[pooltuna]

IMP pairs
all red
BBO tournament

you hear the following auction (no comments on sanity)

West North East South
- - - 1S
P 2H P 2NT
P 4NT P 5D
P 5NT P 6H
P 6NT X P
P P

you hold
3
J64
J83
JT7632

what do you lead and why?

2012-04-02

[masse24]

It sure sounds like a bidding misunderstanding to me!

Attempts at a quantitative NT and opener responding as if it were Blackwood?

Anyway, since partner doubled this freely bid slam, and without our side bidding, my lead is a ♥, which is what I assume the double to ask for.

[Free]

H, because partner asks H.

[P_Marlowe]

dummies first bid suit, that would be hearts,
if reading the auction correctly.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[billw55]

I am so happy, partner has relieved me of the burden of a difficult decision (or an outright guess). Small heart with a clear conscience.

Regarding the auction, it looks like a very standard BBO auction of the "quantitative v. blackwood" type. This is so common that I am very reluctant to ever bid a quantitative 4NT with a pickup partner. Then again, perhaps the same could be said of slam doubles.

[phil_20686]

I mean this auction asks for a heart lead for sure. But I would never lead a heart in a scratch partnership. If I trusted my partner you should probably lead aa heart, but this is just the kind of place where a random doubles because a normal spade lead is beating this....

[ArtK78]

phil_20686, on 2012-April-03, 10:07, said:

I mean this auction asks for a heart lead for sure. But I would never lead a heart in a scratch partnership. If I trusted my partner you should probably lead aa heart, but this is just the kind of place where a random doubles because a normal spade lead is beating this....

A normal spade lead? Don't you mean a normal club lead?

By the way, I would lead the ♥J. If partner REALLY wants a heart lead, the J is best.

[affe82]

Jack of hearts.
Either pd has 2 aces in a mix up and if hearts lets it through pd should avoid dubbling.
I'm rooting for k of h and an ace with pd.

[dwar0123]

My partner wants a heart lead, I am going to show him the jack.

[phil_20686]

ArtK78, on 2012-April-03, 12:22, said:

A normal spade lead? Don't you mean a normal club lead?

By the way, I would lead the ♥J. If partner REALLY wants a heart lead, the J is best.

Yes, sorry, I thought partner had opened 1S

Now that partner has passed throughout Iam always leading a heart, as nothing seems any better.

[paulg]

phil_20686, on 2012-April-03, 10:07, said:

a random doubles because a normal spade lead is beating this....

This may be true.

[dake50]

I agree dummy's first bid suit.
But keep my HJ - just may be a guard
to let partner off the squeeze.

[S2000magic]

dake50, on 2012-April-04, 07:03, said:

I agree dummy's first bid suit.
But keep my HJ - just may be a guard
to let partner off the squeeze.

I was about to say the ♥J, but the idea of keeping a guard against a possible squeeze is intriguing.

Oh, well! LHO bid hearts and I'm not going to get the lead again, so . . . caution to the wind: ♥J.

[S2000magic]

phil_20686, on 2012-April-03, 10:07, said:

But I would never lead a heart in a scratch partnership.

This is an interesting coincidence: I was playing Monday evening with a semi-regular partner about whose experience I'm learning bit-by-bit. After this auction by the opponents:

1♣ - 1♥ - 1NT - 3NT

I held ♥ A K J 6 2 and some other bits behind the incipient dummy, but didn't double because I wasn't sure that partner would have taken it as lead-directing. It turns out he would have, and the heart lead would have set 3NT; it made without the heart lead.

[billw55]

I guess leading the jack caters to the extra undertrick when partner holds AQT(x) or AKT(x). Partner might overtake anyway, just to be sure of setting it, but I guess there is nothing to lose.

[HighLow21]

Partner asked for dummy's first bid suit, hearts. I would lead the JH, personally, hoping to find partner with AQT or AKT.

[omarsh10]

Partner doubles with an ace and a heart trick: ♥Kx or ♥Q10x or so ...
Lead ♥J

[gnasher]

♥J has the disadvantage that it leaves partner in sole control of the suit. On a bad day, they'll win the second heart with the ace, then cash five diamonds and three clubs, squeezing partner between his ♥KQ and his ♠QJ10.

That's not very likely, but the scenarios where ♥J gains aren't that likely either, and the IMP effects are very different. If the field is in game, an the second undertrick gains us two IMPs and the third gains us one more. Letting the contract through costs 33.

As for which suit to lead, why are we deciding what to lead against a doubled slam without finding out what the auction means?

[pooltuna]

gnasher, on 2012-April-06, 01:24, said:

♥J has the disadvantage that it leaves partner in sole control of the suit. On a bad day, they'll win the second heart with the ace, then cash five diamonds and three clubs, squeezing partner between his ♥KQ and his ♠QJ10.

That's not very likely, but the scenarios where ♥J gains aren't that likely either, and the IMP effects are very different. If the field is in game, an the second undertrick gains us two IMPs and the third gains us one more. Letting the contract through costs 33.

As for which suit to lead, why are we deciding what to lead against a doubled slam without finding out what the auction means?

Standard Amer 1♠ beyond that as the eventual doubler I did not inquire deeply as I knew the auction was hosed by the opps which is more information than my partner had as my hand was

AKT42
T852
964
5