Would you find the best path ?

This month it is time to take care of your card play technique in a teams match.
You are the dealer as south, all vulnerable, and you have the following hand:

What would you open?

Opening 1♣ (7 points) with 5-5 in the black suits is a peculiarity of the French Standard system that only applies to hands with at least 15HCP. Your hand is not strong enough for this treatment and only deserves a simple opening of 1♠ (15 points). Your partner raises to 2♠, the opponents stay silent.

What is your rebid?

Now that a fit is found, you can re-evaluate your hand: 13HCP, 1 point
for length, i.e. for the fifth card in your side suit (Clubs) and 3 points for distribution (2 for the singleton and 1 for the doubleton) add up to a total of 17 points. This may seem insufficient to you to make a trial bid opposite a partner who has only promised 6-10 points (also including distribution and length)? But yet, your exceptional distribution makes game possible even when your partner has a minimum as long as he has the right cards, including the Spade Queen, the Club King and ‒ to a lesser extent ‒ the red Aces. You will therefore get better rewards if you at least invite game or even bid it directly.

Pass : 4 points (a little shy when game is possible opposite a minimum).
3♠ : 6 points (this is a pre-emptive bid…).
3♣ : 12 points (decent trial bid but conservative).
4♠ : 15 points (now it’s your lead!).

You decide to bid 4♠, which puts an end to the discussion:

West leads the Diamond Jack and you discover the dummy:

What type of declarer plan are you heading towards?

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