Suit Yourself by Ben Norton

A: ♠2. Partner will have length in the suits other than Spades for his double, and you have stoppers in each of them. Declarer won’t be able to set up many tricks in the side-suits, then, and there’s no rush to establish your own.

Put the ball in play with a passive trump lead, giving nothing away. This might also have the effect of cutting down on declarer’s ruffs. Underleading any of your side-suits honors could be fatal.

A trump lead indeed gave nothing away, and the contract floated down. A Heart lead would blow a vital trick.

Your result so far:

A: ♥8. Partscores should usually be defended passively as the play is rarely a race. There is nothing to sway you away from that course here, and your safest choice is a Heart from small cards. Your Club suit is longer, but that lead may easily blow a trick. A singleton trump is rarely an attractive choice, for it could expose partner’s holding in the suit.

If you had reason to go on an all-out attack, you would try a Diamond lead, from the shorter holding. As it is, a Heart stands out.

A Club lead would blow the suit, handing the contract to declarer. A passive Heart sufficed to set the hand.

Your result so far:

A: ♦2. There’s nothing dangerous about leading your side’s agreed suit when you hold x x x, and that would indeed be your default choice in this situation. You do have a singleton, but leading a Club might only help declarer set his suit up, and you’d be ruffing with a likely trump trick anyway.

It’s reasonably likely that partner has Club length (West might have raised with three), and you have the Hearts stopped. You know that East won’t be able to establish tricks in spades, and he’ll struggle to gain trump control, so he may well look to ruffs for his tricks.

You had better lead a trump to cut down on declarer’s ruffs, intending to play a second round when in on the ♥A.

A trump lead was the only winner, preventing declarer from cross-ruffing his way to nine tricks.

Your result so far:

A: ♠2. It’s quite possible that your opponents are playing in a 4-3 fit. In any case, you shouldn’t go looking for Diamond ruffs when you have four trumps and you know declarer’s side-suits are splitting poorly. If left to his own devices, East will surely struggle to set up his suits and retain control of the hand. You may even score a trick with your ♦Q if you leave well enough alone.

A trump lead might cut down on declarer’s ruffs, and may protect the trick you expect to score with the ♥K. In general, leading a trump is a good idea when an opponent is three-suited.

A trump had the desired effect, giving declarer far too much to do, whilst a Diamond attack would not only set up his suit for him, but also hand declarer control of the hand. He was indeed in a moysian fit.

Your result so far:

A: ♥J. It doesn’t usually pay to lead a singleton trump, but you have good reason for it here. Declarer may well look to score Diamond ruffs in his hand. You would prefer that he doesn’t, such that your slow winners come into their own. You even have the Spades sewn up. A trump attack might keep your side a tempo ahead.

While it isn’t a good enough reason in itself, there isn’t anything else that you’d particularly like to lead other than a trump. What’s more, declarer may misread your ♥J as being from Q J doubleton; a ploy often fancied by the tricky types.

As imagined, a trump lead defeated the contract by limiting declarer’s ruffing power.

Your result so far: