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Board 1: North opens 1H on K10x AQ10xx xx A9x. East may pass or bid a weak 2S on A9876x xx Jxx xx; my standard for a weak jump overcall is essentially the same as a weak two opening and this does not qualify. It isn't that I don't think such a bid can gain; but I think it's more important to jump with, say, AQJxxx and a side King, and too wide a range can pose insoluble problems for partner. Opposite a passed hand, I'd be more inclined to jump.
South has a monster: Jx KJ9 AKQx KQJx. The only question is "which slam?" Although hearts should be fine as trumps, might a 4-4 minor fit provide an extra trick for a grand slam? Probably not in this case: you'd need partner to have three Aces and the Queen of hearts, which would produce 13 tricks at notrump. If you had a side suit like Axx or AKxx, it might be useful to make another suit trumps and pitch losers on the hearts.
A straight jump to 4NT is a fairly practical bid here. There's a slight chance of two quick spade losers, but there's also the chance they fail to lead spades. 6NT, however, may play better from partner's side if he holds Kx(x) of spades, so a temporizing bid of 2D has some merit. All in all, though, I think 4NT directly over 1H is the simplest approach, aiming for 6H. Partner's reply shows 2 Aces or 2 key card + the Queen, and 6H makes easily.
Over a 2S jump, South cannot ignore the sapde problem; best is a 3S support-showing cue-bid. North bids 4H and South continues with 5D, a control cue-bid. North has control of both clubs and spades and has no trouble bidding 6H. When partner goes beyond game to make a slam try, don't worrry about overall strength, the only issue is controls.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Sunday, October 16th 2011
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Board 6: East opens 1S and West, after deducting a point for no Ace and thinking pessimistically about his singleton in partner's suit, nevertheless has enough for a standard 2H response. East has excellent support, shape and controls; by point count, he can add 3 for the singleton club when raising partner with 4 trumps. 18+ partners 11+ totals at least 29, not enough to drive to slam but definitely interested. Visualizing, slam can make opposite as little as x Kxxxx KQx xxxx if the diamonds can provide 3 tricks and the trumps at least 8 on a crossruff. However, it's difficult for partner to show a singleton in your suit or to know it's an asset, not a liability, when you have Axxxx rather than KQxxx or such.
Agreements are important here: East must not make a bid short of game that partner might pass, but a simple jump to 4H hardly does justice to this powerhouse. One possibility is a splinter jump (4C), but this hand is perhaps too strong for that. A key understanding is that after a standard 2/1 response, a new suit by opener is forcing and a new suit at the three level is game-forcing. Opener can therefore rebid 3D, showing extra strength, and support hearts later. However, nothing will get West excited with his aceless minimum, but his excellent trump spots allow for an early claim: lead a club early, cash three diamond winners (else South can discard diamonds on spades and later ruff a winner) and then claim a crossruff with the eight highest trumps.
Board 9: North opens a maximum 1NT and South replies with Stayman 2C (not a transfer.) South can raise either major to game; if North replies 2D, South forces to game by rebidding 3H (or 3S, for Smolen bidders, not a gadget I recommend.) North obliges with 2S and South can think slam with his excellent controls and the heart suit as a source of discards. Adding 3 for the singleton along with 4 trumps, South's hand is worth at least 16. Visualizing, KQxx AJx xxx Kxx would give a near lock for 12 tricks and that's only 13 hcp. South can blast into 4NT (Blackwood or Key Card) or employ a gadget bid such as 4D (splinter) or 3H ("Three other major slam try.") The splinter looks like a good description; North's AK is somewhat wasted, but he has excellent controls and maximum values and can proceed with 4NT. Playing Key Card, South replies 5H (2 Key Cards without the Queen) and North settles for 6S.
East leads the Queen of clubs and North wins, plays the two top trumps, and leaving the high trump out, cashes the high diamonds and hearts, pitching a club from each hand; he would ruff a heart if needed to set up the long card in the suit. East will eventually score his trump Queen but North has plenty of tricks even without the favorable heart split. 6NT makes on this layout but would fail on a normal 4-2 heat split.
Board 6: East opens 1S and West, after deducting a point for no Ace and thinking pessimistically about his singleton in partner's suit, nevertheless has enough for a standard 2H response. East has excellent support, shape and controls; by point count, he can add 3 for the singleton club when raising partner with 4 trumps. 18+ partners 11+ totals at least 29, not enough to drive to slam but definitely interested. Visualizing, slam can make opposite as little as x Kxxxx KQx xxxx if the diamonds can provide 3 tricks and the trumps at least 8 on a crossruff. However, it's difficult for partner to show a singleton in your suit or to know it's an asset, not a liability, when you have Axxxx rather than KQxxx or such.
Agreements are important here: East must not make a bid short of game that partner might pass, but a simple jump to 4H hardly does justice to this powerhouse. One possibility is a splinter jump (4C), but this hand is perhaps too strong for that. A key understanding is that after a standard 2/1 response, a new suit by opener is forcing and a new suit at the three level is game-forcing. Opener can therefore rebid 3D, showing extra strength, and support hearts later. However, nothing will get West excited with his aceless minimum, but his excellent trump spots allow for an early claim: lead a club early, cash three diamond winners (else South can discard diamonds on spades and later ruff a winner) and then claim a crossruff with the eight highest trumps.
Board 9: North opens a maximum 1NT and South replies with Stayman 2C (not a transfer.) South can raise either major to game; if North replies 2D, South forces to game by rebidding 3H (or 3S, for Smolen bidders, not a gadget I recommend.) North obliges with 2S and South can think slam with his excellent controls and the heart suit as a source of discards. Adding 3 for the singleton along with 4 trumps, South's hand is worth at least 16. Visualizing, KQxx AJx xxx Kxx would give a near lock for 12 tricks and that's only 13 hcp. South can blast into 4NT (Blackwood or Key Card) or employ a gadget bid such as 4D (splinter) or 3H ("Three other major slam try.") The splinter looks like a good description; North's AK is somewhat wasted, but he has excellent controls and maximum values and can proceed with 4NT. Playing Key Card, South replies 5H (2 Key Cards without the Queen) and North settles for 6S.
East leads the Queen of clubs and North wins, plays the two top trumps, and leaving the high trump out, cashes the high diamonds and hearts, pitching a club from each hand; he would ruff a heart if needed to set up the long card in the suit. East will eventually score his trump Queen but North has plenty of tricks even without the favorable heart split. 6NT makes on this layout but would fail on a normal 4-2 heat split.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Friday, October 14th 2011
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Board 14: East opens 1H on xx AQJ10xx AJx xx and West looks at Kxx xxx K AKQJxx. 6 clubs tricks and two Kings looks like at least 8 tricks, plenty enough for slam with a fit for partner; but West is short on "prime" cards (Aces and the King/Queen of trumps.) An immediate leap to 4NT (RKCB) will tell West everything he needs to know about slam, but could easily be down one if partner is missing, say, an Ace and two trump losers, or the spade King is under the enemy Ace. West should want to suggest slam below game level, and a strong jump to 3C is perfect. Opener should certainly drive to slam holding four key cards or three plus the Queen of trumps.
East has a minimum but a strong suit and good values in diamonds; a three level jump shift should not have a side four card suit, so East's most useful rebid is 3D, showing a concentration of values (5+ hcp in the suit.) This will assure partner the suit is stopped (for notrump) and controlled for slam (does not have two quick losers.) West revels his heart support with 3H over 3D; lacking a spade control, and having made one constructive rebid, East simply raises to 4H, which should end the bidding. As it happens 6C or 6NT by West are makeable, but only because the King of hearts is finessable. A slam requiring a finesse in a key suit is not a good bet.
Many bidders play 2/1 game force with weak jump shifts, so West would respond 2C. The game-force leaves room for slam exploration, but suufers from some ambiguity about responder's goal. East rebids the good hearts (no need to invent a diamond bid here) and West raises to three. East might simply bid 4H at this point, but West is unlimited and it would be better to give him another chance to make a slam try below game. A popular method is "Serious 3NT", where 3NT after agreeing on a major shows the values for slam, while a cue-bid instead merely shows a control with no extra strength. On that basis East can rebid 4D, showing his diamond control but limited values. Personally, I prefer the opposite agreement: a cue-bid shows serious intent, while a "Courtesy 3NT" shows a willingness to cooperate if partner cue-bids. (It seems wrong to me to give the defenders the benefit of further describing opener's hand when neither partner is interested in slam.) East bids 3NT on that basis and West can assume he does not have 4 "prime" cards and so signs off at 4H.
If West were to bid simple Blackwood at some point, he'll find one Ace missing and won't know the full situation in hearts. In that case, West should proceeed to slam, but 6NT is safer than 6H, to protect West's King of spades. If the hearts come in there will be plenty of tricks.
Board 14: East opens 1H on xx AQJ10xx AJx xx and West looks at Kxx xxx K AKQJxx. 6 clubs tricks and two Kings looks like at least 8 tricks, plenty enough for slam with a fit for partner; but West is short on "prime" cards (Aces and the King/Queen of trumps.) An immediate leap to 4NT (RKCB) will tell West everything he needs to know about slam, but could easily be down one if partner is missing, say, an Ace and two trump losers, or the spade King is under the enemy Ace. West should want to suggest slam below game level, and a strong jump to 3C is perfect. Opener should certainly drive to slam holding four key cards or three plus the Queen of trumps.
East has a minimum but a strong suit and good values in diamonds; a three level jump shift should not have a side four card suit, so East's most useful rebid is 3D, showing a concentration of values (5+ hcp in the suit.) This will assure partner the suit is stopped (for notrump) and controlled for slam (does not have two quick losers.) West revels his heart support with 3H over 3D; lacking a spade control, and having made one constructive rebid, East simply raises to 4H, which should end the bidding. As it happens 6C or 6NT by West are makeable, but only because the King of hearts is finessable. A slam requiring a finesse in a key suit is not a good bet.
Many bidders play 2/1 game force with weak jump shifts, so West would respond 2C. The game-force leaves room for slam exploration, but suufers from some ambiguity about responder's goal. East rebids the good hearts (no need to invent a diamond bid here) and West raises to three. East might simply bid 4H at this point, but West is unlimited and it would be better to give him another chance to make a slam try below game. A popular method is "Serious 3NT", where 3NT after agreeing on a major shows the values for slam, while a cue-bid instead merely shows a control with no extra strength. On that basis East can rebid 4D, showing his diamond control but limited values. Personally, I prefer the opposite agreement: a cue-bid shows serious intent, while a "Courtesy 3NT" shows a willingness to cooperate if partner cue-bids. (It seems wrong to me to give the defenders the benefit of further describing opener's hand when neither partner is interested in slam.) East bids 3NT on that basis and West can assume he does not have 4 "prime" cards and so signs off at 4H.
If West were to bid simple Blackwood at some point, he'll find one Ace missing and won't know the full situation in hearts. In that case, West should proceeed to slam, but 6NT is safer than 6H, to protect West's King of spades. If the hearts come in there will be plenty of tricks.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Thursday, October 6th 2011
Been busy, hadn't posted in a while. Right-click here for hands.
Board 3: A reasonable N/S auction might start 1C-1H; 1S-3D (game-forcing, at least 5-5); South has 16 hcp but the hands don't appear to fit well, so 3NT-4H; all pass. Three pairs reached slam, I assume North must have been more aggressively. North counts about 4.5 losers and partner opened, but the club and spade bids suggest mostly wasted values.
Board 10: East opens 1C or 1D on Axx Jx Axxx KQxx and West responds in hearts with
KJ AK987 Jx A1097. West should be thinking slam if East has good clubs and controls, or support for hearts. The simplest approach is a strong jump shift: 1C-2H; 2NT-3C; 3D-3H; 3S-4NT; 5C (0 or 3)-5D (Q ask); positive reply (5S if playing no/yes replies; playing "Specific Kings" East would bid 5NT to deny the trump Queen, since 5C is not available; here East bids 6C to confirm the Queen.) Note that East can visualize slam opposite as little as xx AKQxx xx Axxx, a rather light hand for a jump shift, so East might well jump to 4NT over 3C.
For those playing weak jump shifts, West must begin with 1H; and if East opens 1D West's is not quite worth a strong jump anyway. Possible auction: 1D-1H; 1NT-2C (artificial, the New Minor Forcing gadget); what now for East? NMF promises 5+ in respoinder's major and game invitational values; East has a maximum 14 hcp for his 1NT rebid, so he should drive to game. 3C seems to be the best description: no 3 card heart support, no 4 card spade suit, no 5 card diamond suit and only one spade stopper. West can picture the 3244 shape but it seems a bit much to hope partner has such excellent cards for slam. I'd sign off at 3NT.
As it happens, 6C (and 4H, which we stumbled into) falls prey to the horrid 5-1 heart split while nine or more tricks are easily available at notrump, but this is a slam I'd want to bid.
Board 3: A reasonable N/S auction might start 1C-1H; 1S-3D (game-forcing, at least 5-5); South has 16 hcp but the hands don't appear to fit well, so 3NT-4H; all pass. Three pairs reached slam, I assume North must have been more aggressively. North counts about 4.5 losers and partner opened, but the club and spade bids suggest mostly wasted values.
Board 10: East opens 1C or 1D on Axx Jx Axxx KQxx and West responds in hearts with
KJ AK987 Jx A1097. West should be thinking slam if East has good clubs and controls, or support for hearts. The simplest approach is a strong jump shift: 1C-2H; 2NT-3C; 3D-3H; 3S-4NT; 5C (0 or 3)-5D (Q ask); positive reply (5S if playing no/yes replies; playing "Specific Kings" East would bid 5NT to deny the trump Queen, since 5C is not available; here East bids 6C to confirm the Queen.) Note that East can visualize slam opposite as little as xx AKQxx xx Axxx, a rather light hand for a jump shift, so East might well jump to 4NT over 3C.
For those playing weak jump shifts, West must begin with 1H; and if East opens 1D West's is not quite worth a strong jump anyway. Possible auction: 1D-1H; 1NT-2C (artificial, the New Minor Forcing gadget); what now for East? NMF promises 5+ in respoinder's major and game invitational values; East has a maximum 14 hcp for his 1NT rebid, so he should drive to game. 3C seems to be the best description: no 3 card heart support, no 4 card spade suit, no 5 card diamond suit and only one spade stopper. West can picture the 3244 shape but it seems a bit much to hope partner has such excellent cards for slam. I'd sign off at 3NT.
As it happens, 6C (and 4H, which we stumbled into) falls prey to the horrid 5-1 heart split while nine or more tricks are easily available at notrump, but this is a slam I'd want to bid.
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