[dburn]

Jeremy69A, on 2011-May-20, 06:29, said:

East leads a diamond out of turn against 2♠.
The TD arrives and explains the options and declarer bans a ♦ lead. West now leads a ♥ from Qxx. The effect of this is to pick up the suit for three tricks and a discard.

East in the post mortem shows good hindsight by saying that West should have led the ♥Q. West replied that as he had UI on this hand as a result of the lead out of turn this would be ethically dubious. Any opinions on this assertion?

I would seek to reassure West after the event that objectively, leading a non-standard heart is probably not demonstrably suggested over the logical alternative of leading a standard heart (or some other suit) by the UI that partner thought he ought to be leading a diamond, but if West felt subjectively that it was so suggested, I would commend him warmly on his efforts to comply with the Laws.

Looked at another way, I would a priori have little sympathy for North-South if after West led the ♥Q and declarer failed to take full advantage, they sought a ruling on the grounds that leading a weird heart was demonstrably suggested by the fact that East had led a diamond out of turn. Still, I can imagine some argument being advanced in a particular case that might convince me otherwise.