Quiz 8L41 Main


Witch Lead To Make!


 by Richard Pavlicek

Witchever way you’re viewing this witch’s evildoing,
The cauldron is brewing and you may be stewing!

As the Wicked Witch of the West, you are the opening leader and must decide witch card to lead against these 10 contracts from major events. Be careful, and keep an eye of newt handy to toss into the cauldron, else it could be you.

Choose your opening leads then click “Score Me” to see how you did. If you finish plus IMPs after 10 boards, it’s lucky you, as everyone else will be invited for stew! At the end you can view the actual deals and see how two experts led differently in each case.

1. Both vul1 NTWestNorthEastSouth
S A K 4 2TablePass1 NT
H J 8 3PassPassPass
D A 10 9 6
C Q 5
 
Your lead? S K D 10

2. N-S vul2 NTWestNorthEastSouth
S K 6 4 3TablePassPass2 NT
H J 6 3PassPassPass
D Q 9 3 2
C J 7
 
Your lead? S 3 D 2

3. N-S vul3 NTWestNorthEastSouth
S J 8 7 2TablePass1 DPass2 C
H K 10 9 3Pass2 DPass3 NT
D J 8 2PassPassPass
C Q J
 
Your lead? H 10 H 3

4. E-W vul3 NTWestNorthEastSouth
S K Q J 6 4TablePass1 S
H A 3Pass2 DPass2 NT
D 7 3 2Pass3 NTPassPass
C 7 3 2Pass
 
Your lead? S 4 C 7

5. N-S vul3 NTWestNorthEastSouth
S Q 9 7 2TablePass1 D
H K 10 5 3Pass1 HPass2 NT
D J 10 9 3Pass3 NTPassPass
C KPass
 
Your lead? S 2 D J

 Quit

Top Witch Lead To Make!

6. E-W vul2 DWestNorthEastSouth
S J 7 2Table1 D
H Q 4Pass1 SDbl2 D
D A 10 7 6 4PassPassPass
C 7 4 3
 
Your lead? H Q C 3

7. E-W vul4 SWestNorthEastSouth
S Q 10 9 6Table1 C
H J 4 3Pass1 HPass1 S
D 9 4 3Pass4 SPassPass
C Q 9 5Pass
 
Your lead? D 3 C 5

8. E-W vul3 NTWestNorthEastSouth
S 8 7 6 3TablePass1 HPass2 C
H Q 7 3 2Pass2 HPass2 NT
D 9 7 6 4Pass3 NTPassPass
C QPass
 
Your lead? S 7 D 7

9. None vul2 CWestNorthEastSouth
S K 7 3TablePass1 H
H Q 10 8 6 2Pass1 SPass2 C
D A 6PassPassPass
C K 10 7
 
Your lead? S 3 C 7

10. None vul1 NTWestNorthEastSouth
S Q 4TablePassPass1 NT
H K 7 2PassPassPass
D K Q 9 7 2
C Q 6 3
 
Your lead? D K D 7

 Quit

Actual Results

Top Witch Lead To Make!

1. USBC Semifinal 2006

East dealsS Q J 3WestNorthEastSouth
Both vulH Q 9 4Pass1 NT
D J 7 3 2PassPassPass
C J 8 6
S A K 4 2TableS 10 8
H J 8 3H 7 5 2
D A 10 9 6D Q 8 5
C Q 5C K 10 9 3 2
S 9 7 6 5
H A K 10 6
D K 4
1 NT SouthC A 7 4

Brad Moss led the D 9 (down 1) +100, +5 IMPs.
Bart Bramley led the S A (made 1) -90, -5 IMPs.

Note: Choices for this quiz assume standard leads, so the D 10 and S K were substituted for the D 9 and S A above.

2. USBC Quarterfinal 2006

North dealsS Q 10 5WestNorthEastSouth
N-S vulH 9 8 5PassPass2 NT
D J 8 6 5PassPassPass
C 9 4 2
S K 6 4 3TableS 9 7
H J 6 3H K Q 10 7
D Q 9 3 2D K 10 4
C J 7C Q 8 5 3
S A J 8 2
H A 4 2
D A 7
2 NT SouthC A K 10 6

Michael Seamon led the D 2 (down 1) +100, +6 IMPs.
Zia Mahmood led the S 3 (made 2) -120, -6 IMPs.

3. Spingold Round-of-64 2006

West dealsS A 10 4 3WestNorthEastSouth
N-S vulH J 8 2Pass1 DPass2 C
D A Q 7 6 5Pass2 DPass3 NT
C 5PassPassPass
S J 8 7 2TableS 9 6
H K 10 9 3H Q 6 4
D J 8 2D K 4 3
C Q JC A 9 7 3 2
S K Q 5
H A 7 5
D 10 9
3 NT SouthC K 10 8 6 4

Jim Krekorian led the H 9 (down 3) +300, +14 IMPs.
Thomas Smith led the H 3 (made 3) -620, -14 IMPs.

4. USBC Semifinal 2007

East dealsS 9 3WestNorthEastSouth
E-W vulH Q 10 4Pass1 S
D K Q J 10 6Pass2 DPass2 NT
C A 10 8Pass3 NTPassPass
S K Q J 6 4TableS 2Pass
H A 3H K 8 7 6 5
D 7 3 2D 9 8 4
C 7 3 2C K J 9 6
S A 10 8 7 5
H J 9 2
D A 5
3 NT SouthC Q 5 4

Grant Baze led the C 7 (down 1) +50, +10 IMPs.
Paul Soloway led the S 4 (made 3) -400, -10 IMPs.

5. USBC Quarterfinal 2007

East dealsS J 8 6 4WestNorthEastSouth
N-S vulH 9 6 4 2Pass1 D
D A 6Pass1 HPass2 NT
C Q 10 7Pass3 NTPassPass
S Q 9 7 2TableS K 5 3Pass
H K 10 5 3H 8 7
D J 10 9 3D K 7
C KC 9 8 6 5 4 3
S A 10
H A Q J
D Q 8 5 4 2
3 NT SouthC A J 2

Roger Bates led the D 10 (down 2) +200, +13 IMPs.
Gary Cohler led the S 2 (made 3) -600, -13 IMPs.

Quiz 8L41 MainTop Witch Lead To Make!

6. Spingold Semifinal 2007

South dealsS 10 9 6 5 4WestNorthEastSouth
E-W vulH J 61 D
D KPass1 SDbl2 D
C Q 10 9 8 5PassPassPass
S J 7 2TableS A 8 3
H Q 4H A 7 5 3 2
D A 10 7 6 4D 2
C 7 4 3C K J 6 2
S K Q
H K 10 9 8
D Q J 9 8 5 3
2 D SouthC A

Jiang Gu led the C3 (down 1) +50, +4 IMPs.
Andrey Gromov led the H Q (made 2) -90, -4 IMPs.

7. Vanderbilt Semifinal 2008

South dealsS J 8 7 3WestNorthEastSouth
E-W vulH Q 9 8 61 C
D A K 7 6Pass1 HPass1 S
C 3Pass4 SPassPass
S Q 10 9 6TableS 4Pass
H J 4 3H A K 5
D 9 4 3D Q J 10 8 2
C Q 9 5C 10 6 4 2
S A K 5 2
H 10 7 2
D 5
4 S SouthC A K J 8 7

Boguslaw Gierulski led the D 9 (down 1) +50, +10 IMPs.
Rose Meltzer led the C 5 (made 4) -420, -10 IMPs.

8. USBC Semifinal 2009

West dealsS 5 4 2WestNorthEastSouth
E-W vulH A K J 10 9Pass1 HPass2 C
D A 2Pass2 HPass2 NT
C 8 6 2Pass3 NTPassPass
S 8 7 6 3TableS Q J 10Pass
H Q 7 3 2H 8 4
D 9 7 6 4D K J 8 5 3
C QC A 7 5
S A K 9
H 6 5
D Q 10
3 NT SouthC K J 10 9 4 3

Jeff Meckstroth led the D 7 (down 1) +50, +10 IMPs.
Howard Weinstein led the S 7 (made 4) +430, -10 IMPs.

9. USBC Quarterfinal 2009

East dealsS Q 10 8 4 2WestNorthEastSouth
None vulH —Pass1 H
D Q 9 7 5 4 3Pass1 SPass2 C
C 8 2PassPassPass
S K 7 3TableS A 9 6
H Q 10 8 6 2H J 9 4
D A 6D K 10 2
C K 10 7C 9 6 5 4
S J 5
H A K 7 5 3
D J 8
2 C SouthC A Q J 3

Zia Mahmood led the S 3 (down 4) +200, +2 IMPs.
Steve Weinstein led the C 7 (down 3) +150, -2 IMPs.

10. USBC Round-of-16-B 2009

North dealsS J 7 6WestNorthEastSouth
None vulH Q 9 5PassPass1 NT
D J 5PassPassPass
C J 7 5 4 2
S Q 4TableS K 10 2
H K 7 2H J 10 8 4
D K Q 9 7 2D 10 8 6 4
C Q 6 3C A 10
S A 9 8 5 3
H A 6 3
D A 3
1 NT SouthC K 9 8

Bobby Levin led the D Q (down 2) +100, +5 IMPs.
Jim Mahaffey led the D 7 (made 1) -90, -5 IMPs.

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

Congratulations! You made it to the end. Only question is whether you’re through, or sticking around for a pot of stew. Hmm… Let me add those scores again.

Quiz 8L41 MainTop Witch Lead To Make!

© 2012 Richard Pavlicek