KJ854 
J4 
T864 
95 ? (Answer below)Individual Tournaments are usually lotteries and this year's County Final was no exception. However there was some fine play and a lot of interesting hands.
First a lead problem - after your partner makes a protective
double of 1NT, what do you lead holding KJ854 J4
T864 95 ? (Answer below)
As an example of excellent play, what about this sparkling defence I encountered as East on board 6?
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and I found myself in a rather thin 3NT. I won the heart
lead in hand, to preserve K as a
subsequent entry to the spades, and immediately finessed Q. North (Robin Cambery) ducked without a
flicker. I now finessed Q, which also
held, and things were going well. I next ducked a club, to
establish the suit and 9 tricks. Robin did well to overtake his
partner's jack, and cleared the hearts. I cashed 3 more clubs,
discarding two diamonds, and lured by the mirage of overtricks
at Pairs (I should have realised that simply making 3NT would
be a good result when few of the field would be in it) I
finessed again in spades. Robin won with his now stiff K and
cashed four more heart tricks to set the contract by two tricks
for a well deserved top. Incidentally if South had led K at trick 1 or North had won the second
trick above and switched to a diamond, the contract is always
making provided South (now the danger hand) is kept off the
lead after the A is held up for one round.
This was my hairiest hand:
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As East, needing a good board towards the end of the
competition, I took an optimistic view of my 5th diamond and
opened a sub-minimum, off-centre, 1NT. Lacking transfers, Roman
Key Card Blackwood and other similar toys, I think most West
players with their rather nice 22 point hand would have bid
5NT, asking me to choose between 6NT and 7NT. (There are no
prizes for guessing which action I would have chosen). My
partner for that round (Victor Milman) was made of sterner
stuff and having used Gerber to check that I had 3 kings,
rapidly propelled me to 7NT(!) and 3
was led. If this was away from the Q, the finesse could wait,
so I played small from dummy and N was fixed. Whatever she
played I had 13 tricks when the diamonds broke 3-3.
Finally that lead problem, which came up on board 11 after East had doubled South's opening 1NT. (I was an interested spectator at N)
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There is always a risk, doubling 1NT in the "protective"
position, that partner, with nothing to go on, will find the
wrong lead. Here a spade let the contract through trivially.
South (that man Cambery again) won cheaply, crossed to A, led a heart and East was fixed. On a
heart or club lead the contract should always be off and even
on a diamond lead, South will have to take a good view in
spades, which, on the bidding, he is likely to get wrong. I do
not know what the answer is. At the Leeds Swiss teams after
this auction with a similar holding I decided not to lead
fourth highest from a broken spade suit. There it would have
led to a two trick defeat and my alternative was the only lead
to let the contract make! [Editor's tip: You are right -
these hands are lotteries, but a good rule is to lead your five
card suit every time - it may not be the right lead but at
least you won't worry about it!]