Todays hand was dealt at a friendly rubber bridge game. There were many opportunities for the players involved to make decisions that were not so clear cut as they may have seemed.
Let's start with West's opening bid. To my mind, the correct call in first or second seat, regardless of the vulnerability, is three diamonds. This is the perfect type of hand for applying the maximum amount of pressure on the opposition as early as possible. North-South may still find their game, but there is also a good possibility that they will be in the wrong game or a part score.
After the actual one diamond bid, North could double, as he did, or overcall one heart. My personal preference is one heart, but there are many excellent players who would double with these cards.
South has nine high card points and no good way to show his hand. I think two clubs is very reasonable. West rebids his diamonds and we now see that North has a problem. I don't think the North hand is strong enough to bid two hearts. My choice would be to pass.
If two diamonds is passed around to the South player he should balance by bidding two no trump. He could have made his two club bid with a lot less than he actually has, so he has some room to move at this point. North will now brighten up and bid either three hearts or three no trump. If he elects to bid three hearts, South will bid three no trump with some degree of trepidation. If North bids three no trump, South will feel better but will have to play the same cards.
We now come to the most important part of this particular deal, and indeed, probably the most important part of most deals, the opening lead. There are a number of "rules" that can be applied to determine what is the correct opening lead, but the correct opening lead is the one that gives the defense the best chance to defeat the contract, and that often means going against the "rules". When this hand was actually played, West elected to lead "fourth from his longest and strongest" suit which was the eight of diamonds. This came around to declarer's nine. The eights of hearts was passed and allowed to hold. A second heart finesse was won by East with the queen. A small club was led to the queen and the ace.
Declarer cashed the ace of hearts hoping to see the king fall. When this honor did not appear he continued with the jack, driving out the king. East continued with another club. Declarer played the nine. West won with the king and could do nothing else but cash the ace of diamonds. Declarer now had more winners than he knew what to do with and scored up his game.
West said that he wished he had led the queen of diamonds, but I think that is going to be wrong more often that it will be right. He had the right idea though. The best lead against this contract is the ace if diamonds. When dummy shows up with the doubleton jack, declarer continues with the queen of diamonds, smothering the jack. On the other hand, if the dummy has jack- third, declarer continues with a small diamond and smothers the jack later when he gets in with a club. In either case, declarer will come to only seven or eight tricks.
So, how does one know when to lead fourth best and when to lead the ace. I think it comes down to a basic question: Do you have an outside entry? If yes, lead your ace and see what is going on. If not, lead fourth best and hope your partner has a doubleton or better. ====================================================================