[pigpenz]

What is your opening lead against this slam?

auction

1heart pass 2 clubs pass
2hearts pass 4 hearts pass
4NT pass 5 diamonds double
6 heart pass pass pass


Your lead please??

Your hand:
♠ KQXXX
♥ J
♦ QXXX
♣ 10XX

[pigpenz]

YOUR TOO QUICK I WASNT DONE EDITING IT, YET

[luke warm]

i'll go back and read it later, but i do believe that in ewen's classic book on leads he says the only really good excuse for not leading the suit partner doubled is if you're void.. and that isn't likely

[mike777]

luke warm, on Jun 6 2005, 06:28 PM, said:

i'll go back and read it later, but i do believe that in ewen's classic book on leads he says the only really good excuse for not leading the suit partner doubled is if you're void.. and that isn't likely

Even though P has doubled D's Jimmy goes out on a limb to lead a D so I will too.
Those who lead spades have found good reasons to not play with partner anymore.

[luke warm]

hehehe.. well it has the added advantage of letting you win the postmortem

[Fluffy]

Depends on who's partners, with 95% of them ♦ is auto-led, but there are some who jsut make too much lead directing bids, some of them fake .

[bearmum]

I'm leading Q♦ --- first rule is to TRUST partner -- he doubled for a D lead so lead on I will

[pclayton]

My pards prefer me to think than to follow old maxims. But here's a few good reasons to lead a diamond.

1) My gut tells me that RHO isn't scared of a diamond lead, with a holding of say Axx. Therefore, its a good chance that Lho has that card, which might be a late entry to the clubs. Similarly, RHO isn't off 2 quick diamonds either.

2) If LHO has the AD, RHO probably has the AS. So, a spade might be into the teeth of an AJT or Axx (with the J in dummy) or AJ9.

[scoob]

J♥ with my reg p, x♦ with anyone else

[inquiry]

I want to know more about the auction. What kind of game is it, what is the vul? Could partner's double be save suggesting? Was 4♥ a picture jump? South rebid only 2♥ then forced to slam. What would 5♦ by south have been (instead of 4nt), exclusion or cue? Sounds like south is counting on 5/6 ♥ + 5♣, so we may need to cash to beat this.

I am never leaving a trump or a club. It also sounds like we have a key card, so how best are we going to set up a trick? To mastermind with a spade lead might get you a new partner, but I certainly would consider it. It is hard to imagine a hand where partner doesn't have the diamond ACE and legnth, unless they are vul and we are not and he was suggesting a save.

One can draw up hands where a spade lead is the only one that works. I guess I would lead a diamond, out of partnership harmony if nothing else.

[FrancesHinden]

Partner doesn't usually make a lead-directing double off an ACE, as if you have a KQ and he has an ace, it's the KQ you want to lead.

Partner is more likely to have the DK (possibly KJ) plus a keycard.
I would lead a diamond, though I know a spade could be right.

I assume 2H was forcing or the auction is insane? Depending on their bidding methods & the meaning of 5D, the hand could be something like:

xxx
Kxx
Jx
AQJxx

A
AQJ10xx
Axx
xxx

(Why didn't declarer look for 7H? I don't know, perhaps 4H showed a minimum and he was worried about club losers)

Now admittedly the hand could equally well be the same but with declarer's pointed suits the other way round, in which case a spade lead is right, but when I have fewer diamonds than spades it is more likely that we have a second round diamond trick than a second round spade trick.

[MickyB]

Depends whether having the K♦ makes pard more likely to have diamond length Frances...should we ask David Burn?

[PriorKnowledge]

QD (in case my shy partner has AJx), tho xD has merit. Why bother having a partner if you don't trust his/her advice?

[Al_U_Card]

My only question is " if you play a low D, will pard insert the J with Kx on the board? If not, then he has the D ace (the missing keycard) and leading the D Q could be a disaster. Obviously you want to lead the S K without the DBL, but while pard may not always be right, he is always your pard and his instructions are to be respected. The D sac at favorable vul. would also be a cogent option.

[Double !]

Question/ pardon my ignorance, but

Why is partner hitting 5D for a lead with Ace of diamonds and out in that suit? The bidding suggests that declarer isn't very worried about diamond losers. KJTx is reasonable, as is AKxxx when declarer has a stiff. If the latter, and I lead the queen, I am on lead at trick 2 and might have a good idea what to lead then. As usual, my reasoning is probably demented but that's my thinking. I would also want to know if the opps play lho's bidding as a shape raise?

[pigpenz]

Al_U_Card, on Jun 7 2005, 10:25 AM, said:

My only question is " if you play a low D, will pard insert the J with Kx on the board?  If not, then he has the D ace (the missing keycard) and leading the D Q could be a disaster.  Obviously you want to lead the S K without the DBL, but while pard may not always be right, he is always your pard and his instructions are to be respected.  The D sac at favorable vul. would also be a cogent option.

you hit the nail on the head! Will partner be brave enough now to insert the J♦ from ♦AJT98.

So how firm are your agreements on what a small card lead is? Does it definitely promise an honor then no problem, But with an infrequent partner what do you do?

[mycroft]

pigpenz, on Jun 8 2005, 03:36 PM, said:

you hit the nail on the head! Will partner be brave enough now to insert the J♦ from ♦AJT98.

So how firm are your agreements on what a small card lead is? Does it definitely promise an honor then no problem, But with an infrequent partner what do you do?

Don't think it matters what my agreement is. If I double 5D blackwood, and partner leads a small diamond, it means he had one. If he has 532, he'll lead the 5, but he'll do that from Q765 as well (or D5 alone, or...)

I said "lead a diamond, partner". He'll do that, even if he has to find one from another deck. If he has one to lead that bears some resemblance to a normal lead, that's a bonus.

Michael.

[Fluffy]

♦Q will help when both partner has ♦AJ, dummy has ♦K AND RHO is stupid.

In all other lay outs it will only help to squeeze partner.