| Board 14 East Deals None Vul |
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East opens 2D (weak), if not playing some other gadget. How does South show his monster? With 21 hcp and ten near-solid tricks, South will certainly bid game, but it won't take much from partner for slam. When you were planning to open 2C, the usual procedure is to double, then cue-bid, then show your suit. If you have the agreement that a direct cue-bid at the three level asks for a notrump stopper (more important over a weak two than Michaels for the majors), you might simply cue-bid, then pull to your suit, but I wouldn't try that without prior discusssion. So, South doubles. West would probably have passed if South passed, but over the double West expects N/S have a major suit fit and tries to jam the auction with a diamond raise. Although down three or four doubled is possible few pairs will try for a penalty with a fit and game values. North is too weak to volunteer the three level and 3D is passed back to South. The raise robs South of his planned cue-bid; now he must bid 4H (a bid he would make with an Ace or so less) or cue-bid 4D followed by 5H over partner's likely 4S response. I would not expect many partners to raise to slam with a hand such as North's, so the practical choice for South is between 4H and 6H. This woudl be a good one for an expert bidding panel. Twelve tricks make easily on any lead.
Had South been allowed to open 2C, North would bid 2D (negative, waiting or semi-positive.) South should resist the tempation to jump to 4NT or even jump in his suit to set trumps -- what South needs is information about tricks, not controls -- he has all the controls needed for slam. A possible sequence:
2C-2D; 2H-3H; 3S-4D; now what? Anything but 4H risks going down at the five level; my usual philosophy is that you should not venture beyond game in a major unless you know your side has enuogh for twelve tricks. Bids beyond game are aimed at making sure you do not have two probably losers. All in all, South is still faced with a four-or-six guess, and at matchpoints I'd take the sure plus at 4H.
| Board 15 South Deals N-S Vul |
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West opens 1NT (15-17); East counts 30-32 hcp, plus one for the long suit. East may bid a straightforward quantitative 4NT, or show the club suit and slam interest. Once again, don't trot out Gerber or other control-asking gadget here -- tricks before controls! West has a "perfect minimum", three Aces and QJ in your long suit, and slam has no legitimate play.
I've been playing four-suited transfers, either 2S = clubs, 3C = diamonds, or 2NT = clubs, 3C = diamonds; others like 2S = clubs, 2NT = diamonds. With any sort of minor suit transfer, the crucial point is that responder should only show a minor suit when five or six of the minor is a plausible alternative to 3NT -- don't tell the enemy anything extra if you are always planning to play 3NT. A transfer followed by a new suit at the three level should show a singleton while transfer-then-3NT suggests slam -- this leaves room for cue-bidding. On today's hand if East uses the transfer-then 3NT sequence West can hardly have better cards and I would expect to reach 6C. I think if East uses visualization he will see that his cards are too scattered and he should be content with game or possibly a quantitative 4NT. If partner has the skill to make twelve tricks, +490 will probably score well -- but -50 when slam has no play will be a very cold bottom.
On lead against 6NT, North should expect partner to be broke and avoid leading any suit containing high cards. I'd probably try the six of clubs, second high from a bad suit, or perhaps a spade if East showed clubs. As it happened North led the Queen of hearts and I was able to finesse against the Jack after South pitched the ten on the run of clubs. A slam that depends on a finesse (against the King of diamonds) and a defensive error is not one I want to bid!
| Board 16 West Deals E-W Vul |
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West opens 1D. East has 16 hcp and a fine suit; should he invite slam? Picture opener with, say, x Qxxx KQxxx Axx and slam may be a laydown. East's hand would look good for a strong jump shift except that East might have to rebid notrump with no spade stopper. 1D-1H; 2C-2S (artificial, forcing to game) would be the popular sequence. West rebids 2NT to show his spade stopper and deny three-card heart support. East makes the practical bid of 3NT since no fit has appeared.
North leads the top of his spade sequence; South overtakes with the Ace and returns the seven. West counts ten fast winners if diamonds are not 5-0. A reasonable line would be to win the second spade, clear the Ace-Jack of diamonds, then the King-Ace of clubs, keeping the heart suit as a threat. Now cash three more diamonds, pitching a spade, heart and club from dummy. This leaves West with a small spade, small heart, and the 10-8 of clubs opposite AKJ7 in hearts. Did anyone pitch hearts or clubs? South actually needs to keep all four of his hearts plus a club -- impossible with only four cards left! So, South surely pitched a heart. A bold finesse may win matchpoints and is safer than it looks -- even if it loses, South may have to lead a heart back in to dummy. If both North and South pitched hearts, playing the AK may work.
| Board 24 West Deals None Vul |
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North opens 1C and South probably bids Blackwood at some point and then 6NT when North shows an Ace. However, a flat 19 opposite a minimum 12 adds up to only 31 hcp -- too light for 6NT, and South's flat shape with scattered honors doesn't look right for a suit contract. A good treatment suggested by the late theorist Marshal Miles would be a forcing 2NT response followed by a 4NT quantitative invitation; North should pass that. These days, most play 2NT as only 11-12, so South must make a forcing bid and hope to get a chance to raise notrump later. A simple 1D response is forcing; North rebids 1NT; and South invites slam with 4NT. Twelve tricks can be made by finessing twice in diaonds. That's a 25% shot, plus the chance East leads a spade and you need only one finesse in diamonds. Not good odds, and there is little that skill can contribute: when you run the clubs, East wil not throw away his diamonds.
Folks, Charles Goren declared that slam requires 33 points. With a five card suit and three Aces, 32 is fine. But I don't get bidding slam on 30 or 31 hcp unless you have a nine-card fit or a useful singleton or some other source of extra tricks (such as a six-card suit.)
| Board 25 North Deals E-W Vul |
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North opens 1C, East jumps to 2D and South bids 2S. Despite the adverse vulnerability West should compete with 3D -- if partner is down several tricks they likely have slam (probably in clubs.) North shows spade support and slam interest with a 4D cue-bid. South counts seven or eight losers; the two Aces, short diamonds and partial fit for clubs are encouraging, but how strong is partner's bidding? I think South had little to spare for his 2S call and 4S at this point is wise. North can view his 4-6 hand as for a dummy reversal; with a nine card fit he can be optimisitic. His hand counts four losers and he can expect partner to provide thre cover cards, so slam looks reasonable. Visualizing partner might have AQxxx xxxx xx Ax and grand slam would be a near laydown. Playing simple Blackwwod North bids 4NT, South replies 5H, and North confirms all the Aces with 5NT. South shows zero Kings and North retreats to 6S, uncertain whether the trumps are good enough for the grand. Playing RCKB, South again replies 5H, but this denies the trump Queen and North goes straight to 6S. South should not try to ruff anything in dummy -- simply play the A-K of trumps and start running the clubs. West ruffs the second club but that's the only trick for the defense.
An inexperienced declarer might win the opening heart lead, cash the King and Ace of trumps, ruff a heart, cross back to hand with a club and ruff another heart. This leaves no trumps in dummy but the lucky fall of the King of hearts saves the day. Give East one more heart and West, say, a club; now declarer has no trumps left in dummy and a losing heart in his hand. When he tries belatedly to run the clubs, West ruffs the third round and the defense scores the King of hearts. When dummy appears with 4-6 shape, avoid ruffing! Your first plan should be to set up dummy's hand, ruffing in your own hand if necessary; the fourth trump in dummy will provide the crucial late entry for you to cash the remaining cards in the long suit. Only when you've considered and rejected the dummy reversal should you view dummy's short suits as more useful than the glaringly obvious long suit. Of course, the defense may try to force dummy to ruff so declarer may need to be flexible, but I see so many good contracts go down when declarer needlessly ruffs in a 4-6 dummy early in the hand.
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