[luke warm]

next chapter leading against a suit contract

1}

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S..........W..........N..........E
1S........P........2D.........P
3C.......P.........3S..........P
4S

2}

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S..........W..........N..........E
--..........--..........1C.........P
1H.........P..........2H.......all pass

3}

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N...........E..........S..........W
--...........--........1H..........P
2H........all pass

4}

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S..........W..........N..........E
1D........DBL... all pass

5}

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N..........E..........S..........W
1C........P..........1S.........P
3C........P..........3S........P
4S.... all pass

6}

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N..........E..........S..........W
1C........1D..........1S.........P
1nt........P...........3S..........P
4S.... all pass

7}

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S..........W..........N..........E
--.........--..........1C.........1D
1H........P...........1S..........P
1NT......P...........2H.. all pass

8}

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S..........W..........N..........E
1S.........P..........3S.........P
4S.. all pass

9}

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S..........W...........N..........E
1S.........P...........2S.........P
4S.. all pass

10}

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S..........W..........N..........E
1H.........P..........2D.........P
2H.........P...........4H.... all pass

[cherdano]

Ok, let me try this one, they seem rather automatic:

Spoiler

1) ♥Q
2) ♣K
3) systemic diamond
4) ♦7
5) systemic low heart
6) ♦Q (as I have no entry and diamond stopper is in dummy)
7) systemic low diamond
8) ♥K
9) ♥7
10) ♦7 (if a black suit king with partner needs to be set up, I get a 2nd chance, but if I can get a diamond ruff, I may need to work on that immediately)

[han]

1. Queen of hearts.
2. King of clubs.
3. Small diamond.
4. King of clubs.
5. Small heart. (diamond length suggests less tricks to get there)
6. Small diamond.
7. Low heart. (dummy is short in diamonds)
8. King of hearts.
9. Small heart.
10. Jack of spades.

[han]

4 different answers Arend!

I bet you that we each got two of these right: you 4 & 6 and I 7 & 10.

[joker_gib]

Here are mine :

Spoiler

1) Q♥
2) K♣
3) x♦
4) A♣ to see dummy !
5) x♥
6) x♦
7) x♦
8) K♥
9) 7♥
10) J♠

Alain

[ochinko]

Thanks for the quiz! Hint: #4, 5, 6, 7 seem to be the toughest
1. HQ
2. CK
3. D7
4. D7
5. D4
6. Sp3
7. C6
8. HK
9. H7
10. SpJ

Petko

[Chamaco]

Below in hidden text my choices

1) HQ

2) low trump, even if it blows a trick, got to protect my clubs from ruffs.

3) a trump may cost, I lead diamond 7 (or 4 if playing MUD leads)

4) diamond lead, penalty pass is screaming a trump lead

5) Tricky one. We have a likely trump trick and need 3. Clubs will hardly give 1 and finding 3 tricks in the red suit seems too much.
Our club K is onside so we need to make an aggressive lead.

A case can be made to play for a club ruff, hoping to come in with the trump K , put in pard, and return a ruff, although this might set up the club sit and give declaler an easy way to the contract. In this case we'd need to find pard with one ace (to get the lead to give me a ruff) and a 4th quick trick, because by then, the club suit would be established.
I think it's too much to hope for this. I'll try to hit pard with something useful in the red suits, so low diamond for me. Maybe pard can contribute another trump trick, either natural, or ruffing a diamond.

6) Q of diamonds. It's our only chance to be on lead and we want to lead through dummy who has show a diamond stopper, leading a low diamond would be a mistake, it may result in dummy playing low with Kxx and pard will be endplayed.

7) Low diamond: pard did overcall diamonds with some good reasons, so without other clearcut leads I'll respect his bid. I could try for a club lead, maybe getting a ruff, but establish their suit. Better lead pd suit without masterminding myself. Even if it fails, il helps pship trust.

8) Another tricky problem.
If I lead the "natural" HK, almost for sure it concedes declarer an extra heart ruff; if I start instead with a trump to protect my heart honors, I might find declarer has solid clubs and/or he can knock the diamond ace before I can establish my hearts.
I hate it, but I'll lead a heart because I expect the same will happen at the other table(s), not because I feel it's right.

9) singleton H lead stands out.

10) J of spades

[MickyB]

Spoiler

1. Q♥
2. K♣
3. ♦
4. The beer (♦)
5. 3♥
6. Q♦
7. 3♦
8. K♥
9. ♥
10. J♠

[ArcLight]

Im curious about #1, and have a different result from the rest of you.

Spoiler

From the auction, the opponents made a 2/1 and clearly have the bulk of the HCP. South has a decent ♣suit probably headed by the KQ, so West may be able to make 2 ♣ tricks with the AJ if the J isn't ruffed. My ♦ are weak, so pards may be ok, meaning that finesses through North will fail.

South has 5-5 or 5-4 in Spades and Clubs (my guess is 5-5). North has either 2 or 3 trumps. North made a 2/1 response so he has power. But with 3 trumps he couldnt make a direct Limit Raise. With 2 Spades he'd bid 3♠ as a preference, and South is the one who went to game.

I think ruffs may be a problem. I dont want North ruffing my 3rd round jack of clubs. Because of my heart length, I don't think we will take many heart tricks.
The opponents have not shown a fit, and a second suit, that would indicate that an attacking lead is needed.

I would lead a Spade.

[han]

Arclight,

I think your reasoning on hand 1 is good. Both opponents have shown a good sidesuit, and they may want to establish these suits by ruffs. We sit with nice clubs behind declarer, and partner likely sits behind dummy with nice diamond. I think a trump lead is excellent and I wish I had thought about it myself.

[luke warm]

ok guys, here's what ewen has to say about this batch... why not go in and remove your hidden codes ....

1}

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S..........W..........N..........E
1S........P........2D.........P
3C.......P.........3S..........P
4S

♠8 ... stopping club ruffs is more important than setting up hearts
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2}

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S..........W..........N..........E
--..........--..........1C.........P
1H.........P..........2H.......all pass

♣K ... this could be a good place to build tricks... there's also the possibility of forcing declarer
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3}

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N...........E..........S..........W
--...........--........1H..........P
2H........all pass

♦7 ... no really attractive lead, go passive
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4}

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S..........W..........N..........E
1D........DBL... all pass

♦7 ... some missed this one... there's really no choice, once partner passes a low level takeout double it's a *demand* to lead trumps
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5}

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N..........E..........S..........W
1C........P..........1S.........P
3C........P..........3S........P
4S.... all pass

♥3 ... a diamond lead is safer, but on this auction declarer has a place to park any losing hearts (dummy's clubs)... lead your shorter unbid suit
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6}

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N..........E..........S..........W
1C........1D..........1S.........P
1nt........P...........3S..........P
4S.... all pass

♦Q ... only one chance to do something intelligent... at least you should be leading thru dummy's strength (you hope the king)... you lead the queen so you can do it again, if possible
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7}

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S..........W..........N..........E
--.........--..........1C.........1D
1H........P...........1S..........P
1NT......P...........2H.. all pass

♦3 ... south shows some strength in diamonds re: his nt bid, so leading the queen could cost a trick... make your normal lead
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8}

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S..........W..........N..........E
1S.........P..........3S.........P
4S.. all pass

♥K ... solid sequence, safety, possible trick establishment... plus, nothing else is apt to be any better
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9}

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S..........W...........N..........E
1S.........P...........2S.........P
4S.. all pass

♥7 ... your hand sucks, so partner should have some entries... play for a ruff or 3
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10}

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S..........W..........N..........E
1H.........P..........2D.........P
2H.........P...........4H.... all pass

♠J ... attack!! your sequence is nearly solid... as a general principle, it isn't a good idea to lead from a doubleton in a suit bid on your left (the diamonds)

well there ya go, hope you enjoyed it... remember, this is supposed to be fun AND it's supposed to help... it's perfectly ok to disagree (as justin did in an earlier thread), just as long as the disagreement is based on your analysis of the bidding coupled with your holding... but as a general rule, there should be a really good reason to disagree with the leads given by ewen ... at least that's my opinion

[ArcLight]

I respectfully disagree with the answer to #7. I selected 3♣ rather than 3♦.

From the bidding:
The opps have a misfit and don't have great strength. Perhaps pard (E) has 10-15 HCP. If I have the Q, he probably has at least 1 honor.

North very likely has at least 4 ♣, and I think he has 5. Its possible he has 3, but its possible he has 5. He did not raise pards ♥ initially, so that imples he has less than 3.
He bid clubs, then spades, then hearts as a preference to NT implying shortness in a suit. I suspect North has 2♦. If he has 1 ♦ he has room for an extra ♣.
I put North at 4=2=2=5

I estimate East has at least 5♦, possibly 6. Since he has some points and its the 1 level he doesnt need a killer ♦ suit.

South bid ♥ so he has at least 4, and probably 5, since West has only 2, and North is short (he didnt support initially).
South didn't raise ♠ so he likely has less than 3. Lets say 5 hearts and 2 Spades. There are 2 or 3 ♦ outstanding, depending on what East has.
I put South at 2=5=3=3

This puts pard at 4=4=5=0. Hence I'd lead the 3 of Clubs for a ruff, and a suit preference of Diamonds for a return.

Its true Clubs may be established, but due to the Diamond distribution, I dont see us getting more than 2 Diamonds. And its possible South does not have a ♦ stopper, in which case we will get 2 ruffs and 2 diamonds, and possibly the ♥ King, needing 1 more to set the contract.

[luke warm]

it would be helpful to know n/s's agreements, but your analysis is a good one... i'd disagree slightly, giving north 4315 (because of the spade bid) and south 3442... with 3 clubs, given my understanding of the bidding, south might support there rather than bid nt... he might not also

in any case, the club lead could work out (as could any lead on any one hand)... but with a possible entry (the ♥K) i think i'd lead partner's suit... unfortunately, ewen doesn't give full hands very often, so all we have is the bidding and the one hand

[jillybean]

luke warm, on Apr 20 2005, 03:57 PM, said:

ok guys, here's what ewen has to say about this batch... why not go in and remove your hidden codes ....

1}

Dealer: ????? Vul: ???? Scoring: Unknown

♠ 986 ♥ QJ982 ♦ 75 ♣ AJ7

S..........W..........N..........E
1S........P........2D.........P
3C.......P.........3S..........P
4S

♠8 ... stopping club ruffs is more important than setting up hearts

Why the 8?
tyia
jillybean2

[luke warm]

good question jilly, i don't know... must be either because he's leading mud *or* it's a misprint in the book ...

[jillybean]

So, 9♠ would be usual, 'top of nothing' ?

jillybean2

[MickyB]

I'm guessing here Jilly, but...

It is quite common to show reverse count in trumps. This is because a decent spot could come in quite useful. Leading second highest could be intending to peter, showing an odd number, while preserving the top one should there be any use for it; Or it could be that it is showing a preference for a club return, whereas leading the nine would show a preference for hearts.