All News

 

Jan’s Day: Exciting Slam Leads

 

We gave you one lead problem overnight. Today, we have two slams as reported by Jan where the lead was or could have been crucial. This is what we left you with yesterday:

 

 

5 shows 2 aces. South seems pretty confident. Can you give them cause for regret?

 

A Nerve-Wracking business

Jan Cormack

“Leading against slam contracts most certainly is nerve-wracking at the best of times. See how your nervous system copes with the following deals.

Your hand is:

 

 

You are looking at 10 hcp and yet it is your partner who has doubled the final contract! Even more astounding, North has redoubled! What is going on?

After agonising over several possibilities, any of which could be right on this auction, you decide finally on A. Dummy appears:

 

 

without a single club. Your heart sinks but you have just found the only lead to beat the slam!

 

 

A is ruffed in dummy and a low diamond is led. Your partner comes to the rescue with A, felling declarer’s king. What a relief. Your partner now plays K, tapping the dummy again and enabling your K to be the setting trick.

You found the only lead to beat the slam and no longer would have to explain your opening lead and the auction to your teammates.”

 Apologies, Jan, I must comment. Life in 1987 may have been different but in 2021 if that 3 bid had not been alerted and subsequently 6xx had made, then I suspect the opposition would like to know whether North-South had an agreement as to whether 3 was natural or a splinter. South seems to have treated the bid as natural with North always intent on playing spades. A system card should reveal the true meaning and whether an infraction causing damage had occurred. 

Back though in 1987, East-West had no cause to complain! Apologies for the interruption..

“You now have to find a lead from the following West hand:

 

 

Nothing really appeals. Finally, you decide to “put it” to declarer at trick 1 and lead 7! This was the full deal:

 

 

Will you have

?

When South went into a huddle at trick 1, you realised that they were probably void in spades and that your lead was the only one to let 7NT make! Finally, declarer calls for the A and you are put out of your misery!

Either a natural heart or a club lead would have beaten the slam the easy way.”

A diamond lead from West is fine for the defence too even if East plays J as declarer can only take 6 diamond tricks and 5 tricks in other suits before surrendering the lead.(You, West just have to keep QT7!)

The spade is certainly an inventive lead. No-one leads away from Qxx against dummy’s long suit in a slam contract,do they? Even when it was wrong, it proved to be right!

 

For the Less Experienced… and others

On the cusp

 

 

You are playing Acol where a 1NT opening is 12-14 hcp. Double indicates 4 hearts. North’s 3 call is pre-emptive rather than constructive. What now?

Richard Solomon

 

Go Back View All News Items