[starfruit]

Scoring: IMP

N     E   S W
-      -   1♠ P
1NT 2♥ 2♠ P
P     P

---

You led ♥8 and it goes 2,K, 5
Partner next cashes ♥A, the rest followed with 9,4,3.
Now partner led ♥J for you to ruff , declarer playing the Q and dummy the 7.
The ♥J return indicated a suit preference for ♦. . .

So what's your plan?

[temp3600]

Can a diamond return give the contract? Yes if declarer has K10xxxx Qxx AJx A. But that would mean partner asked for a diamond return with the bare ♦K. I think partner should return his middle heart with only the ♦K, not the ♥J. He needs us to hold ♦J10 for a diamond return to work, but with that holding we don't need encouragement in diamonds to play one.

So I would play a diamond, because partner should have KJ or the A.

[ArcLight]

(I have edited this, see below, after thinking about it last night)


Lead a club, here is why ...

---------------------
Can pard have the Dime Ace? If so he can lose it if we dont return a dime.
If pard has the KJ in Dimes a dime return will also work.

What does pard have for a 2♥ overcall, opposite a passed pard, and only a 5 card heart suit?

Would pard have cashed teh dime ace before returning the 3rd heart for us to ruff? No, he would have no reason to suspect our trump holding.

Pard can have the Dime Ace or the Dime K.

We have 3 tricks, and will get at least 2 more (AQ trumps), we need 3 more.

Can anything bad happen if we dont return a Dime? Yes, it can be discarded on Clubs. But we still have time.

Lead a club.
Assume pard doesnt ruff.
Declarer wins and leds a spade to Dummy.
Rise with the Q.
Play another Club.
Assuming a 2-2 split, declarer is locked in dummy.
He can lead a spade or a dime or a club.
If Declarer has AJ in dimes and leads the Q, we wont get any dimes, and declarer can continue and enter hand.
Or he can lea dthe spade J.
The problem with that is we continue clubs. Now he's locked in 100%.
He cant get back to hand then back to dummy.

Leading a dime can hurt, can't help.

Leading a Club can't hurt.

Rules of Defense

1. Thou shalt not underlead aces against a suit contract (except in a few unusual cases)

2. Thou shalt not lead unsupported aces against a suit contract "to get alook at dummy" (unless hoping for a ruff with a doubleton and no other lead)

3. Thou shalt not break (open) new suits. Let declarer do that


-----------------------------------
Addition
After more thought - leading a club, and then continuing a club can hurt if pard has a stiff spade and 2 club, hence south has 2 clubs.
South wins the Club ace, leads a spade.
We win, lead another Club.
Dummy wins, and leads another winning club discarding a dime loser.
Then leads another spade.
We win with the Ace, all thats left id the 9, with south holding the K and T and small.
On our next exit, south ruffs with the 10, pulls our 9 with the king for:

3 clubs
1 dime
4 spades

making the contract

The contract is set if pard holds the 10 or K or spades, or a doubleton spade,

Is pard more likely to hold
S x
H A K J x x
D K J x x x
C x x

[this is set on a dime lead]

or

S x
H A K J x x
D K J x x x x
C x

[this is set on a Club continuation]


I think with the later pard may have bid 2 Spades [Michaels]
so the first is more likely.

I think leading a dime is better.
Also, without the J, declarer makes
S x
H A K J x x
D K x x x x
C x x

[Trumpace]

ArcLight, on Jan 23 2007, 10:55 AM, said:

<snip>
Leading a Club can't hurt.

Why can't leading a club hurt?

Imagine declarer is 6-3-2-2 with Ax diamonds and Ax clubs.

If you return a club after ruffing with the 3, declarer wins in hand with ♣A, spade up. You win with Q and return a club. declarer wins in dummy with K, cashes club Q to discard a diamond. (Partner cannot ruff as he is out of spades). Diamond to A. Now all declarer has left in hand is spades with the KT against your A9...

[starfruit]

temp3600, on Jan 23 2007, 08:59 AM, said:

He needs us to hold ♦J10 for a diamond return to work, but with that holding we don't need encouragement in diamonds to play one.

So I would play a diamond, because partner should have KJ or the A.

That sounds like good reasoning. Indeed our next natural switch would have been a ♦ looking at that scary ♣ holding...
We need to know whether it's safe to switch to a ♦

[starfruit]

Trumpace, on Jan 23 2007, 02:05 PM, said:

ArcLight, on Jan 23 2007, 10:55 AM, said:

<snip>
Leading a Club can't hurt.

Why can't leading a club hurt?

Imagine declarer is 6-3-2-2 with Ax diamonds and Ax clubs.

If you return a club after ruffing with the 3, declarer wins in hand with ♣A, spade up. You win with Q and return a club. declarer wins in dummy with K, cashes club Q to discard a diamond. (Partner cannot ruff as he is out of spades). Diamond to A. Now all declarer has left in hand is spades with the KT against your A9...

Hmm. . . so since this holding is possible, I suppose we'll have to switch ♦ so that partner can ruff the 3rd ♣ with his lone trump if declarer is forced to try running his ♣s