Room Measurements

South Deals None Vul	♠ 10 8 4 3 ♥ J 3 ♦ 8 6 ♣ A J 4 3 2
♠ A Q 7 ♥ Q 8 4 2 ♦ Q 10 7 3 ♣ 8 5	N W E S

YOU	North	East	South
			2 ♣
Pass	2 ♦	Pass	2 NT
Pass	3 ♣	Pass	3 ♦
Pass	3 NT	All pass

In a matchpoint game, declarer showed 22-24 high card points and denied a four-card major. You led your fourth-best heart. Dummy's ♥ J held, as partner followed with the ♥ 6 and declarer played the ♥ 10.

Declarer led the ♦ 6 from dummy, partner played the ♦ 2 and you won the trick with the queen over declarer's jack.

What now? Partner denied any heart honors. Maybe switch to a black suit? If partner has the ♣ K, she can get in and lead spades through declarer to your ace-queen. If partner has the ♠ K, leading spades will hold declarer to nine tricks. What do you lead now?

ANSWER: Lead a heart. Partner doesn't have a king. Declarer's 2 NT rebid showed at least 22 high card points. You have 10 HCP, and dummy has 6. That accounts for 38 points, so partner has at most two points: a queen, or two jacks. If declarer has a full 24, partner doesn't have any face cards at all!

THE PRINCIPLE: When declarer has indicated a specific point-count range, use that information to figure out how many high card points partner can have. Add your point count to dummy's and declarer's; the rest must be in partner's hand. This is commonly referred to as "how much room (for high cards) is there". With at most 2 points, there is no room for a king in partner's hand. You can use the same principle as declarer: if one defender has shown a specific range during the auction, you can similarly estimate the strength in the other defender's hand.

Why continue hearts? Declarer clearly has all the kings. So, leading a spade gives up a trick. If partner has the ♣ Q (there is room in her hand), leading a club will finesse partner's queen rather than making declarer guess how to play the club suit. (If partner has the ♣ Q 10 9, she doesn't need your help.) Underleading your ♦ 10 would give up a diamond trick if declarer originally held ♦ A K J 9. You know that declarer has only two hearts remaining -- the ace and king -- because she denied a four-card heart suit during the auction, and partner denied a heart honor at trick one. So declarer started with the ♥ A K 10; leading a heart is a safe exit, any other suit lead has nothing to gain and might give up a trick. The full hand:

	♠ 10 8 4 3 ♥ J 3 ♦ 8 6 ♣ A J 4 3 2
♠ A Q 7 ♥ Q 8 4 2 ♦ Q 10 7 3 ♣ 8 5	N W E S	♠ J 6 2 ♥ 9 7 6 5 ♦ 9 5 2 ♣ 10 9 7
	♠ K 9 5 ♥ A K 10 ♦ A K J 4 ♣ K Q 6

BONUS MINUTE: Your best chance to defeat the contract is that either declarer bid 2NT with a singleton ♠ K, or else upgraded a 21-count with only the jack-small of spades (leaving room for partner to hold the king). To take advantage of those possibilities, you'd have to play ♠ A and then ♠ Q; but if you're wrong, declarer makes an extra overtrick. Those are very specific and unlikely cases; at matchpoints it is better to play the percentages and lead a heart. However, playing rubber bridge or IMP scoring you usually ignore overtricks and take the best chance to defeat the contract, however unlikely; here, you might go for broke with the ♠ A Q of spades and let declarer make six this time.

-- Ray
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)