[AL78]

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I was loathe to pass out 5♣ as North although I would have liked to be a little stronger. We had a chance to do well as it goes for -500 on best defence.

Sadly we didn't find best defence. Partner led the ♦9 and that ended any chance of getting +500. Declarer can now make 5♣ except after ruffing my king out and establishing the queen, he forgot to throw another spade so we got it one down. Due to the poor four table turnout it had only been played twice by the time it came to us, and one of those two pairs was allowed to play in 4♥=.

[the hog]

AL78, on 2023-April-14, 02:03, said:

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I was loathe to pass out 5♣ as North although I would have liked to be a little stronger. We had a chance to do well as it goes for -500 on best defence.

Sadly we didn't find best defence. Partner led the ♦9 and that ended any chance of getting +500. Declarer can now make 5♣ except after ruffing my king out and establishing the queen, he forgot to throw another spade so we got it one down. Due to the poor four table turnout it had only been played twice by the time it came to us, and one of those two pairs was allowed to play in 4♥=.

"Partner led the ♦9" Ask her why. Is a S lead not obvious?

[Cyberyeti]

the hog, on 2023-April-14, 02:23, said:

"Partner led the ♦9" Ask her why. Is a S lead not obvious?

Or A♥ is not silly, now a spade stands out even more

[AL78]

the hog, on 2023-April-14, 02:23, said:

"Partner led the ♦9" Ask her why. Is a S lead not obvious?

I did ask and the answer I got was along the lines of not wanting to lead away from honors. I suggested leading the heart ace to look at dummy but she said she didn't like that holding AQ.

[mikeh]

AL78, on 2023-April-14, 05:31, said:

I did ask and the answer I got was along the lines of not wanting to lead away from honors. I suggested leading the heart ace to look at dummy but she said she didn't like that holding AQ.

The heart ace is, imo, clearly correct.

Ask your partner who she thinks has the heart king, based on the auction.

This is yet another example of how it is impossible to play reasonably well without paying attention to the information available.

[apollo1201]

D is definitely a good lead… against other contracts or other auctions!

And no, the 9 is not the head or a sequence, it only applies to honors. So unless you lead top of 5 small, the lead is strange.