ralph23 Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 ♠♣♦♥ ♠ __♥ 842♦ AKQ942♣ 7542 Holding this as West, you hear the following:North deals and opens 1♠, and South bids 2♥.North raises to 3♥, and South bids 4NT, regular Blackwood.North bids 5♦ to show one Ace, and South bids 6♥. Your opponents are very good players. It's your lead. Any ideas ? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echognome Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 Hero lead is obviously a small diamond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralph23 Posted July 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 Hero lead is obviously a small diamond. Why not AK of ♦ to the first two tricks ? Adv & Exp, pls hide your answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeh Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 The hero lead is the ♦9... suit preference :) The hero bid is double followed by the ♦9 B) But, staying a little closer to reality, the odds are overwhelming that partner will know what to do if he wins the Jack. I think it was one of the WC Polish players who, in a major championship recently, underled a similar holding, losing to the J. Partner held an inevitable winner, so the hero lead lost the slam swing. Here, a good RHO has a stiff diamond. It would not be the least bit surprising to find that RHO was assuming that he had a source of tricks in spades, and the bad break may well beat him. Having identified the hero lead, it will come as no surprise that I lead the ♦]K. Sorry partner, but as one of my favourite bridge cartoons has it: I'm not good enough to be brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vuroth Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 I was pondering a trump lead. North is 5/4 or better in the majors, and south has at least 4 trumps. If south is evisioning a crossruff, though, I may have an overruff coming. A♦ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralph23 Posted July 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 North is 5/4 or better in the majors, and south has at least 4 trumps. South must have at least 5♥ for his bid, and North is permitted to raise with 3♥. North could have a minimal balanced hand with 5♠. After all, he hasn't done anything except open the bidding and raise South, and South has launched Blackwood without any further explorations. Do you think South has a very strong hand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finch Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 I agree with mike. From an admittedly limited selection I've seen more slams be let through on the 'brilliant' lead than beaten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skjaeran Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 I agree with mike. From an admittedly limited selection I've seen more slams be let through on the 'brilliant' lead than beaten. Count me in too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralph23 Posted July 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 ♣♦♥♠ [hv=n=skqjt2hq63dj63ca6&w=sh842dakq942c7542&e=s987654hdt75ct983&s=sa3hakjt975d8ckqj]399|300|[/hv] This one is a true story and it was in the newspapers (according to Bill Root, who used this example in his classes), probably about 60 years ago. West thought the slam was making due to the strong bidding by South, and his having 9 HCP militated against his partner having anything. He reasoned that if partner had the Jack of ♦, then he could get a ♠ ruff. However, he also figured, better lead a low one, as if dummy has the ten and partner the Jack, declarer may duck and partner may get cute and duck also. So he led a low ♦. Of course, his heart sank when he saw the Jack of ♦ in dummy. But wait ! Declarer got complacent and played low from dummy !! When partner got over the shock of winning the first trick with the Ten, he realized that West was desparate to put him on lead, and seeing 11 ♠ between his hand and dummy, he did the right thing. Declarer was according to Root a "well known expert" and his name was never mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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