Friday, September 2nd 2011

Results not available online at the time of blogging

Board 3: West opens 1S with A10xxx 10xx A109 Ax, East responds 2H with J AQ9xx KQJxx KJ . Two hearts over two spades promises a five-card suit; with only four, responder should use 1NT forcing or bid a minor suit, possibly a 3 card club suit (with 3433 shape, planning to support sapdes or raise hearts.). Opener will certainly rebid in hearts if he has four. So opener knows a 5-3 major fit exists; but it is important to clarify opener's strength. Standard bidders may simply raise to 3H with a minimum and leap to 4H with extras, while 2/1 Game Force bidders may reverse those bids, but either way leaping to 4H eliminates any chance of investigating slam below the game level. My style is treat the immediate raise to 3H as showing extras, about 15 hcp (whether or not 2H was forcing to game.) Here opener rebids his suit to limit his values -- this does not promise extra length in the recommended style -- planning to bid 3H next round. Responder continues with 3D, creating a game force. (Responder with only 11 or so points must rebid 2NT, 3H or 3S to limit his hand.) Opener bids 3H, which does not necessarily promise 3 card support, it might be a doubleton where opener lacks a club stopper to bid 3NT.

Whether or not hearts is the best trump suit, responder's only interest is in how many of the three missing Aces and the King of hearts opener holds. This would be an ideal hand for Roman Key Card Blackwood, but is the five level safe? Opener needs three key cards for slam, and two for comfort at the five level; unfortunately, it is not hard to picture a hand like AKQxxx xxx xx Qx where even 4 hearts may be in jeopardy. That would be quite unlucky, but hoping for three key cards when opener has limited his values may be asking for too much good luck. A reasonable compromise is to make a slam try below game, and trust that opener, looking at three key cards, will carry on. Four diamonds describes responder's shape but is not a clear slam try; four clubs is, and this illustrates why it is important not to restrict cue-bdding to first-round controls. I mentally "borrow" the trump key-card to justify such a cue-bid; if partner bids 4NT he won't go overboard.

So, 1S-2H; 2S-3D; 3H-4C, and in fact opener has the desired three key cards and drives to slam after checking on key cards. Missing the KJ of trumps, odds are about 75% one of two finesses will work; today, however, South holds both trump honors, and it so happens playing the Ace and a low trump would succeed. Down one, but this is a slam that definitely should be bid. Six diamonds offers more solid trumps but depnds in the end on the same play in hearts.

Board 8: West opens 1C with a juicy 18 count, AQx xxx AJx AKxx . East should be thinking slam with K9x AKQ98x Qxx J ; even the stiff Jack may be useful to set up spade or diamond discards. For me this an obvious strong jump shift, 2H. West need not rush to raise hearts with 3 small; and as 2H forces to game, West can show his shape with 2NT, planning to drive to slam in any case. East rebids hearts and now West comes to life with 4NT. Playing RKCB, East's 5S shows two Key Cards plus the Queen of trumps, and West confirms all six "prime" cards (4 Aces + KQ of trumps) with 5NT. East either shows one outside King (5D) or, playing "specific Kings" style, bids 6H since he cannot show the spade King below 6H, and cannot be sure 6NT is a safe alternative. I don't think either player can count 13 tricks; West may choose 6NT or may opt for 6S hoping the trump suit produces an overtrick.

I expect most East responded only 1H, either from system (Weak Jump Shifts) or, well, whatever. West leaps to 2NT, revealing his 18 count, and now East can anticipate a grand slam -- 33 hcp plus the long, solid heart suit. 4C (Gerber, a jump over notrump) confirms West's three Aces and the follow up shows one King; East can count 2 spades, 6 hearts, and AK A in the minors for 11 tricks, but that's only 15 hcp of 18 for opener, so East can choose 6NT or 7H. The field often misses even laydown small slams, so I think I'd settle for 6NT rather than risk a zero at 7H. Bid grand slams only when you can count at least 13 tricks.

Board 10: I like to open good suits, and East's AQ10xxx is tempting, but vulnerable I expect most passed for lack of a seven card suit. South opens 1D and North responds with an up-the-line 1H. The spade fit comes to light when opener rebids 1S and North raises -- how high? North has 13 hcp including his stiff King; it is reasonable to count either 3 points for the kIng or 3 for raising partner with a singleton and four trumps, though North's poor trumps are a worry. Try visualizing: can we construct a balanced 12 point hand that makes game a virtual laydown? Can we do it with less? Picture AKxx xx KQxxx xx, you would expect to lose a trump, a heart and a club, needing only a 3-2 trump split, and if trumps don't split the heart finesse might work. Delete the Queen of diamonds and you would need both red suits to split or one good split and the heart finesse, fair odds but not great. A key insight is that it's hard for the King of clubs to be useful even if partner has the Ace or Queen -- pitching one heart or one diamond from North's hand won't help much.

Point-count suggests raising to game (perhaps with a 4C splinter, doulbed by East for a lead) but visualizing suggests an invitational jump to 3S. Over 4S South surely drives to slam, checking on Aces or Key Cards with 4NT. Over 3S South may settle for game, or make a natural slam try bid of 4D. North cooperates with a 4H cue-bid and South may pause at 4S or continue with 4NT.

If East does open 3C, South doubles and North cue-bids 4C, asking doubler to pick a major for game. South may suspect a slam but should allow that partner may be stretching for game, as 3H or 3S would not promise any values in response to the double. I would not expect to reach slam after 3C.

Against 4S or 6S, the defense likely cashes one club and exits with a heart or trump; declarer pulls trumps and attempts to locate the Queen of diamonds. Cashing three rounds of hearts reveals East's singleton, leaving more "empty spaces" for him to hold the diamond Queen, and a successful finesse lands the slam. With the J-10 divided, declarer cannot afford the ploy of leading the Jack and overtaking if West fails to cover.

Board 27: South opens 2C with KJ AKx A9xx AK98. North may bid 2D "waiting", 2D "semi-positive" (where 2H would be a bust), 3NT (10-12 hcp, balanced) or 2NT ("Steps" 10-12) according to style. Asssuming 2D, South rebids 2NT; North could leap to 6NT but might there be a grand slam or might 6S give a better chance for an overtrick? Looking at A9xx 10x KQJx Qxx, North counts 7 losers and it is reasonable to hope South can cover all 7 with his announced 22 hcp (using the guideline of 3 points = 1 trick.) The spades are a bit weak for slam, but opener is almost certain to have help. Let's say North uses Stayman; South bids 3D (no 4 card major) or 3NT (no 4 or 5 card major, playing Puppet.) Now there's a high probability of a fit in diamonds, but most partnerships do not have a defined way to look for a minor suit fit. A good stab would be 5NT -- as 4NT would be inviting 6, 5NT forces to 6, invites 7, and leaves room for opener to bid a minor suit. 2C-2D; 2NT-3C; 3D-5NT; 6C-6D; 7D is a possible path to grand slam, but with "only" 34 hcp I'd settle for a simple 6NT over South's reply to Stayman. A 3-3 club split provides the 12th trick at 6NT or the 13th in a diamond slam.