Who’s On Lead? Yes!

No, I need to know his name. Who!

The player on lead. What is his name? No, What is declarer. Oh, never mind! This time instead of Who it will be you on lead against these 10 contracts from major events.

Choose your opening leads then click “Score Me” to see how you did. If you finish plus IMPs after 10 boards, you win! If you end up minus, Who wins. At the end you can view the actual deals and see how two experts led differently in each case.

1. N-S vul	1 NT		West	North	East	South
10 9 7 2				Pass	Pass	1 NT
A J 9 3			Pass	Pass	Pass
9 6
A 5 2
Your lead?  10  3

2. E-W vul	2		West	North	East	South
J 10 9 3					Pass	1
A 8			Pass	1	Pass	2
K J 5			Pass	Pass	Pass
8 7 6 2
Your lead?  J  2

3. N-S vul	1		West	North	East	South
10 9						Pass
A 9 7 6 3			1	Dbl	Pass	1
A 4 3			Pass	Pass	Pass
K Q 5
Your lead?  10  K

4. None vul	3 NT		West	North	East	South
Q 9 8 3			Pass	1	Pass	1
A K 9 4			Pass	3	Pass	3 NT
9 4			Pass	Pass	Pass
Q 7 3
Your lead?  3  K

5. E-W vul	2		West	North	East	South
Q 5 4						1
K 8 5			Pass	1	Pass	2
A Q 2			Pass	Pass	Pass
J 8 7 6
Your lead?  4  6

Quit

Top Who’s On Lead? Yes!

6. None vul	5		West	North	East	South
9 6 2						5
10 5 4 3			Pass	Pass	Pass
Q 10 5
A Q 3
Your lead?  5  A

7. E-W vul	1 NT		West	North	East	South
10 7 3					Pass	1 NT
J 9 8 3			Pass	Pass	Pass
A K 9 4
A 8
Your lead?  3  K

8. E-W vul	2		West	North	East	South
A 9 4 2						1
Q 2			Pass	1	Pass	2
J 10 6 5			Pass	2	Pass	Pass
Q 10 3			Pass
Your lead?  Q  5

9. Both vul	3 NT		West	North	East	South
A 9 3						1 NT
Q 7			Pass	3 NT	Pass	Pass
Q 9 7 2			Pass
9 8 5 4
Your lead?  3  4

10. E-W vul	1 NT		West	North	East	South
A K 8 3			Pass	Pass	Pass	1 NT
J 3			Pass	Pass	Pass
9 8 5 3
Q 10 6
Your lead?  K  3

Quit

Actual Results

Top Who’s On Lead? Yes!

1. Spingold Final 1998

North deals	6 4 3		West	North	East	South
N-S vul	8 7 4			Pass	Pass	1 NT
	Q 10 8 7		Pass	Pass	Pass
	Q 8 6
10 9 7 2		K Q J 8
A J 9 3		5 2
9 6		K J 5 2
A 5 2		10 9 7
	A 5
	K Q 10 6
	A 4 3
1 NT South	K J 4 3

Paul Soloway led the 2 (down 1) +100, +5 IMPs.
Michael Whitman led the 3 (made 1) -90, -5 IMPs.

Note: Choices for this quiz assume standard leads, so the 10 was substituted for Soloway’s 2. In theory it’s a close call, but my tests in Leading Authority show the 10 superior, not that it matters here.

2. Bermuda Bowl Semifinal 1999

East deals	K Q 6 4 2		West	North	East	South
E-W vul	10 6 4				Pass	1
	Q 4		Pass	1	Pass	2
	Q 9 3		Pass	Pass	Pass
J 10 9 3		8 7 5
A 8		J 9 3 2
K J 5		8 3 2
8 7 6 2		A K 5
	A
	K Q 7 5
	A 10 9 7 6
2 South	J 10 4

Tor Helness led the 6 (down 1) +50, +4 IMPs.
Ricardo Janz led the J (made 3) -110, -4 IMPs.

3. Olympiad Playoff 2000

South deals	K Q 5 2		West	North	East	South
N-S vul	K 10 2					Pass
	K Q 5		1	Dbl	Pass	1
	J 8 7		Pass	Pass	Pass
10 9		8 7 4
A 9 7 6 3		8
A 4 3		J 10 9 8 6
K Q 5		A 9 4 2
	A J 6 3
	Q J 5 4
	7 2
1 South	10 6 3

Howard Weinstein led the K (down 1) +100, +6 IMPs.
Gunnar Hallberg led the 10 (made 3) -140, -6 IMPs.

4. Olympiad Semifinal 2000

West deals	A 2		West	North	East	South
None vul	6		Pass	1	Pass	1
	A K J 10 8 6 3		Pass	3	Pass	3 NT
	10 8 2		Pass	Pass	Pass
Q 9 8 3		J 7 6 4
A K 9 4		J 5 3
9 4		5
Q 7 3		A K 9 5 4
	K 10 5
	Q 10 8 7 2
	Q 7 2
3 NT South	J 6

Adam Zmudzinski led the A (down 3) +150, +11 IMPs.
Howard Weinstein led the 3 (made 3) -400, -11 IMPs.

5. Olympiad Qualifying 2000

South deals	A K 9 8 2		West	North	East	South
E-W vul	J 10 6					1
	9 4		Pass	1	Pass	2
	9 5 2		Pass	Pass	Pass
Q 5 4		J 10 7 6 3
K 8 5		A 9 7
A Q 2		7 6
J 8 7 6		K Q 4
	—
	Q 4 3 2
	K J 10 8 5 3
2 South	A 10 3

Adalsteinn Jorgensen led the 7 (down 1) +50, +4 IMPs.
Weimin Wang led the Q (made 3) -110, -4 IMPs.

Quiz 8L31 Main

Top Who’s On Lead? Yes!

6. Spingold Round-of-16 2001

South deals	K 5 4		West	North	East	South
None vul	A K Q J 2					5
	A K 7 6 4		Pass	Pass	Pass
	—
9 6 2		A Q 10 8 3
10 5 4 3		8 7 6
Q 10 5		J 8 3 2
A Q 3		4
	J 7
	9
	9
5 South	K J 10 9 8 7 6 5 2

Zia Mahmood led the A (down 2) +100, +11 IMPs.
Eric Greco led the 5 (made 5) -400, -11 IMPs.

Bravo Zia! With no idea what to lead, get a free look at dummy first.

7. USBC Final 2002

East deals	Q 8 5		West	North	East	South
E-W vul	A Q 6 4				Pass	1 NT
	7 2		Pass	Pass	Pass
	9 7 6 5
10 7 3		K 9 4
J 9 8 3		10 2
A K 9 4		10 8 6 3
A 8		K Q 3 2
	A J 6 2
	K 7 5
	Q J 5
1 NT South	J 10 4

David Berkowitz led the 3 (down 1) +50, +4 IMPs.
Richard Freeman led the A (made 1) -90, -4 IMPs.

8. Bermuda Bowl Final 2003

South deals	K J 7 5		West	North	East	South
E-W vul	A 8 6 5 4					1
	7 3 2		Pass	1	Pass	2
	4		Pass	2	Pass	Pass
A 9 4 2		10 3	Pass
Q 2		K J 10 7 3
J 10 6 5		4
Q 10 3		A J 7 6 5
	Q 8 6
	9
	A K Q 9 8
2 South	K 9 8 2

Alfredo Versace led the Q (made 3) -110, +2 IMPs.
Nick Nickell led the 5 (made 6) -170, -2 IMPs.

9. Bermuda Bowl Quarterfinal 2003

South deals	10 4 2		West	North	East	South
Both vul	J 9					1 NT
	K J 10 8 6		Pass	3 NT	Pass	Pass
	A 6 2		Pass
A 9 3		J 8 6
Q 7		10 8 6 5 2
Q 9 7 2		4
9 8 5 4		K Q J 3
	K Q 7 5
	A K 4 3
	A 5 3
3 NT South	10 7

Kalin Karaivanov led the 4 (made 3) -600, +2 IMPs.
Glenn Groetheim led the 3 (made 5) -660, -2 IMPs.

10. USBC Semifinal 2005

West deals	9 4		West	North	East	South
E-W vul	K 9 6 4		Pass	Pass	Pass	1 NT
	Q 7 4		Pass	Pass	Pass
	J 8 7 5
A K 8 3		10 7 6 2
J 3		A 10 8
9 8 5 3		K J 6 2
Q 10 6		9 4
	Q J 5
	Q 7 5 2
	A 10
1 NT South	A K 3 2

David Berkowitz led the 8 (down 2) +100, +5 IMPs.
Ron Rubin led the A (made 1) -90, -5 IMPs.

Results are from actual play, so the winning leads are not necessarily correct in theory.

Well, did you end up on the plus side? If so, you win! If not, Who wins! If you’re clueless and say, “I don’t know,” Third place!

Quiz 8L31 Main

Top Who’s On Lead? Yes!

Credits to Bud Abbott, Lou Costello and “Who’s On First?”
© 2009 Richard Pavlicek