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Urgent Defense -- Board 3: West opens 1D (better than 1C with no major suit stoppers, you might want to rebid clubs later); North leaps to 3H. East, with a balanced 10 count, should double (negative for spades) rather than pass. West sees no hope of game and reasons that if 4C or 4D can make, 3H is probably beatable -- West makes a "hari-trigger" matchpoint penalty pass. East leads the Jack of diamonds, covered by dummy's Ace. The defense can figure declarer has 6 or 7 hearts, and so 6 or 7 cards outside of trumps; the Ace of diamonds and KQ of sapdes cover at elast 2, so that leaves possibly 4 side suit winners for the defense, plus a trump. Declarer's could finesse in trumps but decides to set up a disacrd first by leding to his Jack of spades. West can signal count, following low with an odd number, but East should win and try to cash winners now -- dummy's KQ of spades are an immediate threat. Suppose East tries a low club, West winning the King. Should West try another club or a diamond? I guessed wrong but in retrospect partner seems more likely to have 4 clubs than 5 diamonds, and partner can more easily read you for the Ace of clubs than both high diamonds. Two more diamond tricks plus the King of hearts is just enough for +100, the best E/W can manage over 3H.
Getting to Slam -- Board 10: East opens 1NT (15-17) and West has a difficult hand to value, 2704 shape and 8 high cards points. Visualizing, West could hope for AQxx KQx xxxx Ax, a "perfect minimum" which suggests West should invite but not insist on slam. Partner is unlikely to go to slam on that hand, but the non-minimum hands he accepts an invitation on may include those cards or others equally useful. How to invite? One technique is to transfer (2D) and then "self-splinter" (4D.) This sequence suggests six or more trumps, a singelton or void in diamonds, and enough for slam if partner does not have too many wasted values opposite the short suit.
North might double the transfer to show his diamonds, but that bid is better reserved for a suit headed by two of the top three honors or perhaps AJ10, since the primary purpose is to direct a lead. North might also bid 3D if he thinks the overall shape compensates for the vulnerability and jumky QJ values.
Over 3D, East should accept the transfer despite being at the three level. This decision is akin to "super-accepting" (jumping to 3H over a pass) -- East should have an excellent hand with 4 good trumps since partner has not promised any strength with the transfer, merely 5 hearts. If North passes, East's hand is questionable for 3H: great trumps, 17 hcp and a doubleton, but the black suit high cards may not be pulling full weight.
Regardless, West bids 4D, or over 3H, perhaps 5D suggesting the void. Over 4D, East lacks a spade control and may retreat to 4H if he has already shown a good hand, but should cue-bid 5C if all he did was bid 2H after the transfer -- a partner who is looking for slam will surely be pleased with the KQ of trumps and two side Aces! West may repeat the diamond cue-bid with 5D but in any case has enough for 6H as long as opener showed some sign of life along the way. The slam would be safer played by West (protecting the King of spades), but it doesn't matter today as South has the spade Ace. Seven trumps, three minor suit winners and two ruffs make for an easy 12 tricks.
I'm enjoying Marty Bergen's articles about slam bidding. The key to good slam bidding is proper evaluation -- do we have enough for 12 tricks? If the answer is "yes", use cue-bidding or 4NT to make sure you don't have 2 quick or trump losers. If the answer is "maybe", try to suggest slam WITHOUT getting above the game level -- such as West's 4D bid on today's hand (jump or not.) Never chase a slam that requires partner to have the best hand possible, and certainly not if you cannot construct a hand that would produce 12 tricks. The technique of inviting slam if you can visualize 12 tricks opposite a "perfect minimum" strikes a balance between being too aggressive and too cautious. If you need partner to have a perfect maximum, give up and settle for game. If you can count 12 tricks opposite a hand at least a Queen below what partner has promised, go ahead and drive to slam or check on controls.
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