What a difference a lead may make

Robert Orben, a comedy writer who has also been a magician, defined a vacation as “when you spend thousands of dollars to see what rain looks like in different parts of the world.” Maybe he should have gone to Alice Springs in Australia or the Atacama Desert in Chile. The key word in the opening sentence is “different.” Look at the West hand. After two passes, South opens one no-trump, and three passes follow. What would you lead? This deal was played 16 times at Bridge Base Online. At 13 tables, the auction went as given. At two others, South opened one club, perhaps because he was using the weak no-trump. After two passes, East balanced with one heart and ended in three hearts. The last auction was weird. West doubled one no-trump, and North redoubled, showing a minor one-suiter. A moment later, South was in three diamonds, which East doubled. That could have cost 500 for down three, but West pulled to three no-trump! The defenders ran the diamonds, after which declarer could have taken the rest, but he discarded poorly and went down two. Against one no-trump, four Wests led the heart five, and three the spade 10. The declarers took that trick and their five diamond winners for down one. Six times, though, the defence was perfect. West led the club two. East won with the king and shifted to the heart queen. After five winners there, East pushed through the spade queen, producing another four tricks. Finally, West’s club ace took the contract down five. The defenders made five no-trump!