Leads Quiz 226 by David Bird

A: ♣7. It is tempting to lead from the heart sequence, but the touching cards are not worth so much when headed only by the 10. The winning lead was a club, as it happens. This was the deal:

____________________♠ 9 7 3
____________________♥ K Q J
____________________♦ Q 10 6
____________________♣ A Q 10 8

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

At the table, South led the ♥10. Tim Bourke, the declarer, ducked the first round and won the second. He then drew trumps in three rounds and eliminated the diamond suit. Spotting an extra chance, he exited in hearts. As the cards lay, he was rewarded.

North had to win and had no red card for his exit. He had to play a club and the contract was made. After a club lead to the queen, North can switch to hearts and beat the contract.

Your result so far:

A: ♣8. Some of you may know that around 10 years ago, Taf Anthias and I ran thousands of computer simulations to determine what the best opening leads are in a variety of situations. Our findings were written up in the books 'Winning Notrump Leads', and 'Winning Suit Contract Leads'. One of our findings was that leading away from kings against high-level contracts was not generally a good idea.

You do better to make a passive lead and hope to make your king later. So, I would lead a club from this South hand. This was the deal:

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

♠ J 5 2_________________________♠ A Q 6
♥ Q J 7 2________________________♥ A K 9 6 5
♦ Q 4_____________________________♦ A J
♣ K J 10 7_______________________♣ A 5 4

____________________♠ K 10 8 3
____________________♥
____________________♦ K 10 9 7 5 2
____________________♣ 9 8 3

At the other table, South led away from the ♠K and the slam was made. As it happens, the lead most likely to be safe (a club) also helps declarer on this particular deal because it saves him a guess as to who holds the ♣Q.

Sadly, the international player who was declarer misplayed the slam and went down. Dummy's ♣10 won the first trick and declarer drew all the trumps. When he took a spade finesse, South won and returned the ♣8 to the ace. At trick 12, dummy held the ♦4 and the ♣7 opposite the ♦A J. The last club was good, but declarer had lost track of that suit. He finessed the ♦J and went down!

Your result so far:

A: ♣10. The game can be made on any lead, but declarer went astray at one table. This was the deal:

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

♠ K J 9 8 7 4________________♠ A 2
♥ 4____________________________♥ A K 8 7 6 3 2
♦ J 10 2______________________♦ K 6
♣ J 8 7_______________________♣ K 6

____________________♠ Q 5
____________________♥ J 10 9 5
____________________♦ 9 8 7 4 3
____________________♣ 10 3

North won with the ♣A and returned a club to declarer's king. Declarer cashed the ♥A and, despite the fall of the ♥Q, continued with the ♥K. North ruffed, continuing with ace and another diamond to the king. The contract could no longer be made.

Declarer should have played a low heart instead of the king. He would then have had enough entries to set up the hearts against the 4-1 break.

Your result so far:

A: ♥J. North's double, which was a bit puzzling on his actual cards, was Lightner. It would normally request the lead of dummy's first-bid suit - hearts here. This was the deal:

____________________♠ 10 9 7
____________________♥ A 6 5
____________________♦ J
____________________♣ J 9 7 6 5 2

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

____________________♠ Q 8 4 3 2
____________________♥ J 10 4
____________________♦ 10 9 5
____________________♣ K 3

As luck would have it, the lead of the ♥J presented declarer with a guess. It was covered by the king and ace, North returning the ♣5. Declarer won with the ♣A and drew trumps in three rounds. When he played the ♥Q, South followed with the ♥4. Declarer then had to guess who held the ♥10. He misguessed, running the ♥9, and went one down.

At the other table, South surrendered the slam by leading a spade into the ♠A K J.

Your result so far:

A: ♣2. South chose a club lead, and the contract should have been made on any lead. The play took a strange turn towards the end, though. This was the deal:

____________________♠ A J
____________________♥ K 10 5 3
____________________♦ J 9 7 3
____________________♣ K 4 3

♠ K 10 6 2______________________♠ Q 8 5 4
♥ J 7 6 4 2_______________________♥
♦ 6 2______________________________♦ A K Q 8 5
♣ A 7______________________________♣ Q J 8 5

____________________♠ 9 7 3
____________________♥ A Q 9 8
____________________♦ 10 4
____________________♣ 10 9 6 2

Declarer does best to run the club lead, but he called for dummy's ace. North won the next club with the king and returned a third club, declarer winning with the queen and pitching a diamond from dummy. The ♦A and a diamond ruffed low were followed by a heart ruff and the ♦K. South ruffed with the ♠7, and the key point of the deal had been reached. Dummy's remaining cards were ♠K 10 6 ♥J 7 6 4. What should declarer do?

Declarer overruffed with the ♠10, and the contract could no longer be made. Suppose he continues with dummy's ♠6. North will win with the ace and play a heart, declarer ruffing with the ♠8. Although declarer has four winners in his hand (♠Q ♦Q 8 ♣Q), he is going to lose two more tricks! The ♠K blocks the trump suit and is accompanied by three losing hearts.

Declarer needed to overruff with the king rather than the 10. He would then have made an overtrick. Amazing!

Your result so far: