OCBL Open II by Ben Norton

A: ♦A. When in doubt, lead partner’s suit. A Heart lead could easily give away a trick, as could a Club. Partner rates to have strength along with his Diamond length, so lay down the ♦A to get a look at dummy and a signal from partner. You can then carry on the defense from a better-informed viewpoint.

The defense had three top tricks in the red suits and needed to set up a third-round Club trick before the ♥A K were knocked out. You had to either lead a Club, or cash the ♦A and shift to one, which would be straightforward when dummy appeared.

Your result so far:

A: ♦7. You’re going to lead one of the unbid suits, and in order to choose between them, you must know what your aim is. You have very little and partner is a passed hand, so you can expect declarer to make his contract if left to his own devices, especially with the major suits splitting fairly well.

This suggests that an active defense is in order, and a Diamond is slightly better than a Club, since the ♦10 could make it easier to set up partner’s suit. Picture partner with Q J x x x in a minor and two entries outside; the ♦10 would solidify the suit, but the ♣9 wouldn’t necessarily. If you had decided on a passive defense instead, you might reasonably prefer a Club, which is slightly safer.

Virtue was rewarded when a Diamond lead hit partner’s A K Q x x, setting the contract straight off the bat.

Your result so far:

A: ♣5. You can tell that declarer won’t have many extra values at his disposal, since West is a passed hand. This suggests a passive defense, especially when you have no good attacking option.

Declarer could easily have four Spades, and it’s rarely appealing to lead from A x x x anyway as it could blow a trick, and an attack in that suit can wait if it’s needed. A safe Club is best.

A Club lead gave nothing away and declarer went down. A Spade lead would pick up partner’s Jack and make life easy for declarer.

Your result so far:

A: ♠7. You could try a Diamond lead, but you know that the opponents have stretched their values. Declarer will struggle to make the hand without help, and a Diamond opening could gift him a trick. If a Diamond attack is necessary, it can probably wait, so put the ball in play with a Spade lead instead.

A Diamond lead would indeed give away a crucial trick, while a Spade was safe.

Your result so far:

A: ♥10. When the opponents voluntarily bid a slam, it doesn’t pay to double for penalties, which is unlikely to do more than add an extra 50 or 100 to the points total. Rather, this double should direct the lead.

Partner is asking you to make an unusual lead, most likely to give him an immediate ruff, and his void is surely in Hearts from the looks of your hand. The opponents would be playing in spades with a ten-card fit there. If partner wanted the default lead of a Diamond, he would have passed 6♣ out.

A Heart lead gave partner a ruff, then he cashed the ♦A to set the hand. Partner’s Lightner double worked wonders.

Your result so far: