Pass
4 NT	Pass	5♣ *	Pass
7♠	Pass	Pass	Pass

5♣ - 3 or 0 keycards

A: ♠2 - Against a grand slam, you need to lead as passively as possible, to not give away the 13th trick.

You know you don't have an immediate trick to take anyway (your opponents are not stupid, so they are not missing an Ace).

Trump leads are usually good, since your opponents must have the Ace, King and Queen of trumps to bid a grand slam.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 3 2
♥ Q 8 5
♦ K 9 6 3 2
♣ 7 4 2

Q: 5 - What do you lead as West?

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	3♠	Pass
4♣	Pass	4♥	Pass
4♠	Pass	Pass	Pass

A: ♦3 - There is no risk in underleading your Diamond King. Your opponents stopped in 4♠ because neither of them has a Diamond control.

Your partner must have the ♦A.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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