Lesson Hand 23
Answer: At a recent Valley View
club championship, a pair of our redoubtable Gaymsters won the evening, due in small part to the results of this
hand. Our Gaymsters West trotted out the 
J
at trick one.
A player of your caliber of course knows that leading good ol' fourth best is a low percentage decision when holding no entry. You would probably lecture a lesser player no end about how difficult it is to gain the lead again to cash a long heart even if you are lucky enough to find partner with a couple of heart honors.
And with only four diamonds, the distribution of that suit around the table is most likely 4-4-3-2, so no great future there. It comes down to the black suits.
Many know that in response to a 1NT opening bid, Stayman, Transfers, and relay bids are available to the notrumper's partner and we've heard none of that here. This is a strong piece of evidence and we have to ask ourselves why North chose none of those options. If the answer is that he has no long major suit, a spade lead is a very reasonable choice.
One additional wrinkle to consider is whether it is against South's religion to open 1NT holding a five-card major; many tournament players no longer eschew this option. If you're on lead, consider asking the notrumper's partner this question.
Another very interesting factor here is that we own an honor in the club suit while holding no help for a partner who owns spades. A wise man once, only half jokingly, defined the first rule of defence as "lead the right suit."
If clubs is the right suit we can help partner. If spades the right suit, we have no help at all. That was the
straw that pushed our Gaymster West's fateful decision in favor of the
J.
Click to reveal the entire deal.
The defense took the first six tricks, the only plus score in the East-West direction.
The Story: The too cute North had reasoned that it was likely his
K was a help card for partner, and since
this was matchpoints, he'd go for the extra 10 notrump offers, taking it as a given that the rest of the field
would be in game. At least he got the last part right.
Bottom Line: When defending a notrump contract, push your side's best suit. Appreciate the concept that it might be partner's suit, not yours. And yes, good guesses are allowed.