When leading a suit headed by K Q 10 9 you want to know who has the missing J. If partner has it then you will plunge ahead with this suit. But if the J is on your right then you want to switch suits. To resolve this dilemma make the following agreement with your partner: A Queen lead asks partner to play the Jack. With this agreement you can lead the Q from K Q 10 9 and partner will play the J is he/she has it.
Let’s see how this works on our Bath Coup Dilemma hand.
Case 1:
North leads Q♣️ asking partner to play J♣️ if she/he has it. South follows with a small ♣️. North now knows that declarer started with A J x in ♣️s. North shifts away from ♣️s and avoids giving declarer an extra trick.
Case 2:
This time when North leads Q♣️ South plays J♣️. North can safely continue with the ♣️ suit.
So what type of suit justifies this special Q lead? Try it with–
K Q 10 9,
K Q 10 x x x,
or K Q 10 x x.
I use this Q lead any time partner knows that I am leading a long suit. Some experts only employ this lead against no-trump contracts. Make this “Queen requests Jack” agreement with all your partners.
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