Leads Quiz 211 by David

A: ♥2. From three cards headed by the 10, the correct lead is the bottom card. This was the deal:

                    ♠ A
                    ♥ A K J 7 5
                    ♦ 10 9 8
                    ♣ J 10 5 3

♠ Q 2                              ♠ K J 9 7 5 3
♥ 8 6                              ♥ Q 9 3
♦ A Q J 7 2                     ♦ K 6 4
♣ A K Q 4                        ♣ 8

                    ♠ 10 8 6 4
                    ♥ 10 4 2
                    ♦ 5 3
                    ♣ 9 7 6 2

North won with the ♥K, cashed the ♥A and continued with a third heart. Declarer won with the ♥Q and had to take some care to avoid two trump losers.

North's opening bid marked him with the trump ace, so declarer crossed to a club and led the ♠2. The bare ace appeared and North tried his luck with a fourth heart. Declarer ruffed in his hand, with the ♠9 to prevent a trump promotion for South. If South overruffed with the ♠10, dummy's ♠Q would win and declarer's ♠K J would draw the last two trumps.

Your result so far:

A: ♥A. A side-suit singleton often makes a good lead, but not here. This was the deal:

                    ♠ 5 2
                    ♥ K Q J 8 6 4
                    ♦ Q J 10 7
                    ♣ 2

♠ 7 3                             ♠ A K Q J 8
♥ 7 5                             ♥ 9
♦ K 9 6 3 2                     ♦ A 8 4
♣ Q 9 8 6                       ♣ A J 10 7

                    ♠ 10 9 6 4
                    ♥ A 10 3 2
                    ♦ 5
                    ♣ K 5 4 3

With four trumps in his hand, South quite rightly embarked on a forcing defense. He led the ♥A and another heart to attack declarer's trump holding.

Suppose declarer ruffs the second round of hearts and plays trumps. By the time he has drawn all the trumps, he will have no protection left in hearts and will go down.

Here, declarer was an expert. Instead of ruffing at trick two, he discarded a diamond. The game was then secure. A further heart could be ruffed in the dummy. On any other continuation, declarer could draw trumps and surrender a club trick.

Your result so far:

A: ♠10. You should generally look for a safe lead against 6NT. To lead a red suit here would be very unwise. This was the deal:

                    ♠ J 8 4 2
                    ♥ 10 8 5 3
                    ♦ 6
                    ♣ J 8 5 3

♠ Q 6 3                         ♠ A K 5
♥ A J 2                         ♥ Q 6 4
♦ K Q 5 2                      ♦ A 10 7 3
♣ Q 7 2                         ♣ A K 10

                    ♠ 10 9 7
                    ♥ K 9 7
                    ♦ J 9 8 4
                    ♣ 9 6 4

Declarer won with dummy's queen and played the ♦K Q, finding ♦J x x x offside. A club to the king was followed by a successful finesse of the ♥J. Declarer continued with the ♠A K, the ♣Q and ♣A, reducing South to four cards.

When a heart was played to the ace, either South's ♥K would appear, or he could be thrown in with the ♥K to lead back into declarer's ♦A 10. Twelve tricks!

Your result so far:

A: ♠10. Four out of six South players found the winning trump lead! This was the deal:

                    ♠ 8 5 2
                    ♥ 7 6 2
                    ♦ J 8 7 6 3
                    ♣ 9 4

♠ A 9                              ♠ K Q J 6 4 3
♥ A 10 5 3                       ♥ 9
♦ A K 9 4 2                     ♦
♣ 8 5                              ♣ K Q 10 7 6 2

                    ♠ 10 7
                    ♥ K Q J 8 4
                    ♦ Q 10 5
                    ♣ A J 3

If you lead the ♥K, declarer can take a club ruff in dummy and lose only one club. A trump lead, diagnosed because South held ♣A J x, prevented a club ruff and defeated the slam.

Your result so far:

A: ♠Q. This is a wild deal from the Alt tournament:

                    ♠ K 10 8 4
                    ♥ K J 7 6
                    ♦ Q 9
                    ♣ J 9 4

♠ 2                              ♠ A 9 5
♥ Q 10 5 2                     ♥ A 9
♦ 4                              ♦ A J 10 8 7 6 3 2
♣ K Q 10 8 6 5 2             ♣

                    ♠ Q J 7 6 3
                    ♥ 8 4 3
                    ♦ K 5
                    ♣ A 7 3

East's 6♦ rebid looks wild, and indeed it is wild! In his favor, we can say that the North-South bidding had placed West with a singleton spade.

It was a hopeless slam, but four South players made the horrible lead of the ♣A, allowing the slam to make. At other tables, on a different lead, 5♦ went down.

Your result so far: