Boards from Yeh's Cup - Flash Foresight

The 1st board on the second half of the semi-final. NS bid to the grand slam powerfully. What is your lead?

As everyone knows, the most recommended lead against a grand slam is a trump. Unless you have a trump honor or a singleton trump, leading trump is almost automatic. Before a mechanical trump lead, let us outline NS’s hands first.

l   NS showed slam interests by cue-bidding actively without hesitation. East must have almost nothing.

l   South showed 4+♠5+♦. ♠ breaks friendly for the declarer. Finesse will be successful, with no overruff, and the squeeze position will be right.

l   North showed long ♣. The honors finessing, ruffing direction, or squeeze position are still good. But the bad distribution is the key for the defense.

l   North showed a ♥ control.

①      If North has ♥AQ, ♥K is onside. When the declarer finds out about the bad break, he will finesse ♥K to get his 13^th trick.

②      If North has ♥A and South has ♥Q, West will be Simple Squeezed in ♥+♣. When the positions of ♠+♣ are good, there may be a Type R Double Squeeze.

③      If North has singleton ♥ and South has ♥AQx, South must bid 3♥ instead of 3♠.

According to the above analysis, the best lead is clear: ♥J (♥T/5) !!

Case ①, leading ♥ forces the declarer to decide how to play before figuring out the bad distribution of ♣. Case ➁ is similar to case ①. Unless the declarer resolutely puts low at the 1st trick, the entry in the dummy will be destroyed. Neither the Simple Squeeze nor Type R Double Squeeze would exist.

The West, my partner, did the super excellent lead: ♥J!

Then, let us see the declarer’s play.

If West leads a trump, the declarer will ruff ♠&♣, draw trumps, and almost automatically reach the 4-card ending. West will be Simple Squeezed with ♥K+♣Q.

However, if West leads ♥, the declarer will have only 2 choices.

①      Believe the clever and brave West has underled from ♥K and put low from the dummy.

Ø   It is not unbelievable. Notice that East passed twice after 4♥ & 5♥. She knew the partner would be in the lead after NS found out their ♦ fit. Why she did not make a lead-directing double to help her partner when ♥K was likely to be behind North’s ♥A?

Ø   Well, there is another opinion. They are unwilling to make a lead-directing double with a bare A or K. They believe that leaking the information, letting the opponents stop in the correct contract, or adopting the correct play will do more harm than good.

Ø   Therefore, it is hard to tell whether the declarer should put low at the 1^st trick. It may depend on how much you know your opponents.

②      Hop up with ♥A. Hope for ♦3-2+♣Qxx, or ♦3-2+♣Qxxx+ East 4♠+♥K being squeezed.

♥A、♣A、♦T、♣K、♣ ruff、♦J、♦A ruff ♣、♦K、♣J。

Cash ♣A and ruff ♣ twice to establish it with getting in the dummy by trumps. Do not forget to ruff high to keep the ♦K as an entry. Then, East will be squeezed with ♠+♥K in the 5-card ending.

Chinese version:【葉氏盃牌局分享－洞燭機先】

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