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Competition Corner -- Negative double with long suit
Board 13: North has a borderline 1S opening and East a questionable 2H overcall; both have good hands and good spots in their major but topless suits. Assuming both take the agressive action, what does South do with an aceless 10 count and a good 6 card suit? 3D would be a game-forcing bid, committing the side to bid a game or double the opponents. South's hand isn't strong enough for that action. The solution is a negative double: opener expects both minors, but South can correct any club bid to diamonds without raising the bidding level. A negative double shows a six card suit and a fair hand but not enough to bid the suit immediately. West raises to 3H, which will probably buy the contract undoubled. South leads the King of spades, which appears to cost a trick, but North grabs the Ace of trumps and returns a low spade to signal a club entry. South wins the second trump and leads his higher club (emphasizing the desire for a spade return; when switching suits, don't lead low if you want partner to switch back to another suit.) North wins the Ace, gives South his ruff and South exits with a club, the defense later collecting a trick in each minor for down two.
Getting to slam over a preempt -- Board 16:
West opens 1C, East replies with a strong 2H or 1H if playing weak jump shifts. South takes advantage of the vulnerability to jam the bidding with 3S. This is passed to East; how to proceed? Having jump-shifted, a 4H rebid cannot be mistaken for a complete sign-off, but East might make that bid with a King or so less than his actual 8 trick powerhouse. East knows his side has enough for slam, if a fit exists; and odds are West has at last two hearts. Possible bids are a straight jump to 6H; better would be 4NT RKCB to make sure partner has one key card. Add the ten of hearts to East's hand and I would say that would be the obvious bid. As it is, the heart suit may not play well opposite a singleton or void, and the preempt suggests an increased likelihood of a bad break. Laura Guthrie tried a 4S cue-bid -- clearly forcing, and clearly a slam try, followed by 5H. West should realize Kx of trumps is much better than partner could count on, and with control of both minors including an Ace, should raise to 6H. When partner makes a slam try, don't just count your points -- ask how much partner knows about your hand, and whether your cards are better than could be expected. A player who voluntarily bids to 5 of a major should not be asking about your overall strength, but rather how useful the cards you have are for slam. Viewed in that light West's hand is excellent.
East should bid this way only after deciding that driving to slam without a known fit is too risky; don't torture partner with an undiscussed sequence when the odds favor a direct bid yourself -- "she who knows, goes." I think perhaps East should gamble the slam (after using 4NT) but the risk of a shaky trump suit was significant, and the 4S sequence would clearly be best with a suit like AQxxxx. Basically, use this sort of creative bidding when you are prepared to forgive partner for getting it wrong, not as a method for transferring the blame!
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