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Board 8: West opens 2NT, showing a balanced 20-21 hcp. East adds his 12, giving a total of 32-33;
this should be enough for slam if a fit can be uncovered, but is borderline to poor for 6NT.
Playing transfers, East can start with 3H, but how do you continue over partner's (forced) 3S?
Bidding methods matter here: If you play Texas Transfers (4D= hearts, 4H=spades) then it is normal
for responder to use Texas when he wants to stop at the four level OR set the suit and ask for Aces
or Key cards. In other words, with a six card major, use Texas if you rate your hand is clearly
worth 4 or 6, but not for hands in-between. How does that affect this hand? Since Texas-then-4NT is
some form of Blackwood, Jacoby-then-4NT is a quantitative slam try, not an Ace inquiry. That's what
I would bid on this hand, but if you hate to miss a slam on 32 hcp, transfer and then bid 5NT "pick
a slam." Not playing Texas, I'd use transfer-then 5NT if I had discussed it with partner, otherwise I'd just leap to 6NT to keep it simple. gerber is a possibility but it seems to be very error-prone -- everyone tends to bid hearts when they have two Aces, confusing the responses with Blackwood. Over either 4NT or 5NT West bids 6S. Three pairs reached this slam.
North has no good lead -- underleading a King vs. a slam is risky, but anything could be wrong. A
low club may at least avoid setting up a long trick for declarer. What luck! South has the
King-Jack poised over dummy's Queen, so the defense quickly establishes a winner. West must lose a
club and a heart. On any other lead West can afford to pull trumps, lose the heart finesse, and
pitch a club on the fourth heart. Oddly, the transfer backfired: 6S by East is impregnable. But
looking at the E/W hands, West will make slam far more often than not.
Competition Corner -- Board 11: South opens 1C and North raises to two. For those playing Inverted
Minors, North should leap to 3C, a bid which ought to show 6-9 hcp; but many players fail to
specify a lower limit for the jump bid -- a good reason not to play Inverted Minors in a casual or
inexperienced partnership. With no one but partner bidding, it's a fair bet that if you have a weak
hand, partner has a strong one -- so why preempt? The 6 hcp minimum along with 5+ clubs
allows opener to take a shot at 3NT with a balanced hand which was too strong to open 1NT.
Over the club raise, East bids hearts, hoping to double later to show the spades. After
1C-(pass)-2C-(2H), South should immediately bid 3C. A basic rule is that bids in competition are
assumed to be competitive, not game invitational; South should in fact rebid the clubs with almost
any hand containing four clubs, unless the distribution is completely flat (3334) or much of
South's strength is in hearts. What about West? With a known 9-card fit, it would usually be
correct to compete to the 3 level, but that assumes the high card points are split fairly evenly
(generally, at least 17 for each side.) West cannot be sure his side has that much strength and
with a potentially trickless hand I'd pass. North passes and East doubles as planned. South has no
reason to bid again -- it would be poor tactics to bid 4C only to chase the enemy into a game you
might not be able to beat. Always think twice before bidding over three of a major. West bids 3H
(or 3S, but it's doubtful spades will provide an extra trick, so play in the longer trump suit.) 3H
should end the bidding.
South has no sure lead, but it's reasonable to hope partner has the Ace or Queen for his raise, so
a low club looks best. North wins and, seeing little threatening in dummy, returns another club,
ruffed by declarer. East counts one club, one heart, and one or two spade losers; leading the King
of hearts looks right, hoping to set up the Jack as an entry to dummy for the spade finesse. South
wins perforce and tries the Jack of diamonds -- this looks fairly safe since dummy's second-highest
diamond is lower than South's seven. East wins, crosses to dummy with the Jack of trumps, and leads
the Jack of spades. If North had three spades it would be correct to duck the Jack, planning to
cover the last of equal honors; but with only a doubleton it's best to play the Queen immediately.
Either way declarer loses only one spade and finishes with 10 tricks for a very good score -- don't
feel like you should've been in game. Why does the recap show that E/W can only make 3H? South
could theoretically give North a ruff by leading spades at every opportunity.
Board 13: East has a clear 1D opening bid. Even if you discount the Jack of hearts, two five card
suits headed by 3 quick tricks has great potential. With 5-5 shape, be sure to open the higher
ranking suit, planning to rebid the lower suit twice if convenient. South passes -- 9 hcp, a crummy
suit and the poor 5332 shape is well below the mark for a 2 level overcall, especially vulnerable.
West starts thinking slam: a five loser hand with partner opening your second suit! An opening bid
will usually take care of four losers. The simple approach is a strong jump shift (2S) followed by
a diamond bid. East rebids 3C, West bids 3D as planned, and East should love his hand -- the spade
bid covers his weakest suit and the diamond support should help establish club winners. East may be
tempted to leap to 4NT, but Key card bidders should pause to consider -- what would you do over a
5H reply? Better to let partner do the asking. East can simply cue-bid 4C or try a 4H splinter
(showing the singleton, a bid that should be recognizable if the partnership uses splinters in a
variety of auctions.) 4D would keep the ball rolling but I see no reason not encourage partner with
either 4C or 4H. West happily bids 4NT (no response can embarass him), East replies 5H (two Aces or two Key cards missing the Queen.) The missing Queen makes grand slam a poor bet, and also rules out 6NT -- if the diamonds don't run a heart lead would be fatal. Six diamonds is the obvious choice
but in a strong field you might try 6S to grab extra matchpoints (+980 vs. +920.) Only two pairs
bid slam, one in the risky 6NT, so 6D would've scored very well. Declarer pulls trumps in two
rounds and pitches three clubs on the solid spades.
For those misguided souls who play weak jump shifts, or who never think to make a strong jump, West bids a murky 1S -- forcing, but unenlightening. East rebids 2C as planned, and now West must manufacture a forcing bid. In the old days a jump to 3D would be game-forcing, but in the modern style jumps in previously bid suits are merely invitational (unless partner has shown extra strength; 2C doesn't qualify.) West is forced to use the "poor crutch" of Fourth Suit Forcing (an artificial bid of 2H, best played as forcing to game) or to leap all the way to 4D. Either sequence can be disaster-prone -- 4D should be a slam try, but I've seen players pass such a bid! The fourth suit sequence fails to make West's slam ambitions clear, while the 4D leap wastes bidding room. As is often the case, the early jump saves room later.
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