Sunday, September 4th 2011

No hand records again.

Board 1: North opens 1H holding QJxx AKxxx Ax Ax; South responds 1S. North has fantastic cards -- QJ in partner's suit, four quick tricks outside, control of all suits and a source of tricks. Basic count would be 18 hcp + 1 for the 5 card suit + 2 for the 2 doubletons when raising partner with four trumps = 21; another approach is to figure North can cover 7 of South's losers: 5 with high cards, another with a long heart, and one more ruffing in a minor, and North's Aces may promote some cards for South. That sounds like slam; visualizing, South might have AKxxx xx xxx xxx, but unless hearts split 3-3 there would be two minor suit losers. So North should force to game but leave it to partner to carry the bidding any higher. Four spades gives a reasonable description of North's hand; the failure to splinter (4C or 4D) suggests no singleton, so North must have a lot of high cards.

South likes his hand on this bidding: AK10xx QJ 10x J109x . The QJ in partner's suit are excellent, the trumps are likely to come in without loss (either a 2-2 split or partner having the Queen), diamonds or clubs can be pitched on hearts, but does partner have the minors under control? With no splinter, partner should have at least 18 hcp, but it is possible to be missing two Aces or the AK in one of the minors. With no room below game to cue-bid, and no side controls to cue-bid anyway, I think the practical approach is to check on Aces or Key cards with 4NT and bid slam unless two are missing. Do not bid 4NT and "chicken out" at 5S if an ace is missing "because we might have two quick losers." You may not, or they may not find the right lead. Today, North shows 3 Aces, 5S over Blackwood, 5C (0 or 3) using RKCB, or 5D (0 or 3) using "1430" responses. South can ask about Kings or the trump Queen, but it is difficult to construct a grand-slam worthy hand for North that would not open 2C, so South may simply bid 6S.

Five spades, five hearts and two Aces makes for an easy 12 tricks.

Board 8: North opens 1D with AKQx Kxx K9xxx x and South responds 1S. North can add 3 for the (small) singleton when raising partner with four trumps, so North is well worth a jump raise (3S.) South, holding J10xxx A10xx AQJ x, counts 12 high cards points, none wasted, and one or two more for shape; opposite partner's 17-19 is there enough for slam? The total is unlikely to reach 33, but suit slams can sometimes be made with less if the cards fit right. Try visualizing: AKQx x Kxxxx xxx makes for an easy 12 tricks, and is well below jump-raise strength. The hand looks perfect for RKCB, so South bids 4NT and North replies 5S, 2 Key Cards plus the Queen of trumps. With five of the six "prime" cards (4 Aces plus KQ of trumps) South bids the excellent slam.

Oops -- over North's 1D, East preempts in clubs. How high? Not vulnerable with 7 sure tricks and essentially no defense, I'd blast 5C. East does not want to defend against four of a major, make 'em guess at the five level. Now what does South do? He cannot picture slam opposite a minimum opener and does not want to bid a crummy 5 card suit at the five level, so double appears to be the only rational choice. North must either pull to 5S, hoping spades or diamonds will be playable, or pass and hope for a good penalty. The defense collects 5 tricks for +500, better than a game but less than the value of the slam.

If East bids only 3 clubs, South can bid 3S freely, and North is worth a 4C cue-bid, which may lead to slam. If East bids 4C, South may double ("do something" at this level), West should raise to 5C, North tries 5S and South may pass or bid slam.When preempting it pays to maximize the pressure on the opponents, taking into account how many tricks you expect to make and what they can make if partner doesn't provide any help. 4C is the "book" bid here with KQJ9xxxx, and either 4C or 5C may keep N/S out of slam.

Board 9: North as dealer holds KQJx x Kxxxxx Qx; I open a lot of shapely 11 counts but with no Ace and the unguarded Queen I'd pass this one. (I'd open KQJx x KQxxxx xx with little pause for thought.) South opens 1H in third seat with 10x AK987 AQ9 AJ8. North has an awkward hand -- partner may pass 2D, but responding 1S may bury the long suit. (A jump response with a misfit for partner is not an option.) I'd bid 1S and cross my fingers the hand doesn't belong in diamonds. South rebids 2NT, suggesting 17-19 hcp and now North can be sure there is a diamond fit, and probably enough strength for slam, but South will need all four Aces or three plus the Queen of diamonds. Either is possible in light of the strong rebid, but can North safely inquire? 4NT would be an invitational raise of notrump ("quantitative slam try") but that means 4C is Gerber. North won't find out about the Queen of diamonds that way, but it's a souind policy not to avoid bidding slam when you cannot ask about Queen -- it is likely that partner has it or it may drop or be finessable. South counts carefully -- Gerber doesn't come up often -- 4D = 0, 4H = 1, 4S = 2, 4NT = 3, that's the right bid. Or just remember Gerber responses are one level lower but one denomination higher than Blackwood. Over 4NT North might leap to 6D, but a little though makes it seem likely that if the diamond suit comes in, 6NT will make, and perhaps spaes and hearts will provide enough tricks if diamonds don't. Three spades, two hearts, six diamonds and a club makes an easy 12 tricks.