What's with 'fourth best'?

[mikestar13]

For me, leading from my longest suit against NT is the default--what I will do if I am in doubt after I have considered the evidence. Players who are not so good at considering the evidence will lead from the long suit more often than more experienced players who can spot the cases where another lead is better. But I think the important point is don't reject the lead just because your long suit is weak, analyze the bidding and collect as much evidence as you can, then decide. A small point: most NT defensive advice is geared towards defending 3NT--an alternative lead is more likely to be right against 1NT or 6NT. As for the 4th best vs. third or fifth, you follow whatever your partnership agreement is, and something this fundamental should be discussed. Another agreement that a partnership might decide on is attitude leads from long suits: high spot=weak suit, low spot=strong suit. This doesn't allow third hand the use of the rule of 11 (or 10/12), but also denies this information to declarer.