[Lord Molyb]

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This was in the local newspaper bridge article today. What would you lead with this hand?
Also, would you have opened 1♠?
1NT is 15-17, opponents are fairly good.

[SteveMoe]

♠Q. No need to start ♥, and ♦ likely gives up a tempo and a finesse.
Yes, I would open 1♠

[Zelandakh]

SteveMoe, on 2013-September-13, 18:56, said:

♠Q.

Obviously wrong for this to be in the paper. My guess is that we have to underlead the heart ace so that partner gets a ruff with their doubleton. Obvious lead.

[TylerE]

Why wouldn't A!H work as well? Obv partner has to unblock.

[Lord Molyb]

Zelandakh, on 2013-September-17, 09:55, said:

Obviously wrong for this to be in the paper. My guess is that we have to underlead the heart ace so that partner gets a ruff with their doubleton. Obvious lead.

it was the play that was interesting, not the lead

[mikeh]

My immediate reaction was that the heart A was 'obvious' but some reflection suggested it obviously isn't

Partner probably has no more than 2 hearts and may have a stiff, but would RHO bid this way with xxx or Kxx in hearts, rather than doubling or passing (presumably forcing, but that is a side issue)?

While I don't think the heart A is likely to blow the suit, since the odds are very high that RHO doesn't hold the K, I fear that I may be setting myself up for a major suit squeeze, so I need to attack dummy's top spade holding. I am hoping that S has a stiff spade (quite likely on the auction) and that my lead of the Q will destroy communication in that suit.

Declarer may need to run his clubs to inflict the squeeze, and by leading spades now, I may make that impossible to do safely. A full analysis would have to await the appearance of dummy and the play to at least the first few tricks, but it does seem to me more likely that we need to defend against a squeeze in the majors more than we need to try to give partner a heart ruff.

[mycroft]

Can't lead the ♥A because partner doesn't have the ♥K, he has ♥xx and trump Ace-and-another, one assumes.