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An “obvious” lead.

No problem here. You are on lead and have a suit headed by the AK.  You are on lead to a slam, too. No, not 6NT, or else there really would be no problem, but 6. So, your lead is obvious, or is it?

 

North has got a very good hand. They opened 2, Game-Forcing and got a negative response. After showing their diamond suit, they saw their partner jump to game, which says they are on the minimum side of not very much. Despite that, North raised to the diamond slam.

Meanwhile, you gave what you imagined would help your partner with an opening lead as you imagined North would be declarer in a major or no-trumps. It came as a surprise to you to be on lead and probably for South in being declarer, too.

So, lead a high club?

Andy Braithwaite “A: Have I missed something? Top club to have a look?”

Peter Newell “A: Boring, predictable, unimaginative – but A.  It may well take a trick as the opponents don’t always have voids for these auctions.  If it takes a trick, it is good to get than in case our club trick runs away, and having had a sight of dummy, we will be better placed as to what to play next. 

 If it doesn’t take a trick, this doesn’t necessarily harm our chances and is unlikely to blow a trick– other leads could work but are highly speculative.  Sure, a trump could be right and would be my second choice as the opponents clearly have some shape, but partner could have Qxx of trumps (ugh), and while leading trumps may be good, we only have one. So, if we got the lead in a second time, we cannot lead another trump. 

 Leading a heart or a spade seems highly speculative. Sure, there are hands that it will be right, but more hands I would say it would be stupid. So, A for me, but I doubt that is the correct answer on this particular hand or its unlikely to have been posed as a problem!”

Full marks for honesty, Peter, but I really wonder whether your top club will hold up. North has bid slam opposite a possible yarborough. If they have a club loser, I would be very doubtful that they had any more losers.

My experience of such an auction is that the strong hand is well prepared for the lead of the opponent’s suit.  

These Panellists seem to agree, but disagree about which suit to lead, with one vote for each suit:

 

Stephen Blackstock “7:  The reflex lead is A, but that can’t be necessary or even safe here. In the unlikely event that North has a club, it isn’t running away and there is no hurry to cash that trick. More worryingly, South is marked with long clubs (North must be short and East did not raise), so a high club lead gives declarer an easy road to ruffing out my honours and establishing the suit. Without that help my 6 will stand in his way. As East must have little or nothing, a major suit lead won’t achieve anything. A trump looks safe and may take out an entry earlier than declarer would wish.”

Bruce Anderson: “7: Possibly, to bid the slam North is void in clubs and declarer has to lose a spade trick to set up that suit for a heart pitch; I am assuming declarer has a doubleton heart, opposite say AQJ. If that is so, and partner does have the K sitting over the ace, we can then cash that trick. All of that presumes North is void in clubs. Should North have a singleton club the failure to lead a high club is unlikely to cost if declarer has to lose a major suit trick. “

Nigel Kearney 2 “Quite often a player who bids this way will have a two suiter, e.g.,Ax AKQJx KQJ10xx -. If dummy does have a club and partner has a trick, declarer won't usually be able to discard that club in time.”

They agree as to the club situation but disagree where to attack. Nigel’s analysis and prediction was very close to being correct. The missing ace, though, was the A and unless the defence led a spade at trick 1 (sorry, Andy, there was no time for a look) then they would never make a spade trick:

 

North was gambling that West would lead a club and when that happened, the slam was easy to make with the North hand providing 10 tricks and South a heart ruff and finally a spade ruff. Was that outcome that unexpected? Finding an alternative lead seemed a great idea. You may not be successful in your choice but at least you tried. 

Wrong Day!

 

Only on April 1^st would North bid 6 with two losing clubs knowing that the opponent on lead would never lead a club as North would just have to be void in the suit! I should have said that this board was played on December 1^st and that North should be trusted to have what they should, a void!

Richard Solomon

 

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