I can't lead the unbid suit

[Dave Flower]

Last night I faced the following lead problem:

Matchpoints, vul v. non-vul, partner dealt

pass 1S pass 2D
pass 2H all pass

A Q 8 6 4 3
10 3
A J 4 3 2
void

Do you agree with my bidding, and what do you lead ?

Dave Flower

[Mick Heins]

Post by Dave Flower
Matchpoints, vul v. non-vul, partner dealt
pass 1S pass 2D
pass 2H all pass
A Q 8 6 4 3
10 3
A J 4 3 2
void
Do you agree with my bidding, and what do you lead ?

Why wouldn't you lead a trump?

[Co Wiersma]

Post by Dave Flower
Matchpoints, vul v. non-vul, partner dealt
pass 1S pass 2D
pass 2H all pass
A Q 8 6 4 3
10 3
A J 4 3 2
void
Do you agree with my bidding, and what do you lead ?
Dave Flower

10 of hearts
(or is the 3 better? I do not have a clue)

Co Wiersma

[Charles Brenner]

Post by Co Wiersma

Post by Dave Flower
Matchpoints, vul v. non-vul, partner dealt
pass 1S pass 2D
pass 2H all pass
A Q 8 6 4 3
10 3
A J 4 3 2
void
Do you agree with my bidding, and what do you lead ?
Dave Flower

10 of hearts
(or is the 3 better? I do not have a clue)

Which trump to lead from honor doubleton is a classical conundrum. In this case I think the 10 is clear because (a) partner has more length that we do, may even have four like Jxxx, (b) preserve partner's trumps to overruff, (c) even when low might gain - KQ8x with partner and AJ9x with declarer - after T1: x,x,Q,A, then later partner overruffs with the 8 & returns x, declarer is biased toward the winning J play in order to get another ruff.

[Steve Willner]

Post by Charles Brenner
Which trump to lead from honor doubleton is a classical conundrum. In
this case I think the 10 is clear because (a) partner has more length
that we do, may even have four like Jxxx, (b) preserve partner's
trumps to overruff, (c) even when low might gain - KQ8x with partner
and AJ9x with declarer - after T1: x,x,Q,A, then later partner
overruffs with the 8 & returns x, declarer is biased toward the
winning J play in order to get another ruff.

Another argument is that the H-T won't likely be needed for over-ruffing
anything. If you later ruff a club, the 3 should be high enough.
That's not guaranteed, of course, but what is?

[Co Wiersma]

Post by Steve Willner

Post by Charles Brenner
Which trump to lead from honor doubleton is a classical conundrum. In
this case I think the 10 is clear because (a) partner has more length
that we do, may even have four like Jxxx, (b) preserve partner's
trumps to overruff, (c) even when low might gain - KQ8x with partner
and AJ9x with declarer - after T1: x,x,Q,A, then later partner
overruffs with the 8 & returns x, declarer is biased toward the
winning J play in order to get another ruff.

Another argument is that the H-T won't likely be needed for over-ruffing
anything.  If you later ruff a club, the 3 should be high enough. That's
not guaranteed, of course, but what is?

ok thx
The thing is that I am usually very bad at opening leads
But the trump lead in this case seems pretty obvious to me

Co Wiersma

[Lorne]

Post by Dave Flower
Matchpoints, vul v. non-vul, partner dealt
pass 1S pass 2D
pass 2H all pass
A Q 8 6 4 3
10 3
A J 4 3 2
void
Do you agree with my bidding, and what do you lead ?
Dave Flower

Lead a Trump.

I think the problems come later - do you duck if they play a spade off
dummy ? Do you duck if they play a diamond off dummy ? Rising lets you
play another trump but rising may set up several tricks in the suit played.

[John Hall]

Post by Dave Flower
Matchpoints, vul v. non-vul, partner dealt
pass 1S pass 2D
pass 2H all pass
A Q 8 6 4 3
10 3
A J 4 3 2
void
Do you agree with my bidding,

Since the opposition have inconsiderately bid your long suits, you don't
seem to have any alternative to passing throughout. The opponents'
bidding seems more questionable. Even assuming they're playing Acol,
isn't a change of suit by opener normally played as forcing nowadays
after a two-level response?

Post by Dave Flower
and what do you lead ?

I agree with everyone else that a trump lead stands out. The fact that
you're asking makes me suspect that it's what you led at the table but
that it wasn't a success on this occasion.

[ais523]

Post by John Hall

Post by Dave Flower
Matchpoints, vul v. non-vul, partner dealt
pass 1S pass 2D
pass 2H all pass
A Q 8 6 4 3
10 3
A J 4 3 2
void
Do you agree with my bidding,

Since the opposition have inconsiderately bid your long suits, you don't
seem to have any alternative to passing throughout. The opponents'
bidding seems more questionable. Even assuming they're playing Acol,
isn't a change of suit by opener normally played as forcing nowadays
after a two-level response?

The opponents' bidding makes sense if they're playing Precision (but
not using 2/1 responses to it). If responder has a weak hand, they could
know that game is impossible and be trying to decide between spades,
diamonds, and hearts. This clearly has to be some system in which
opener is limited; requiring 3C/3H as the rebid with a strong hand
seems like a stretch, so more likely it's the 1S that's the limited
bid.

Post by John Hall

Post by Dave Flower
and what do you lead ?

I agree with everyone else that a trump lead stands out. The fact that
you're asking makes me suspect that it's what you led at the table but
that it wasn't a success on this occasion.

I also agree, this is obviously a case for leading a trump. The
opponents may not have a fit in hearts at all, and if they do, it's
probably 4-4; in either situation, a trump lead is likely to work well
and may be required, and none of the other suits look like a sensible
lead.

[KWSchneider]

Unlike the others, I’m not sure a trump lead stands out. The lack of any club suit bidding tells me that partner probably has six (I expect to hear something if s/he has seven) and the hands split something like:

Opener: 5=4=1=3
You: 6=2=5=0
LHO: 1=3=5=4
Partner: 1=4=2=6

To me the SA stands out, followed by your lowest spade. In this way you and your partner can potentially score your trumps independently and still score your diamond and club winners.

[Charles Brenner]

Post by KWSchneider
Opener: 5=4=1=3
You: 6=2=5=0
LHO: 1=3=5=4
Partner: 1=4=2=6
To me the SA stands out, followed by your lowest spade. In this way you and your partner can potentially score your trumps independently and still score your diamond and club winners.

Fair point. I'll hazard a guess that which is better - trump lead or try for crossruff - depends a lot on the extent to which the defensive assets are in side suits versus in trumps. The crossruff probably sacrifices our chances to score tricks with sQ, dJ and intermediate club honors that partner may or may not possess in exchange for the chance to score ruffs with some intermediate trump spots. Either defense could be better.

[Hotzenplotz]

Post by Dave Flower
Matchpoints, vul v. non-vul, partner dealt
pass 1S pass 2D
pass 2H all pass
A Q 8 6 4 3
10 3
A J 4 3 2
void
Do you agree with my bidding, and what do you lead ?
Dave Flower

I would lead a trump and regard this as obvious.

[Dave Flower]

Post by Hotzenplotz

Post by Dave Flower
Matchpoints, vul v. non-vul, partner dealt
pass 1S pass 2D
pass 2H all pass
A Q 8 6 4 3
10 3
A J 4 3 2
void
Do you agree with my bidding, and what do you lead ?
Dave Flower

I would lead a trump and regard this as obvious.

I led H10 at the table, but with misgivings. The problem is that there is a real chance of a defensive cross-ruff, likely to be sabotaged by a trump lead

Dave Flower

[KWSchneider]

And the result...

[KWSchneider]

And what ultimately happened? What was best lead?

[Dave Flower]

Post by KWSchneider
And what ultimately happened? What was best lead?

To the best of my recollection the full hand was

Q x
x x x x
K x
A x x x x
K x x x x
A J x K Q x x
Q 10 x x x x -
10 x x K Q J x x
A J x x x x
10 x
A J x x x
-

[smn]

Post by Dave Flower
Matchpoints, vul v. non-vul, partner dealt
pass 1S pass 2D
pass 2H all pass
A Q 8 6 4 3
10 3
A J 4 3 2
void
Do you agree with my bidding, and what do you lead ?
Dave Flower

Yes and lead a trump