Opening Lead: HJ
Thanks to Nick Barshay of Cleveland for this interesting slam problem. There are probably twenty different ways to bid this hand, but South has accounted for all of the aces, kings and the queen of hearts in the auction. Four no trump was Roman Keycard Blackwood. Five spades shows two key cards and the queen of hearts. Five no trump asks for kings. Six diamonds shows one.
The first problem to work on is the opening lead. Even looking at the entire layout, the correct lead is not very obvious. Certainly a spade is wrong as it provides declarer with his thirteenth trick immediately. A heart is better in that it forces declarer to figure out the right play all by himself.
Declarer's analysis shows that he has only twelve top tricks. However, the defenders will be forced to make some pitches on the run of the hearts, and may be caught in a squeeze position.
Have you thought about the opening lead? Can you look far enough ahead to determine what the four card end position will be and if there is a lead to harm it? This is the type of hand where the expert player has a decided advantage. Whether declaring or defending, the expert has much more insight into the potential end position, if for no other reason than he plays so many more hands at high level competition. Let's look at that position after the passive lead of a heart.
Declarer is in the South hand at this point and cashes the queen of spades. If the spades split three-three, the 4 of spades becomes the 13th trick. West plays the eight, North plays the ten, but East must discard from an impossible position. If he pitches a diamond, the three diamonds in dummy will all be winners, and if he pitches the queen of clubs, declarer's nine will become a winner.
In order to reach this position, declarer must discard two diamonds on the run of the hearts. He then maintains a threat card in spades and clubs, while the dummy retains a diamond threat. So a diamond lead at trick one cuts the end position communications and defeats the contract.
These types of situations do not come up very often, and even then, the majority of us will not see them in time to make the right play early enough to make a difference. But if it does come up, and you make the right play, as declarer or defender, you will have bragging rights for quite a long time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------