Out of Step by Foxymoron

 "What would you lead against 3NT on board 9? " I asked others on the weekly Zoom call after the game. The auction was uninformative and apart from a spade lead all three suits came into consideration:

Everyone seemed to lead a diamond, but all Norths bid 2C or 3C on the second round which makes a diamond lead more attractive. I asked a couple of leading questions, "Should I lead the unbid major?" "Is Jxxx normally a bad lead?" All I can say is that my lead of the four of hearts was a disaster, and more so when my partner put in the jack. Even if South has Q9x it is right to play the eight when the suit will be locked. But one zero is the same as another and, as declarer guessed to play a club to the 10, we were not getting any matchpoints for -460, so we might as well concede -490 which we did.

"They Were All Out of Step But Jim" is an American World War 1 song which was released in 1918 by Billy Murray and reached number 3 in the US.

Did you see my little Jimmy marching with the soldiers up the avenue?
There was Jimmy just as stiff as starch like his Daddy on the seventeenth of March.
Did you notice all the lovely ladies casting their eyes on him?
Away he went to live in a tent over in France with his regiment
Were you there, and tell me, did you notice?
They were all out of step but Jim.

I felt like Jim when I saw dummy and even worse when partner turned up with the king and queen of diamonds. Next time I will lead the fourth best of my longest and strongest.

Overnight I did a simulation of the 4H and 6D lead, on the assumption that they had 25-26 points. I discovered that Jimmy was the one out of step, and the 6D is slightly the better lead. Maybe Jxxx is not so bad after all:

So, very little in it, but the diamond lead holds it to 9 slightly more often than the heart lead. Next time I will get it right ...

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