Extraordinary Eastbourne II by Ben Norton

A: ♣8. There doesn’t appear to be any particular urgency here. The opponents have had an invitational auction, after all. Thus, you should go passive.

You could lead a Spade, with East’s having denied four of them, but that lead is dangerous and could easily blow a trick. The offensive potential isn’t so great either, since partner didn’t overcall 1♠ at favorable vulnerability. Your safest choice is a Club. You might even set up tricks there.

On the actual deal, partner had ♣A J 9 x x and the ♥A, with declarer holding long Diamonds. It was necessary to get the Clubs going immediately to beat the contract.

Your result so far:

A: ♥5. You can tell that East has an unbalanced hand. He wouldn’t have jumped to 3NT with a weak No-trump, and he would have acted on the previous round with 18-19. It should also be clear that East has the ♠A Q. He would have taken a slower route otherwise, perhaps asking for a stopper via a 3♠ cue-bid. A Spade lead would therefore give up a trick, but you might want to try one anyway, in the hope of establishing three eventual Spade tricks.

The problem is that declarer may be able to set up his Diamonds before you can establish the Spades. The play will probably be a race, and in order to win, you must aim to get partner in for a Spade switch. That can only be done in one of the rounded suits, and a Heart is your best bet, leading through dummy’s length to partner’s hoped-for strength.

Declarer had the ♠A Q and six quick Diamond tricks (the ♦A was in dummy) to go with the ♥A. A Spade lead would give declarer an easy time, while a Heart to partner’s King, followed by a low Club shift from Q J x x (through declarer’s K x), would put declarer to a nasty guess. He would have to play low, using the power of dummy’s ♣10 9 x, to land his game.

Your result so far:

A: ♥2. There is no reason to defend aggressively on this hand. It is unappealing to lead from an unsupported side-suit honor into a strong No-trump. A trump lead is much safer, being very unlikely to give away a trick. The aim should be to put the ball in play and let declarer take his losing finesses.

On a Heart lead, the game would die of natural causes, while anything else would help declarer.

Your result so far:

A: ♠5. Partner can’t have a great deal, so in order to set the hand, you’ll surely need what little he has to be working for you. After all, dummy has a long suit ready to be set up and run.

Your best shot is to cash the Spades, and you’re unlikely to do that by starting with a top one, blocking the suit when partner has the likes of Q x. Try a small card, which will also serve to keep you in touch with partner when he holds ♠9 x and an outside entry.

It’s often good tactics to lead your lowest card in a suit an opponent has shown length in. Here is no different. The ♠5 is the right card, catering for partner’s holding ♠Q x with the singleton Jack in dummy. The eight would cost a trick on that layout.

Partner had ♠Q x on the full deal, with J x in dummy. A low Spade lead was necessary to defeat the game, running the first five tricks.

Your result so far:

A: ♥A. Partner didn’t double 2♠, so there can’t be much future in that suit. All the more so when you consider that declarer’s most likely shape is 3.1.5.4. It’s clearly no good leading one of declarer’s suits, so that leaves Hearts.

With declarer rating to have short Hearts, your best bet is to lay down the ♥A, catering for a singleton honor on your right.

On the actual hand, partner had ♥K Q J x x. Taking the first five tricks was necessary to ensure the defeat of the game.

Your result so far: