JLOGIC Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Playing in a tight Vanderbilt match I had something like: Jxxxxx xxxxxxx It went 1H on my left, 2C on my right, 3H on my left, 4S keycard on my right, 5H 2 with the queen on my left, 6N on my right. What would you lead? I figured RHO had spades and diamonds worth protecting (AQ or K), so leading one of those would only help him. Being an avid bridge world reader, I know the "trick" on hands like this is often to force dummy to run their long suit early, making declarer run his long suit before testing anything. Maybe he'd have to guess whether to play for clubs to split or to take a finesse for instance, whereas if I led a pointed suit he'd make easily. Accordingly, I led a heart. Dummy had solid hearts and no entry...success? Well I made the fateful comment "If you have a heart void I'll be embarrassed!" very pleased with myself. RHO said "you're going to be embarrassed!" I still didn't believe him, but he was actually void. We get like down 5 if I lead anything else. LOL. Luckily we still won. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterGill Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Your logic seems pretty good, but doesn't that idea apply mostly when declarer is likely to have more trouble discarding than partner on the hearts? On this actual hand, partner might need guidance for discarding, and a low spade lead by me will remove one of partner's high spades at Trick 1 and also perhaps guide partner that his spades can be discarded. If I had Jxxx, xx, Jxxxx, xx, my idea would not apply and your heart lead would be more attractive. By leading a low spade, I'm trying to let partner know asap that I can hold onto the spades, without telling declarer that diamonds are onside. On the other hand, if dummy has only one or two heart entries for taking finesses through partner, your lead could easily be the best one. Another thought is that it looks like partner's cards are under declarer's, so declarer's hopes for 12 tricks will meet a friendly layout and succeed, therefore desperate hopes are needed such as an entryless solid heart suit in dummy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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