[vuroth]

Opponents bid:
1♥ 1NT(1)
2♦ (2) 3NT
ap

1 - forcing
2 - better minor, 10-13

What should I lead from:

♠QJ3
♥T52
♦986
♣9632

What inferences should I be making from the bidding?

EDIT: ACBL tournament, SAYC assumed

[gwnn]

RHO should have some sort of fitting hand, hoping for running diamonds.

I'd lead the ♠Q, LHO did not promise anything in spades yet and RHO positively denied 4.

[655321]

I would just lead the ♠Q without thinking too hard.

The auction seems odd, not sure what to infer from it but I don't think it matters too much.

The only factor suggesting a club lead instead of a spade is that partner presumably has values, and could have overcalled 1♠ but didn't. For that reason a club lead is reasonable too - partner couldn't overcall 1♣. But I am still leading from my QJx suit instead of my 9xxx suit.

[mtvesuvius]

Q♠, both players are somewhat denying 4♠, so partner is marked with 4 of them.

[whereagles]

Our heart holding says hearts might very well set up, so an aggressive lead is in order.

Since a club rates to go no-where unless pard has 5 of them (not likely), a spade is what's left. ♠Q thus.

[mich-b]

An important clue to remember is that partner will not have 5 Spades (and a reasonable hand) , because he would have overcalled, but he could have a 5 card ♣ suit, if his hand was not good enough for a 2 level overcall.

[vuroth]

Thanks guys.

Both opponents self rated advanced, fwiw. Dummy had 4 hearts, declarer had 4 spades. Q♠ lead led to 3NT=, and a 0 for us.

It seemed like the standard lead 4th best club) might have worked, so I wondered if my deviation was sane or insane, especially in the aftermath when I didn't understand the bidding at all.

V

[655321]

I disagree that a club is the 'standard' lead on the hand, although as I mentioned in my previous post it is a reasonable lead.

It turns out that the opening lead was not relevant. I looked up the hand:
http://online.bridgebase.com/myhands/fetch...ayed=1239062460

Double dummy, 3NT can always be made on any lead, and nobody else in the field bid it.
(Declarer can go down if he plays East for a heart honor and the defense switches to spades in time.)

Don't know what system the opponents were playing, but it wasn't SAYC. The 1♥ opening was made with a 3442 10 count, and responder bid 1NT on a 4243 14 count.

As the play actually went, it was clear for your partner to play a club when he won his heart, either immediately, or after cashing the ♠K. That would have beaten 3NT by at least one trick, possibly two.

[vuroth]

Well whether or not it's standard, 4th from longest is the "beginner" lead.