[MickyB]

Matchpoints

2N-P-6N-AP

Your lead:

Jxxxx
QJ8xx
J
Tx

Declarer is pretty bad, if that makes a difference.

[Winstonm]

I'm going as passive as I can - which I think means the J diamond lead - anyway, that's my lead.

[Fluffy]

♥J

[the hog]

Winstonm, on 2014-January-18, 17:55, said:

I'm going as passive as I can - which I think means the J diamond lead - anyway, that's my lead.

The dj is not passive but a highly aggressive lead. I will lead a high heart.

[Lord Molyb]

low spade

[MrAce]

♦J

[broze]

DJ least likely to blow a trick imo. It has the added bonus that if declarer is missing the Q as well he might try to play me for it.

[Cyberyeti]

It appears partner can have at most a queen if opps hands are balanced, and my prospects don't look good if that's the case. So looking at my lack of minors, if dummy has a long minor and has bid 6N because it's matchpoints, where is my best chance ? Well since the major suit high cards are likely to be with declarer, a spade is vanishingly unlikely to succeed. What if dummy has 6 diamonds, declarer 2 and partner 10xxx and a card ? the only non ace that helps would be ♥K. If partner has an ace, declarer probably doesn't have 12 tricks, so I'll lead a small heart, if this gives away the overtrick c'est la vie, if many of the field are as bad as declarer, I'm not getting a good board for them making 6N anyway.

[MrAce]

Cyberyeti, on 2014-January-19, 05:14, said:

It appears partner can have at most a queen if opps hands are balanced, and my prospects don't look good if that's the case. So looking at my lack of minors, if dummy has a long minor and has bid 6N because it's matchpoints, where is my best chance ? Well since the major suit high cards are likely to be with declarer, a spade is vanishingly unlikely to succeed. What if dummy has 6 diamonds, declarer 2 and partner 10xxx and a card ? the only non ace that helps would be ♥K. If partner has an ace, declarer probably doesn't have 12 tricks, so I'll lead a small heart.

Fwiw, if i decided to lead ♥, i would also lead a small one. Although ♥ 8 is giving a little edge to a top ♥

[Cyberyeti]

MrAce, on 2014-January-19, 05:16, said:

Fwiw, if i decided to lead ♥, i would also lead a small one. Although ♥ 8 is giving a little edge to a top ♥

I didn't fancy partner having an embarrassing stiff 10.

[Jinksy]

What Fluffy said, although if declarer's *that* bad I'll lead honestly.

[akhare]

J♦ without much conviction for me.

Hopefully, it won't resolve a restricted choice conundrum for declarer in ♦s. Given the comment about declarer's ability, I don't expect such a sophisticated analysis, but it might encourage declarer into finessing the against partner's presumed Q♦, when the play on some other lead might have been to bang down AK of ♦ to drop the presumed J..Q.

What were the actual hands?

[MickyB]

Something like

Tx
AKx
KTxx
QJxx

AKQx
x
Axxx
AKxx

[WellSpyder]

MickyB, on 2014-January-20, 11:43, said:

Something like

Tx
AKx
KTxx
QJxx

AKQx
x
Axxx
AKxx

Declarer managed to go off.

Help me out a bit here since I fear I am missing something. Unless there are important ♦ spots that you haven't told us about then it looks to me as if declarer should indeed go off unless a) you lead a ♠ away from the J or b) you don't lead a ♥ and neither do you/partner when declarer ducks a ♦ trick, thereby allowing a double squeeze.

[MickyB]

WellSpyder, on 2014-January-20, 11:55, said:

Help me out a bit here since I fear I am missing something. Unless there are important ♦ spots that you haven't told us about then it looks to me as if declarer should indeed go off unless a) you lead a ♠ away from the J or b) you don't lead a ♥ and neither do you/partner when declarer ducks a ♦ trick, thereby allowing a double squeeze.

Yeah sorry I edited while you were replying. Brainfart, declarer would've gone off even with diamonds 3-2, I just forgot they weren't!

[whereagles]

spade jack underlead seems passive enough for me..

[nige1]

MickyB, on 2014-January-18, 17:41, said:

Matchpoints 2N-P-6N-AP Your lead:
♠ J x x x x ♥ Q J 8 x x ♦ J ♣ Tx
Declarer is pretty bad, if that makes a difference.

IMO ♥J = 10, ♥Q = 9, ♠x = 8, ♥x = 6, ♣T = 5, ♦J = 4.

[Jinksy]

Incidentally, since all the people here who'd lead a H would pick the J, does that mean a lead of the Q denies the J?

[HighLow21]

I can't imagine leading anything but a top heart. If delcarer is bad, good, amazing, doesn't matter. (Though the worse he is, the better the heart stands out.)

Leading a spade is as gross as it gets in my book.

Leading a low heart is speculative and dangerous. (Sure a top one is too, but much, much less so than a small one.)

Minor suit leads into this auction are probably just going to help declarer guess and/or establish his sources of tricks.

This is a least of evils lead to some extent, but my votes would be:

any ♠ 0; Q or J♥ 10; low ♥ 3; J♦ 2; T♣ 1.