[Kaitlyn S]

Hi - these problems should be very easy for experienced players but an I/N player needs to think when making an opening lead. Listen to the auction. Did partner do anything? Might he have done something? How does the opponents' auction suggest the play would go? What is your best chance to get two tricks against their slam? If you get them wrong,don't feel too bad as long as you understand the rationale for the answers. I'll provide the answers later but I'll put a hint as a spoiler. Try to solve the problem without the spoiler. Also, let me know if you would be interested in seeing more of these from time to time.

Assume that your opponents are playing Standard American (a natural system with 15-17 1NT openings and 5-card majors), IMPS, and nobody is vulnerable.

You are West on all these deals making a lead against South's small slam.


1.

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Spoiler

You have one sure trick. What is your best chance for a second trick?

2.

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4H was a transfer to spades; 4NT was ace-asking; 5H showed two.

Spoiler

Do you realize you have a trump trick?

3.

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Spoiler

Are you likely to score any length tricks with low cards?

4.

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Spoiler

What is likely to happen if you lead passively?

5.

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Spoiler

Did partner offer any help?

6.

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Spoiler

Did partner offer any help? Could he have?

[JLilly]

As a beginner, I'm sure I got some of these wrong. But as with any endeavor, overcoming the fear of being publicly wrong is huge. So:


#1. South is raising on points and on assumed controls. I figure there are three possibilities for a second trick:
1) Ptr has the ♣A and South was being wild. Unlikely. Ptr can’t have 4 HCP and a reasonable S make that jump.
2) Ptr has the ♥K. Similar story.
3) South has ♥KQ and complementarily long clubs. They have the ♠A, but can’t take 12 off the top. So our second trick is spades.

#2. I have a very protected, non-finessible trump trick. Cash the ♥A, then wait for the time to trump. Playing the ♦3 from the get-go may set them up to discard one of the hand’s losing hearts and make my ace worthless.

#3. I have to hope for an unfortunate distribution for opponents. My shortest suit is diamonds, so I hope somehow partner has AK there. Ptr would have been more likely to overcall with a major, so this makes me feel slightly better.

#4. Similar principle. No 1S overcall from partner, so I gamble on diamonds.

#5. That’s a lead-directing double, so it’s a request that I lead diamonds, right?

#6. (would have been trickier if you had posed them in the opposite order). Not having given a lead-directing double, I’ll try hearts.

[NickRW]

JLilly, on 2017-April-13, 02:43, said:

As a beginner, I'm sure I got some of these wrong. But as with any endeavor, overcoming the fear of being publicly wrong is huge. So:

No need to be afraid, your answers are reasonable. I won't say if they are all right or, even if they are, the reasoning is spot on (as that may spoil the thread for others who want to attempt these questions without knowing the answers just yet). But put it this way, if I were declarer, I could think of a great many supposedly experienced players who I'd rather have on lead than you.

[Kaitlyn S]

Answers:

1.

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Hint: You have one sure trick. What is your best chance for a second trick?

Answer: As long as you get in with your ♥A, you will have a spade trick ready to take if you lead the ♠K on opening lead, and that is the recommended lead.

This seems like a pretty certain set - so why didn't my auction have West doubling 6NT?

Two reasons.

First, North, with a void in hearts, may think you're doubling on the ♥AK and run to 7C, and a successful ruffing finesse against your ♥A may be all he needs to bring it home. (South, the dummy in clubs, will lead high hearts and North will discard until you play your ace, making dummy's heart suit high.)

Second, you have a lot of high cards on this auction so it's likely the opponents have extra distribution (i.e. a 7-card club suit.) When you lead your ♠K and South wins the ♠A and plays seven rounds of clubs, you are in big trouble if South has four diamonds and partner has no help. No other lead would have helped though, so the ♠K lead virtually sets the contract whenever it can be set.

2.

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4H was a transfer to spades; 4NT was ace-asking; 5H showed two.
Hint: Do you realize you have a trump trick?

Answer: You should have a trump trick and the auction sounds like there is no heart void so lead the ♥A. If you fail to lead it, you may see declarer discard dummy's hearts on good clubs in his hand and you could get only one trick.

3.

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Hint: Are you likely to score any length tricks with low cards?

Answer: Against 1NT-3NT, you would lead fourth from your longest and strongest, hoping that partner has some help in hearts to let you use your little hearts to take tricks. Against 6NT, you are unlikely to score any tricks with little hearts. Declarer and dummy are likely balanced and declarer may have to try to win heart tricks himself to make 6NT, and you may score your ♥K and/or ♥J as long as you don't lead hearts yourself. Make declarer play for twelve tricks while giving him nothing. The ♠10 appears to be the safest lead, unlikely to give declarer anything that he can't get himself. The diamond and club leads have some chance of finding partner's queen for declarer - a queen that may take a trick on defense if declarer is left to his own devices.

4.

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Hint: What is likely to happen if you lead passively?

Answer: On the last hand, with declarer expected to have balanced hands, you defended passively and hoped declarer would give the defense two tricks. Let's think about declarer's plan on this hand. Declarer is likely to try to take many club tricks and many heart tricks. If declarer can do that without losing the lead, he should have bid seven. If declarer has to lose two tricks in those suits, it makes little difference what you lead. However, if declarer has to give up the lead exactly once to establish his club and heart winners, then declarer will have twelve tricks for the taking once he gives up that trick, and the defense had better have set up a second winner when the defense gets in that one time.

The best chance to set up a second winner is to hope partner has the ♦Q and lead a diamond. Partner could have the ♠KQ instead but it's a lot more likely that partner has one needed card than two. The recommended lead is the ♦4.

5.

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Hint: Did partner offer any help?

Answer: As JLilly pointed out, partner suggested a diamond lead. If I held the ♥KQJ, I might ignore his suggestion (figuring that he was just showing me where his only card was) but here I have no reason not to respect his suggestion. Lead a diamond.

6.

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Hint: Did partner offer any help? Could he have?

Answer: Here, we have no clue except for the fact that partner did not suggest a diamond lead, making the heart lead a better choice since there is some chance that partner would have suggested a heart lead given the opportunity. I chose hearts rather than clubs because dummy may have a club suit that declarer will need to establish (based on the bidding.)

[JLilly]

Thanks for the exercise, Kaitlyn I suppose the logic of your answer in #3 can be encapsulated aphoristically as "if it doesn't look like you have enough rope to hang your opponents with, give them a chance to hang themselves."

[JLilly]

NickRW, on 2017-April-13, 05:32, said:

No need to be afraid, your answers are reasonable. I won't say if they are all right or, even if they are, the reasoning is spot on (as that may spoil the thread for others who want to attempt these questions without knowing the answers just yet). But put it this way, if I were declarer, I could think of a great many supposedly experienced players who I'd rather have on lead than you.

Thanks for the encouragement, Nick!