From                   30th August, 2006, Board 1

                                          Theme                Opening Leads - Suits

                                          Difficulty            * * *

                                          Dlr North            None Vul

DUMMY	North West             East           South
	♠ A6 ♥ J754 ♦ K75 ♣ K754
West   North   East     South Pass   1♣        2♦        Dbl 3♦       Dbl      Pass    Pass Pass

For a change, we have an opening lead problem, the first-ever in The Wednesday Game!  Partner's Double was for take-out, probably showing 4-3 or 4-4 in the majors ... rightly or wrongly, you have converted that into a penalty Double, hoping your side can beat it enough tricks on sheer power.  You made an excellent choice, provided that you find the right lead.

In these situations, where the defending side has the balance of the points, it's often a good idea to lead a trump, cutting down on their ruffs.  Is this problem really that simple?

SOLUTION

It looks as if trumps might be 6-3, which would leave Partner with just one.  If we lead a trump right away, and if the Ace is on our right, then, when we get in with the A♠ or K♣, we'll not be able to continue trumps without giving up our natural trump trick.  It's essential that Partner leads the first round of trumps, allowing our side to draw three rounds of trumps, and also score our trump King.  A Heart or Club lead is called for here, and either will beat this contract two tricks.  Here is the full deal:

Suppose that South leads a Club.  Dummy's Ace wins, and a Spade is played ... North wins the King, and shoots back a Diamond ... now, Dummy scores no ruffs and the defense scores 4 Spades, a Heart, and a Diamond ... down two for +300 and a good board!
 

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