Here it Works

Leading from a King


K 2
Q J 9
J 9
A J 9 8 6 3
10 9 8 7 5 J 4
------ 10 7 6 5 4
A 10 8 5 2 6 3
K 5 2 Q 10 7 4
A Q 6 3
A K 8 3 2
K Q 7 4 Contract: 6 hearts
------ Opening lead: ? A of diamonds often

A low club lead will queer this slam, yes from the king. Well, I never said such a lead was bound to do you harm. I only said I'll show you five times it does the defender harm for every time you show it helped. And the ace of diamonds is the lead that hands the contract to declarer. Whoa! Before you start generalizing about aces and leads from kings, I'd like to make a few comments.
First, aces are open to much the same consideration that kings are in that you generally want to get something with that ace. Nor is that the only consideration, for aces often will allow you to redirect the defense if you don't cash it out right away. To be sure, there are times when declarer has thirteen top tricks if you don't cash an ace. True. So what's the conclusion?
Oh, I'd say that leading an ace and leading from a king against a little slam both carry some risk, carry more risk, I would say by and large, than holding off, though there are bound to be times you get skunked. Further, though you are deprived of a heart lead, there is still another suit, one where you have a fairly solid sequence, and a spade lead would also beat the contract. So I wouldn't be ashamed of a spade lead here and would regard a lead from the king of clubs as a lucky stab in the dark.
So to look at the three suits West might lead: The club lead would kill the contract when East has as many trump as declarer's long holding and declarer still has the ace of diamonds to knock out. Nor will declarer know whether he wants to sluff a spade or a diamond on that ace of clubs. If he ruffs to decide later, he'll have fewer trump in that hand than East holds. If he cashes the ace of clubs, sluffing a spade, he's going to be subject to a devastating club lead when he knocks out the ace of diamonds.
Well, how about the ace of diamonds. Now the hand's a piece of cake even with that horrendous heart split. Declarer wins the next lead, whatever it is (now knowing he must sluff a spade on the ace of clubs. He cashes the Q J of hearts, plays the 9. No, East, you do not wanna cover the 9. It won't help not to, but you wanna let declarer sweat a little. Declarer pushes this through, cashes the king of spades and jack of diamonds, then comes to the closed hand with a spade, draws the remaining trump and claims.
One last suit: the 10 of spades. Declarer's going to have a peck of trouble. He'll have to win in dummy. If not, he's going to be blocking the suit when entries are scarce. Cashes dummy's hearts. Or does he go for a third-round ruff of spades, intending to use the ace of clubs for a diamond discard. Doesn't look totally unreasonable, but it would be his undoing.
Anyway, he cashes 3 trump in dummy, comes to the closed hand with a spade lead, finishes drawing trump and leads to dummy's diamonds. Even if declarer should guess right with the 9 of diamonds (which in itself is unlikely), he still has trouble. He has no more trump. If he cashes the ace of clubs now, he is subject to a run of clubs when the ace of diamonds is cashed, and if he doesn't cash it now, he'll have to lose a spade trick at the end.
And what does West do while all these hearts are being run? Oh, there is no real problem. He only has to hold 4 spades when his partner jack shows up. He needn't save any clubs on the ground that if his partner doesn't have the queen, declarer has a finessing position anyway (though a stiff queen would make West want to keep a guard to his king and not cover), and since declarer can finesse the 9 of diamonds, West can afford to throw a few diamonds. No sweat. No contract without that ace of diamonds lead.

The bottom line a couple of years later: 3 certainties and an imponderable. First, a club lead beats the contract because declarer could be tapped to fewer trump than East when he knocks out the A of diamonds. Secondly, the A of diamonds lead makes the hand a piece of cake. Declarer can sluff a spade on the A of clubs, pick up trump. Hey, we should all have it so good. And thirdly, East must not cover the 9 of hearts with his ten. Make declarer use up an entry to get your trump. But a spade lead?
West would seem to be squeezed on 5 heart leads -- and the ace of clubs. He cannot afford to get down to fewer than 4 spades nor fewer than 4 diamonds. The problem is, of course, entries and communication. Declarer cannot afford to cash the A of clubs before West sluffs 2 clubs, at which point he'll be in the wrong hand. It looks to me as though declarer cannot make on a spade lead. But declarer can have a fine time trying.