[jillybean]

(P) 1♣ (1♦) P
(1♥) (3♥)
(4♥) AP

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Your lead?

[firmit]

I'd suspect they always make 10 if you don't get a ruff - so hope partner has gotten something in spades - lead the 10 of spades, win the ace of hearts, cross your fingers and lead a new spade. However, a small diamond also looks tempting - maybe partner's got the Q... With the strong hand behind you, I would not be tempted to lead a heart. Declarer can always lead towards his high honours in dummy - aggressive action is probably best.

But I don't know...who knows!

[mikeh]

Prospects look bleak on this hand and auction, but that doesn't mean that it is time for desperation.

We can perhaps get to the best lead by elimination.

Leading a spade is futile at best and damaging at worst, unless partner has the K behind the A or the KJ over the Q. No way does partner have the entries to give me a ruff, even assuming that dummy (who has at least 8 and usually 9-10 red cards) can't overruff my trump x's. In the meantime, if dummy has the spade J, leading the 10 may blow a trick on some layouts. While nothing is certain, the auction suggests that partner has spade length. If he held KJxxx or better and a stiff or void heart, surely he doesn't pass 1♦? So the odds seem against the spade lead.

Leading a low diamond just seems wrong. I can conjure a hand on which declarer is on a 5-3 fit with dummy holding KJxxx and a low ♦ goes to the Q, back to my Ace and I give partner a ruff! But that isn't exactly high probability. It is far more likely that the lead will blow a tempo and maybe a trick. Imagine dummy with K109xx and declarer with Qx. More often, it won't make any difference... but maybe dummy is Ax K8x KQJxxx xx and declarer KQxx QJ109x x Qxx. Not a good time for an underlead.

Leading the diamond Ace seems equally futile. We give up a tempo while accomplishing nothing positive. Partner is NEVER ruffing the suit, even if he has a trump.

Leading a trump is often the best default lead, especially when we think that dummy may be ruffing something. If we are leading a trump, from Axxx the usual lead is an x, especially when our hand tells us, as it does here, that we are likely to get back on lead again soon. Unless the club suit looks more promising, I go with a small trump.

Ok, last choice: the club suit. We don't need quite as much luck in the club suit as we seem to need in the other side suits. And it seems far more likely that partner has the club K than the spade K.. he won't be as tempted to bid with the former as with the latter. And the club A is a better choice of underlead than the diamond Ace, altho there may be a stiff club in dummy.

While, as in many everyday lead situations, any suit MIGHT work, it seems to me that the club lead rates to have the highest chance of being right and the lowest chance of being wrong (these are two different factors, by the way.. sometimes the lead with the greatest chance of being right is also the one with the greatest chance of being really wrong when not right). So a small club it is.

[skjaeran]

I'd not be too surprised if dummy hit with a singleton club here. So I'd be reluctant to try a low club lead.

I'd most probably try to take away their ability to take ruffs, and start with a low trump. No reason to rule out partner having a trick of his own here.

[jdonn]

I like the trump, just hoping partner has enough length or good stuff in diamonds to make this effective.

I am almost certain dummy has short clubs and declarer short diamonds. Where in the world are the spades?