[microcap]

You are 4th hand and look at:

Scoring: IMP

---

LHO pulls a bit of a surprise, opening 2♣. P passes, RHO bids 2♦ negative or waiting. I tossed in 5♦, which seemed appropriate.

Now LHO bids 5♥. partner passes, and would you believe RHO bids 7♠!!! I kid you not.

I doubled of course.

Now what do you lead?

[hrothgar]

There's a red suit void out there somewhere. Just wish I knew where....

I'm leading a club

[Rain]

HA

[HeartA]

Rain, on Oct 24 2006, 03:16 PM, said:

HA

ditto.

[mikeh]

we'd all (well, nearly all if the earlier posts are to be believed... a ♣? ?) lead the ♥A, so obviously it doesn't work.

[hrothgar]

mikeh, on Oct 24 2006, 11:21 PM, said:

we'd all (well, nearly all if the earlier posts are to be believed... a ♣? ?) lead the ♥A, so obviously it doesn't work.

Yeah, a club...

Something fishy is going on here. I have two aces, a King, and the Queen 10 of trump, and they just bid a grand. I'm not gonna try to be brilliant. I am going to make the most passive lead I can, trusting that they can't run 13 tricks off the top. Given my holdings, I doubt that they can.

Any other lead could go terribly wrong.

The Ace of Hearts could get ruffed out, establishing LHO's suit with the Ace of Clubs as an entry.

The Ace (or King) of Diamonds might also get ruffed. Worst case scenario, LHO ruffs with a Spade. RHO has QJx and gets to pump a second Spade through me.

Leading a trumo is tempting, but it might solve a guess for RHO.

The club looks safest. I might even kill an entry to dummy before Hearts can be established.

[bid_em_up]

The Ace of hearts is out. Declarer is expected to be void, he ruffs, draws trumps and claims.

On a club lead, declarer can probably win in dummy, and ruff out the heart A while drawing trumps and then cross back to dummy for the good hearts.

If I have to pick a lead, I lead the diamond A......it is unlikely to give anything up and may well force dummy to ruff with a spade honor. If I dont have to pick a lead, I fold my cards quietly and leave the table, never to return.

Give declarer something like J9xxxxx void xxxx Kx and dummy AK KQJ10xxxx void AQx

(Its also barely possible that both dummy and partner are void in diamonds, also forcing dummy to ruff with an honor or be overruffed or that declarer has 3/4 diamonds and dummy has the stiff with partner holding the void.)

[HeartA]

Why dummy is void in D and declarer is void in H? After all, LHO (2C opener, dummy) bid 5H only. It is declarer who bid 7S. I think he is void of D and first round C control, expecting 2C opener (and 5H bidder) to have a running H suit.

[bid_em_up]

HeartA, on Oct 24 2006, 03:48 PM, said:

Why dummy is void in D and declarer is void in H? After all, LHO (2C opener, dummy) bid 5H only.  It is declarer who bid 7S.  I think he is void of D and first round C control, expecting 2C opener (and 5H bidder) to have a running H suit.

Because holding good spades, a diamond void, a club control and any hearts at all, he has no reason to bid 7S (instead of 7H). Its also unlikely the heart A is going to disappear on the suggested holdings, even though at times I wish it would (might make a few more contracts if it did, hehe).

And surely 5S (or 6D followed by 6S over 6H) is forcing.....

[HeartA]

HA could disappear. Dummy's club might pitch declarer's H and then ruff out HA. Or dummy AND declarer are void in D (declarer has two black suits), and stiff H might get away via ruff-sluff.

[bid_em_up]

HeartA, on Oct 24 2006, 04:05 PM, said:

HA could disappear. Dummy's club might pitch declarer's H and then ruff out HA. Or dummy AND declarer are void in D (declarer has two black suits), and stiff H might get away via ruff-sluff.

Anything is possible.

[microcap]

mikeh is exactly right of course----

I led the A♥. Here are the 4 hands:

Scoring: IMP

---

Of course, declarer ruffed the A♥, cashed the AK♠, low spade to the table, and ran the hearts for 13 tricks! LOL

The beauty was that my partner even had the A♣, and that the hand is down if I had led any of the other 12 cards!

I am not exactly sure what the opening 2♣ bidder had in mind, but since his partner clearly played him for a strong hand it didn't really matter.

All credit to my partner "williamchu" who just laughed---- and we all agreed the hand should be published somewhere.

So here it is!

[helene_t]

I think your lead of ♥A was much better than LHO's 2♣ opening, partner's failure to double 2♣, and RHO's 2♦ response.

[HeartA]

helene_t, on Oct 25 2006, 04:42 AM, said:

I think your lead of ♥A was much better than LHO's 2♣ opening, partner's failure to double 2♣, and RHO's 2♦ response.

Agree!!!