[hautbois]

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Partner leads a ♠. Seeing no urgency in continuing trumps, you want to play ♥ so that partner will switch to a club when he's in.

K followed by J is the usual way to show the honor sequence, but what if you start with the J? It's a bizarre switch from any holding, but if partner is looking at Axx, declarer should have covered the J if partner doesn't have KQ too.

What should starting with the J mean if you have an agreement? My concern is that declarer might have a stiff heart, so I want partner to overtake with 4 and know what to do.

Regardless of its meaning, is K followed by 2 best?

[kenberg]

I lie the problem.
I don't know the answer.
I think, however, that your idea of playing the Jack is a good one.

I suppose partner has the diamond ace for his 3♦ bid, and the non-heart lead suggests he has the ace there as well. He can figure you for some club strength since you opened the bidding, but Kxx(x) of clubs along with your spade ace and your hearts suffices, so some extra push for a club attack is needed. The Jack of hearts might just do it.

Anyway, I am not claiming I am certain of this, but it seems reasonable to me even w/o prior discussion. .

[Zelandakh]

Generally, playing the honours in an unusual sequence from low to high is either a signal for the lowest-ranking suit or an attempt to mislead declarer. Note that I do not think it is possible for partner to hold ♥Axxx here, since in that case they would have either bid a direct 3♥ or be too balanced to have balanced with 3♦. So system also plays a role. Another role of system could come from the 2♥ bid promising a high honour - in that case West might decide to switch to the jack from KJxxx on some hands, although dummy's holding makes that less appealing in this case.

[gszes]

this may be partially solved for your partner already depending on your bidding style.

Many parnerships play 1M 2M 3M as a preemptive raise showing extra trump length
but a normally minimum hand with little game interest. If your partnership plays such
a system your p already pretty much knows you have only 5 hearts for your failure
to bid 3h immediately (especially at favorable). Returning the heart J will make it
easy on p to realize the importance of a club switch and they will know to rise with
the A if they have 4 or duck a round and win next heart if they have 3:)))


Even w/o the above clues the lead of the J should be a strong clue as to how the
defense should proceed. If the lead of the J is honest declarer has the KQ tight
yet they produced a small card if your p thinks about this situation they should
realize the heart J is a call for a club return and they should rise with the A no matter
if they have 3 or 4 hearts and make the club switch.

[Vampyr]

gszes, on 2013-September-23, 10:10, said:

Many parnerships play 1M 2M 3M as a preemptive raise showing extra trump length
but a normally minimum hand with little game interest.

I would think that only a small minority who play this method would require extra trump length.

[kenberg]

I wouldn't over-think this. Partner raised 1♥ and then, when he might have passed or might have bid a competitive 3♥, he chose to bid 3♦. I suppose he has a maximum raise to 2♥ with something (looking at dummy we can guess at the something) in diamonds. This bidding seems to me to be compatible with Axx(x) in hearts and the ♦ Ace.

If he has Axxx in hearts and I lead the J, declarer will, no choice, follow low, partner will look at his four card suit, he will know exactly how the hearts lie, and presumably he will ask himself what he is to make of the J. And he should be able to work it out. If, instead, he has Axx in hearts then he might wonder what's up with the J, but he will probably play low. After which I play the deuce, he takes his Ace, and, I should hope, he leads a club.

My own preference with Axxx of hearts and Axx(x) in diamonds, and too flat to bid 2♠ over 1♠, is to bid just as East has done. If a pair has an agreement that precludes bidding this way with Axxx in hearts then I trust that they are aware of that agreement. But then partner has Axx and we play as indicated above, so it should all go smoothly.

Btw, with Axx, not Axxx, of hearts and the Ace of diamonds, I can imagine that E might have hit 3♠ at matchpoints.

At any rate, the lead of the ♥ J ought to get the desired club switch.

Btw, if declarer holds KQxxxx / x / JTx / Axx then we are not beating this, right? Spade to Ace, heart to Ace, club to T, ducked. Heart ruffed by declarer. Spade King. Play on diamonds, with the spade as an entry to dummy. Five spade tricks, three diamonds, one club.

I'm giving partner xx / Axxx / Axxx / xxx. This seems consistent with the bidding.