North
was delighted to raise spades with his excellent 3-card support,
and you wasted no time jumping to the major-suit game.
You
win the opening trump lead with the jack, as East drops the 10.
Question 1: Are you more interested in dummy’s short diamond
suit, or long club suit?
Question 2: Which 10 tricks are you hoping to win?
Question 3: What would you lead at trick 2?
Question 1: Are you more interested in dummy’s long club
suit, or short diamond suit?
Answer: Definitely clubs. If you lead a diamond, E-W can
stop dummy from trumping two diamonds by leading a second trump.
In addition, you lack the
8,
so trying to ruff two diamonds with dummy’s spade honors would
create a trump loser.
Question 2: What 10 tricks are you hoping to win?
Answer: Five spades, four clubs, and one heart. All you need
is for clubs to divide 3-2.
Question 3: What would you lead at trick 2?
Answer: A low club. You need to develop dummy’s club suit,
but must keep trumps in dummy to ensure that the defense can’t
take too many diamond tricks. By remembering to “lose your
losers early,” you set up clubs while keeping control of
diamonds, and maintain communication between the two hands.
East
wins the
Q
and leads a heart, which is as good as anything. You win the
A
and lead a club towards the
2