Spring Fours by Ben Norton

A: ♦3. You must strive to protect your slow Heart trick by leading a trump to cut down on dummy’s ruffs. Who knows if the ♠A is standing up or not, but if it’s not, you might cost both a trick (by setting up dummy’s King) and a tempo with that choice.

A trump lead prevented any Heart ruffs at all (dummy was 7.1.1.4) and you would eventually come to two Heart tricks.

Your result so far:

A: ♠A. East was trying for a grand slam with his 5♥ cue-bid, so you’re unlikely to beat this by sitting back. Nor does partner rate to have much of use over there.

Given that East has short Hearts, and therefore probably some length in Spades, it’s far from unlikely that partner is short in Spades. Lay down the ♠A, hoping to give partner a second-round ruff. It might even be necessary to bank your winner on the go, in case partner has a trump trick and declarer can get his Spades away on the Hearts.

Partner did indeed have a singleton Spade and you had to find the ruff to set the contract.

Your result so far:

A: ♣2. It’s unlikely that partner is void of Diamonds, for East might have raised Diamonds at some stage then, and partner may have issued a Lightner double. The one thing you can be sure of is that partner should have some black-suit values for his 4♦ bid. East is likely prepared for a Spade lead, given his leap to 6♥, so try your luck with a Club.

There were two Club tricks to cash, and they were going away if you didn’t take them.

Your result so far:

A: ♠5. You could put a trump in play, but that’s unlikely to have much effect when East has such a wild hand. Dummy rates to have short Clubs, giving him some shape elsewhere. In that case, a trump might not only blow a crucial tempo, but also pick up partner’s honors.

You’re going to lead a pointed suit, and there are a couple of small reasons to prefer a Spade. Firstly, you need less from partner to set up tricks in that suit, albeit it’s slightly more dangerous. Secondly, while West may have surprise Diamond length, he won’t have as many as five Spades, in which case your lead won’t go too far wrong.

A Diamond lead would find dummy with K Q 10 x x and partner with A x x x. Declarer would insert the ♦10 and ruff out partner’s Ace to establish two winners for contract. He stood no chance on a Spade lead.

Your result so far:

A: ♠2. This time, your opponents do have a fit. There’s a fair chance that declarer will look to score ruffs in dummy, and your side clearly has the balance of power. This is the time to set about drawing trumps, then.

While you could lay down the ♠A, a low trump lead caters for a singleton King in partner’s hand. It’s unlikely to be necessary to draw two rounds of trumps right away when you have control cards in both minor suits.

A trump lead did indeed prevent a Diamond ruff in dummy, setting the hand.

Your result so far: