Opening lead problem

[CSGibson]

[hv=d=e&v=e&s=s98hk8dj83cqjt973]133|100|Scoring: Imps

(P)-3♣-(3NT)-P

(4♠)-P-(6♠)-All pass[/hv]

 

What do you lead on that auction?

[rogerclee]

♥K; LHO sounds like a man with a lot of diamonds.

[effervesce]

8♥.

[Codo]

LHO sounds like a man with many values, not a running diamond suit.

 

I always lead my dumb high club, but this must be the exception: Low Heart.

 

This can win in too many ways:

Pd has the ace and returns a heart for me "to ruff".

Dummy has AQ of Heart but they do not finesse because my lead was an obvious singelton.

Pd has the queen and we build up a heart trick.

[gnasher]

At the moment, ♥K has five votes and ♥8 only four. When does ♥K gain over a low one?

[whereagles]

At the moment, ♥K has five votes and ♥8 only four. When does ♥K gain over a low one?

When pard has the ace and encourages instead of switching after taking the A over the 8.

 

Anyway, sounds like many are leading a heart because it's a problem. I'm pretty at table they'd just play a club. I would :o

[Apollo81]

I really doubt that LHO would bid 6♠ if we have a trick coming in clubs, so I will lead ♥K.

[mikeh]

I am having a tough time constructing hands on which the ♥8 talks declarer out of a finesse and into a losing line. Of course, the auction is so bizarre that it is difficult to construct ANY hands that make sense... clearly LHO has a monster, and probably underbid because partner was a passed hand plus they lacked confidence in how the partnership would handle bidding after a double. But for rho to pull to 4♠, when he couldn't open with any spade preempt and partner may have been bidding on 9 running tricks and nothing helpful in spades is also weird.

 

However, while the heart 8 may rarely win, I think it loses even less frequently. If partner holds the Ace, then he is hardly going to be ducking and the sight of dummy will probably persuade him that, unlikely tho it may be, either my heart is stiff or I have the King... I doubt that dummy will offer him any losing options.

 

And no lead other than a heart appeals. This auction screams 'attack'. Either it doesn't matter, or we need to be aggressive.

 

Please don't tell me that declarer had Axx in dummy opposite Qxx in hand and nowhere to put the loser.

[mikeh]

duplicate post

[Finch]

Some people play that the 4S bid is a (mild) slam try, that makes the auction a little more consistent (particularly if RHO is a sound/conservative pre-emptor).

 

No-one has said anything about the pre-empt, but that doesn't look anything like a second seat 3C bid to me, so luckily I wouldn't have had this auction and wouldn't be put in this position...

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

 

I would try to go passive, i.e. a club honor.

The reason: Do I believe the slam is cold,

i.e. was it a contolled auction to slam? No.

 

I tend to go passive on opening leads, and

sometimes it would be better to be more

agressive.

 

Most likely 3NT was based on a club stopper

and a running suit, which seems to be

diamonds, ..., i.e. a club wont beat it.

This thoughts would come only after some

reflection, and I am pretty sure after

I have lead a club honor.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[gnasher]

I am having a tough time constructing hands on which the ♥8 talks declarer out of a finesse and into a losing line.

He may also misguess with Q10 opposite the ace.

[CSGibson]

Some people play that the 4S bid is a (mild) slam try, that makes the auction a little more consistent (particularly if RHO is a sound/conservative pre-emptor).

 

No-one has said anything about the pre-empt, but that doesn't look anything like a second seat 3C bid to me, so luckily I wouldn't have had this auction and wouldn't be put in this position...

No, you would have had an auction where they know where their best spot was. The second seat preempt helped push them to a bad spot. The full hands were as follows:

 

[hv=d=e&v=e&n=sq642hjt642d76c85&w=sa5ha75dakqt94cak&e=skjt73hq93d52c642&s=s98hk8dj83cqjt973]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv]

 

I chose the ♥8 because the bidding made it likely that the ♥A was in dummy, and because I preempted, which would make the 8 look like a singleton. I was hoping partner had a trump trick, too. Declarer played the ♥A from dummy, and then played the ♠A, while I contributed the ♠9. Declarer continued spades and tried to drop Q9 of spades in my hand, then continued another trump because he was convinced I needed the Q to make up enough HCP for a 2nd seat preempt.

 

I know declarer played it badly, but the 8♥ is the only lead that gives declarer an opportunity to go set, so kudos to those who chose it on this particular hand.

[gnasher]

It's hard to criticise declarer for playing ♥A, and once he had done that he was probably going to go down - to make from that point he had to play only two rounds of trumps, finessing, and then diamonds.

 

It's odd that your declarer thought that you'd be more likely to preempt with Qxx x xx QJ10xxxx than with xxx x xx QJ10xxxx. I'd have thought the opposite.

[effervesce]

It's hard to criticise declarer for playing ♥A, and once he had done that he was probably going to go down - to make from that point he had to play only two rounds of trumps, finessing, and then diamonds.

 

It's odd that your declarer thought that you'd be more likely to preempt with Qxx x xx QJ10xxxx than with xxx x xx QJ10xxxx. I'd have thought the opposite.

A second seat preempt should at least be partly constructive...

[mikeh]

EW are novices, I assume.

 

The west hand is too strong for 3N, and 6♠ is silly on Ax opposite a passed hand who couldn't open a weak 2♠... I can see trying for slam but a protypical 4♠ hand is a near-yarborough with Jxxxxxx on spades.

 

And I don't know any good player who would pull 3N with that East hand.

 

I am also NOT a fan of the 3♣ call. I might perpetrate that call 3rd seat favourable, but 2nd seat is not a place for ultra-light preempts... you've already got by one opp, so you are preempting partner as often as you are the opps.