[hrothgar]

bluenikki, on 2020-March-14, 08:20, said:

Refers, I believe, to a famous/notorious lead by Pabis-Ticci in the 1968 Olympics final. (Partner has the club singleton, not diamond.)

thanks

[AL78]

StevenG, on 2020-March-14, 12:01, said:

Please remember that AL78 is English and these posts are (implicitly) about Acol. 1NT is the normal response on the West hand. Some might bid 2♠, but with no distribution to speak of and a reasonable probability of a 4 card spade suit opposite, it doesn't look much fun to me.

Yes, all players are playing Acol, so 1NT shows about 6-9 HCP. Sorry I forgot to clarify that at the start. I need to remember that most on here are not Acol players.

[RD350LC]

AL78, on 2020-March-13, 07:03, said:

This hand came up with my novice friend.

You hold as South:

♠3
♥KT32
♦AQ864
♣AT4

---

All vulnerable, matchpoint scoring. What is your lead?

Here are my comments. Leading away from an ace in a suit contract is a very bad idea. Good chance of losing the ace entirely. Leading an ace is not much better. You would capture small cards, and that is not what an ace is for. So that rules out diamonds and clubs.
Leading a singleton trump is not much better. Good chance of trapping partner's Qxx in trumps. So that is ruled out.
Now people say leading away from a King is not a good idea. I don't mind leading away from a King. So my choice is a small heart.

[miamijd]

AL78, on 2020-March-13, 18:17, said:

My friend led a low diamond (ugh, I've told her before not to underlead aces). The full deal:

---

2♠ ended up just making. If she finds the ♦A lead, it goes (at best) ace, ruff, low club, ruff, club, ruff, heart, and South eventually makes their king, two down. Nobody defending a spade contract found that defence, so all declarers in 2 or 3♠ made eight tricks. One North managed to make 3NT, goodness knows how, or even how they got there.

I suspect I would be with my Canadian attorney counterpart and lead a low heart (another losing lead for me). A trump, a low heart, or the Ad could be right. Much of it depends on how many diamonds dummy has. If dummy has 0-1 D (something like 2515), then a trump is probably best. If dummy has two diamonds (say 2425), then it's probably right to start a heart and rely on partner to provide a surprise overruff on the third round of diamonds. If dummy has three diamonds, then the Ad lead could strike gold.

And no -- no one defending 2S will find the defense you suggest -- no one at all. Come on. Ad, low d (asking for a club). At MP, after your X, what North in his right mind is going to lead a small club and hope you have the AT, rather than leading the Q?

[AL78]

miamijd, on 2020-March-14, 19:54, said:

I suspect I would be with my Canadian attorney counterpart and lead a low heart (another losing lead for me). A trump, a low heart, or the Ad could be right. Much of it depends on how many diamonds dummy has. If dummy has 0-1 D (something like 2515), then a trump is probably best. If dummy has two diamonds (say 2425), then it's probably right to start a heart and rely on partner to provide a surprise overruff on the third round of diamonds. If dummy has three diamonds, then the Ad lead could strike gold.

And no -- no one defending 2S will find the defense you suggest -- no one at all. Come on. Ad, low d (asking for a club). At MP, after your X, what North in his right mind is going to lead a small club and hope you have the AT, rather than leading the Q?

Obviously no-one is finding the double dummy defence, I never said anyone should.

How does leading a low diamond ask for a club? Normally that applies when giving partner a ruff, but on the opening lead?? I would be surprised to see anyone in my local club play signals that deep, and definitely no-one on the evening of the hand in question.

[akwoo]

AL78, on 2020-March-14, 18:35, said:

Yes, all players are playing Acol, so 1NT shows about 6-9 HCP. Sorry I forgot to clarify that at the start. I need to remember that most on here are not Acol players.

What's strange about 1N to those of us not used to Acol is that, playing 5 card majors, almost everyone would raise 1♠ to 2♠. The spade lead is much more attractive when partner is not quite but almost guaranteed to have 5 spades - even if it might finesse partner. (After all, declarer probably does have a dummy entry to perform the finesse.)