Trials A La Mode by Ben Norton

A: ♣2. It’s very unlikely that even one round of Spades will stand up – with West taking the push to the six-level, he must have extra shape and playing strength.

Dummy’s long Diamonds represent a big danger discards-wise, especially with your honors being favorably placed. You should seek to establish the second trick to cash when you get in with a Diamond, and you mustn’t give up a tempo. Lead a Club, hoping partner has the ♣Q. If it turns out that a Spade is cashing, it’s probably not going anywhere.

Your result so far:

A: ♠Q. Your ♠Q 10 will fill partner’s long suit, so your chances of establishing the Spades are good. You know partner has plenty of entries, his having opened the bidding.

The alternative of leading the ♥Q might gift declarer a trick with the ♥K, or just give away a crucial tempo, with your holding no sure outside entries.

What’s more, the bidding is suspicious. You have nine points and partner has an opening bid, but your opponents are playing 3NT. One of them probably has a long minor suit which they’re hoping to run. Giving them a trick with the ♥K, which would have been a slow trick otherwise, could be fatal. Lead partner’s suit.

Your result so far:

A: ♠3. East has denied a four-card major, and he didn’t raise Diamonds. He almost certainly has Club length, making a Club lead less attractive. If you had better intermediates, you might still plump for a Club, but with such poor spots, you can’t hope to capture East’s honors. Try your other long suit, Spades.

Your result so far:

A: ♦8. A Diamond lead harbors much better prospects than a Heart. For one, you’re unlikely to cash more than one Heart trick, partner being marked with at least five of them. Not only are partner’s Diamond winners more likely to stand up, given that your side has fewer cards there, but you also stand to score a third-round ruff.

Partner will have good Diamonds to bother introducing the suit opposite a passing partner.

Your result so far:

A: ♦9. Your plan is to reach partner in one of the red suits, in order to receive a ruff. A priori, a Heart is more likely to work, since there’s the chance of partner’s being void there, but if he had no Hearts, he could have doubled 6♠, asking you to lead your bid suit. Thus, partner probably doesn’t have either the ♥A or a Heart void. Try a Diamond, hoping to find partner with the ♦A.

If you were going to lead a Heart, you’d select the two, a suit preference lead asking for a Club switch.

Your result so far: