Ode to OCBL by Ben Norton

A: ♥6. It is certainly best to lead low from this holding against No-trump, unblocking the suit when partner has the likes of A x. You don’t have an outside entry, so the best that leading an honor will do is prevent declarer from scoring a cheap trick with the Jack. However, if you can’t cash the Hearts, it’s unlikely you’ll set this. You should pin all your hopes on cashing four or five Heart tricks.

Partner had ♥A 10 doubleton and declarer J x, so a low Heart was the only winning lead. An honor lead would either block the suit or establish dummy’s ♥8 x x x as a fourth-round stopper.

Your result so far:

A: ♠3. With your holding three-card support for partner, a Spade lead is your best bet, and you should lead your lowest card to show count. East might have bid 3NT off the likes of K 10 x or A J doubleton. He didn’t have much room, after all.

A low Heart is the alternative, but that banks on partner’s holding a Heart honor and for the rest of the suit to establish in one fell swoop.

A Spade lead was the winner on the actual deal. Partner had ♠A x x x x x and Spades were split 2-2 between the opponents’ hands.

Your result so far:

A: ♦6. Declarer is very likely to hold the guarded ♥K for his 3NT bid, along with long Clubs. It’s quite possible he has nine tricks on top, in which case you have a guess as to how to get partner in for a Heart switch. A Diamond is slightly better than a Spade in that regard, since if partner is missing the ♥Q, you might be able to cash four Diamonds and a Heart.

Say declarer has only eight quick tricks, though. Then a Diamond lead is certainly best. A Heart would give declarer his ninth on a plate, while if you lead a Spade and it’s wrong, declarer is very likely to have enough. However, if you lead a Diamond and find that a Spade lead would have been better, you might be able to recover.

You could even plump for a safe Club lead, giving nothing away, but the chances that declarer has enough tricks ready to run are too great for such a passive measure.

Unfortunately, virtue will have to be its own reward here. A Spade lead was the winner, finding partner with the ♠A so he could shift to a Heart through declarer’s K x. A Club lead would also work, for declarer would have only eight tricks. A Diamond, on the other hand, would enable him to make three Diamond tricks, riding trick one round to his Q x x and then finessing dummy’s ♦J. Three Diamonds and six Club tricks would give him his game bonus.

Your result so far:

A: ♥J. You should be unwilling to lead from a minor tenace around to such a strong hand, especially when dummy has shown length in the suit. There is little future in Spades in that regard, and the risk that a Diamond lead poses, giving declarer a cheap trick with the Queen, is greater than the advantage of setting up only two tricks there.

Holding 25 points opposite one or two, declarer will struggle if he’s left to his own devices, since he won’t be able to move from hand to hand to take his finesses and establish his suits. Therefore, you ought to go passive with a Heart from your sequence. Partner is known to hold four Hearts, so this is perfectly safe.

On the full deal, a Heart lead was best. A Spade lead would give declarer his ninth trick, running around to his ♠A Q tenace.

Your result so far:

A: ♥A. Your best chance is to set up the Hearts, but to lead the Queen would be pointless, given that keeping a link with partner isn’t a priority. Partner won’t have very much, so you should rely on your own assets to defeat the contract.

Lay down the ♥A. This has the advantage of potentially dropping a singleton ♥K, or giving you a look at the dummy. For example, if West tables ♥10 x x x, you’ll know to continue with a low one, bringing down the now-bare King, whereas to lead the Queen on the go would establish dummy’s ♥10 as a stopper.

The ♥A did fell the singleton King on the full deal, but dummy had ♥10 x x x. Still, the top Heart lead was necessary, for partner had the ♣K as the fifth defensive trick, and could signal it by discarding a high Club on the third Heart. Declarer had nine top tricks in the pointed suits.

Your result so far: