Monday, December 29th 2014 (STaC)

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Board 5 North Deals N-S Vul	♠ A J 10 ♥ A J 10 9 7 5 ♦ A J 8 ♣ 8
♠ K 9 8 7 6 ♥ Q 6 ♦ 10 7 ♣ Q 6 3 2	N W E S	♠ Q 5 4 3 2 ♥ K 3 ♦ 4 2 ♣ K 10 7 4
	♠ — ♥ 8 4 2 ♦ K Q 9 6 5 3 ♣ A J 9 5

North opens 1H. East's suit is too poor for an overcall with such minimum values; I recommend at least five hcp in the suit or extra values, but getting the spade suit into action at favorable vulnerability is always tempting. In most partnerships South can show a limit raise or better with a 2S cue-bid, but I like 2D with this hand, planning to support hearts later. West may leap to 4S based on the Law of Total Tricks (ten trumps = bid for ten tricks, either to make or sacrifice) but the balanced shape, wasted Queen of hearts and the possibility partner is trading heavily on the vulnerability makes 3S a prudent alternative. What West should not do is bid 3S and then 4S over 4H, giving N/S an extra round to help decide what to do over 4S.

Either North or South will compete to 4H or 5H; I don't think either is quite worth a slam try. North's hearts are one of the odd holding for Key Card Blackwood; opposite two or three hearts, you'd rather partner had the Ace of clubs than either top trump, since you can finesse twice and odds are only about 25% of two trump losers.

One route to slam might be for North to pass or double a spade bid. If South responded 2D and then pulls to 4H or 5H, North may like his excellent controls, trumps and fitting diamond cards well enough to bid six.

Board 6 East Deals E-W Vul	♠ — ♥ K J 9 4 3 ♦ 10 6 5 3 2 ♣ 10 7 5
♠ 8 6 5 ♥ 6 2 ♦ A K 9 8 4 ♣ K 8 2	N W E S	♠ 9 7 4 ♥ Q 8 7 ♦ 7 ♣ Q J 9 6 4 3
	♠ A K Q J 10 3 2 ♥ A 10 5 ♦ Q J ♣ A

South opens 2C based on 9+ tricks and good controls. I'd be willing to stop at 3S if partner were completely busted, but otherwise expect to reach game. North replies 2D negative (0-7); waiting (0+), or semi-positive (at least an Ace or King or perhaps two Queens) or 2H (steps, 4-6 hcp.) South rebids 2S in most cases; 3S would "set the suit" but would indicate a hand closer to slam strength. Over the steps 2H response, many would simply rebid 4S but why not give yourself a shot at slam if partner has, say, xxxx x Kxxx Qxxx ? The 2H response is forcing to at least game so no need to hurry.

Our auction was straightforward: 2C-2D (waiting); 2S-3H; 3S-4D; 4S-pass. Although I was confident we had at least eight hearts the solid spades looked like a safer bet for trumps, and there might be chance to pitch a losing heart on a diamond or club. In fact declarer can set up the ten of diamonds and avoid guessing in hearts. Most declarers took eleven tricks in a spade contract.

Board 14 East Deals None Vul	♠ 8 7 3 ♥ 6 5 4 ♦ 10 7 5 3 ♣ 8 3 2
♠ A Q 10 ♥ A Q 8 7 2 ♦ A K ♣ K Q 10	N W E S	♠ 9 5 4 ♥ K 10 ♦ 9 8 6 2 ♣ A 6 5 4
	♠ K J 6 2 ♥ J 9 3 ♦ Q J 4 ♣ J 9 7

West opens 2C; East responds 2D (negative, waiting or semi-positive) or 2S (steps, 7-9 hcp.) West rebids 2NT, 22-24 in most styles, or 22+ if the initial response was game-forcing (2D promising some values or 2S steps.) East ends the bidding at 3NT. North's long suit is unappealing and a major suit lead is often effective when the opponents don't use Stayman or a transfer, but North's equally has little help for either major. I'd probably lead the 8 of spades, a top-of-nothing lead that partner should be able to diagnose using the rule of eleven. 11-8 = 3; with the nine in dummy and KJ in South's hand, the 8 would have to be from AQ108 if it were fourth-best. When declarer captures South's King it becomes obvious the 8 was not from length. Of course this is purely academic since declarer takes all the rest of the tricks, thanks to lucky splits in both hearts and clubs. Should this slam have been bid? No, E/W have only 31 hcp and no fit, but lots of luck.

Some Wests rebid in hearts rather than notrump, with East naturally rebidding in notrump. Although East is a slight favorite to hold 3 hearts and, if a 5-3 fit exists, it will usually produce an extra trick, the combined chances that notrump will be just as good or better (even if a fit exists) plus simplifying the auction plus not revealing West's shape to the defenders add up to a clear win for treating a hand like West's as balanced. As it happens, South will likely lead a spade against 3NT and declarer can win with either the Queen or Ten; no lead really causes problems as declarer has plenty of stoppers and can afford to try the spades himself.

I'm surprised how many pairs bid slam on these cards. The heart suit is plenty strong enough but if you shuffle the N/S cards I would expect an average of only around 11 tricks.

Friday, December 5th 2014

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Board 12 West Deals N-S Vul	♠ Q 9 5 4 ♥ A Q ♦ A K J 7 4 ♣ A Q
♠ K 7 ♥ K 10 8 5 2 ♦ 9 8 6 3 2 ♣ 2	N W E S	♠ J ♥ J 9 7 6 4 ♦ Q 10 ♣ K J 6 4 3
	♠ A 10 8 6 3 2 ♥ 3 ♦ 5 ♣ 10 9 8 7 5

North opens 2C; South responds 2D negative, waiting, or semi-positive, or 2H steps (4-6 hcp.) North does best to rebid 2NT rather than 3D; try to avoid the space-eating 3C and 3D rebids after an artificial 2C opening, especially with only a five card suit. With two AQ doubletons 2NT is a standout. As this is the first natural bid for the side, "systems on" should apply (be sure your partner agrees!) and South transfers to spades. The tricky part is what to bid next: grand slam could be a laydown opposite KQ9 Axx Axx AKQx, or 5S could be too high opposite Qx KQx AKQxx AKx. With only 4 hcp South should probably not risk getting any higher than game. As it happens slam will probably fail on the club finesse; no one bid slam and no declarer managed twelve tricks.

Board 17 North Deals None Vul	♠ A 8 5 ♥ 8 5 ♦ A K Q J 10 4 ♣ 6 4
♠ J 10 9 4 ♥ 7 ♦ 8 5 3 ♣ Q J 10 8 7	N W E S	♠ K Q 6 2 ♥ K J 10 9 6 3 2 ♦ — ♣ 5 3
	♠ 7 3 ♥ A Q 4 ♦ 9 7 6 2 ♣ A K 9 2

North opens 1D; East preempts 4H. (With 7-4 shape, a 4-4 fit will generally not be superior to making the long suit trumps.) As South I'd like to double for penalties or bid 4NT to play; unfortunately, the usual advice is to play negative doubles through 4H and most would take 4NT here as Blackwood. In practice South is likely to "huddle" followed by pass, double or perhaps 5D. There will be no problem if South is in the habit of waiting 8-10 seconds over any skip bid; that should be enough time for South to realize there's no perfect bid and, with almost half his strength in hearts, try for a plus score by passing. North will probably pull to 5D and South can reasonably gamble on slam. North's bidding is consistent with a distributional hand so the winning call is 6D rather than 6NT; in general prefer a suit slam to notrump unless the partnership has 33+ hcp or you can count 12 tricks.

If N/S play negative doubles only through 3S (my preference) South can double and possibly collect +500 for a near top. However, that requires a spade lead or shift, ducked by North. South can then win the first trump lead, lead another spade and collect a ruff. If North wins the first spade East's diamond void prevents him from regaining the lead.

If East preempts with only 3H South has an easy 3NT bid. North has some extra playing strength but not really enough to consider slam.

Board 19 South Deals E-W Vul	♠ J 10 6 5 ♥ Q 9 8 3 2 ♦ K 9 ♣ J 2
♠ K 7 4 ♥ K J 6 4 ♦ A J 4 3 ♣ 9 7	N W E S	♠ — ♥ A 7 ♦ Q 8 7 5 ♣ A K Q 10 8 5 3
	♠ A Q 9 8 3 2 ♥ 10 5 ♦ 10 6 2 ♣ 6 4

South opens 2S (weak); West does not have enough to act. North ups the ante with a 3S or 4S raise. The ten card fit and limited defense suggests bidding 4S, but the heart length suggests they don't have a major suit game. That's OK, 4S will make it hard for them to bid a notrump game and force them to guess between 5 or 6 of a minor. And that's pretty much what East has to do. I would expect most to land at 5C after North's jump.

Board 21 North Deals N-S Vul	♠ A ♥ A K 3 ♦ J 8 5 2 ♣ K Q 7 5 2
♠ Q 7 ♥ J 10 9 5 2 ♦ A Q 10 4 ♣ 8 6	N W E S	♠ 9 6 5 4 3 2 ♥ 7 6 4 ♦ 7 6 ♣ 10 9
	♠ K J 10 8 ♥ Q 8 ♦ K 9 3 ♣ A J 4 3

North opens 1C or a somewhat offshape 1NT. As I understand it, you can never open 1NT with a singleton twice with the same partner, as that would constitute an implicit and illegal agreement.  So, let's assume 1C. South responds 1S and North either reverses into 2D or jumps to 2NT. In any case 3NT looks to be the popular contract. Played by South I would expect an easy 12 tricks on the Jack of hearts lead, but every South in 6NT went down, while those in 3NT collected +690.

Board 25 North Deals E-W Vul	♠ A J ♥ Q 3 2 ♦ A K J 8 5 3 ♣ Q 5
♠ Q 8 7 ♥ K 10 9 ♦ 10 9 6 2 ♣ J 7 6	N W E S	♠ 10 6 4 3 ♥ J 6 4 ♦ 7 4 ♣ 10 9 3 2
	♠ K 9 5 2 ♥ A 8 7 5 ♦ Q ♣ A K 8 4

North is too strong for a 15-17 notrump; add a point at notrump for a six-card suit in a hand with sufficient entries. North opens 1D, South responds 1H and North must decide between 2NT and 3D. If the suit were solid 3NT would be correct. Having bid two suits I'd prefer not to bid notrump with only Qx as a "stopper"; this is different than when you open 1NT without giving the enemy any clues about what to lead. Over 3D South's hand looks like pure gold, the only question is how solid are North's diamonds. The Jack can make a full trick difference and I know of no method of asking about that card! With 16 hcp opposite a jump I think South must proceed to slam; 4NT looks as good as anything. After North shows two Aces or three Key Cards South may as well bid 6NT -- if the diamonds aren't solid perhaps another suit will provide enough tricks. A majority of pairs reached 6NT.

Board 26 East Deals Both Vul	♠ 9 4 ♥ — ♦ K 10 8 7 3 2 ♣ A K 8 6 4
♠ A Q 7 6 5 2 ♥ K 8 6 5 4 ♦ Q 9 ♣ —	N W E S	♠ K J ♥ A Q J 3 2 ♦ A 6 5 ♣ J 7 2
	♠ 10 8 3 ♥ 10 9 7 ♦ J 4 ♣ Q 10 9 5 3

East opens 1H or 1NT; the argument for opening 1H is that you probably have a fit there; the disadvantage is that after a raise and a game try, you may find 3H to be worse than 1NT. I wouldn't worry about the Jxx of clubs but the doubleton spade is an issue -- if responder is 5-2 in the majors, you'll be transferred to the wrong strain. Still, the points in the short suit suggests notrump and that would be my choice. If you do open 1H I wouldn't make a game try unless 2H is played as a "constructive" raise (about 8-10) as part of a 1NT forcing structure.

West should have a method for showing both majors; simplest and best IMO is to transfer to spades followed by 3H. This shows a game-forcing 5-5 as responder should begin with 2C on a 5-4 hand. However, I think 2C, Stayman, is a better approach here. Four card support for either major improves West's hand tremendously; otherwise, the six card suit will usually be the best choice for trumps. East replies in hearts and now West can think about slam -- as little as Kx AQxx Kxx xxxx will be enough and that's only 12 hcp. If the partnership plays splinters, a jump to 4C may help. A popular expert treatment is to play 3S here as an artificial bid agreeing hearts as trumps and showing slam interest. Lacking any special agreements West can simply bid 4NT and proceed to slam unless there are clearly too many Aces or key card missing. On today's hand East replies with two Aces or two key cards plus the Queen of trumps and West should proceed with 6H.

Our bidding began 1NT-2H; 2S-3H, and East raised to 4H. West's bidding shows at least 5-5 shape and 9+ hcp; East's cards are gold and I think East can try a 4D control bid. In any case, over 4H, West continues with 4S. This is unmistakeably a slam try; there is no point in West showing hearts and then trying to switch back to spades. Now East should certainly bid 5D and West can bid slam.

Key principle: a player who makes a slam try beyond game is not worried about strength, just controls. If you need partner to have both extra strength and the right controls for slam and can't find that out below game, forget it. The five level is reasonably safe when you have the "stuff" for twelve tricks. If  instead the combined assets only rate to take 11 tricks, remember that's an average and you will often go down at five. Therefore, when West moves beyond 4H, East should show the diamond control.

Sunday, November 30th 2014

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Board 6 East Deals E-W Vul	♠ 10 9 6 ♥ Q 5 3 ♦ 9 7 5 3 ♣ 7 6 2
♠ K Q ♥ 10 8 6 2 ♦ A K J 8 6 ♣ J 4	N W E S	♠ 7 5 4 2 ♥ A 7 ♦ 2 ♣ A K Q 9 5 3
	♠ A J 8 3 ♥ K J 9 4 ♦ Q 10 4 ♣ 10 8

East opens 1C, West responds 1D, East rebids 1S. The natural bid for West would be 3NT (or 2NT, if that's played as forcing), but is 10xxx a stopper? I wouldn't think so if North or South had bid the suit, but with no such overcall I would gamble on partner having help or no five card length. East has perhaps an extra trick but not enough to venture beyond 3NT. As it happens, the Queen of diamonds can be ruff out so the suit provides an unlikely four tricks at a club slam. The field sensibly bid 3NT.

Many players are in the habit of responding 1H on a hand like West's. This is an extreme treatment sometimes called "Walsh"; the most common expert approach is to skip over diamonds only with less than game-going values. Others prefer a more up-the-line approach, bidding diamonds unless the suit is poor and/or the hand can easily be described by a minimum rebid in notrump. In any case, if it's your habit to bid a major before diamonds, be sure to check the box "Frequently bypass 4+ diamonds" on the convention card. No alert is required. When you do skip over diamonds, be aware that you can't show longer diamonds than hearts later -- a sequence like 1C-1H; 2C-2D; 2NT-3D suggests 5-5 shape, not 4-5. The logic of skipping over diamonds is that you expect to play notrump rather than search for a diamond fit, and that it may be advantageous to conceal the suit from the opponents. With four or five diamonds and a weak hand that's often true. But with six diamonds your best spot is probably diamonds, not notrump, and with 12+ hcp there may well be a slam, so I've never been convinced "majors first" is the best approach. With West's hand I'd be happy to raise hearts if partner bid them but I'd rather not mention them myself.

Board 21 North Deals N-S Vul	♠ A Q J 2 ♥ Q 9 5 4 ♦ 6 2 ♣ K 7 5
♠ 10 7 5 ♥ J 10 ♦ 10 8 4 ♣ Q J 6 4 2	N W E S	♠ 9 6 3 ♥ 7 ♦ K Q J 9 3 ♣ 10 9 8 3
	♠ K 8 4 ♥ A K 8 6 3 2 ♦ A 7 5 ♣ A

North opens 1C; East should jump to 2D weak -- the vulnerability, shape, internal suit strength and high offense/low defense nature of the hand make up for the missing 6th trump. Some might overcall 1D but this is below the usual standard (typically 8 hcp) and, as the bid takes up no bidding room, seems pointless. If East passes South may have available a strong 2H jump. The bidding may proceed:
1C-2H
3H-4NT (Blackwood)
5D-5NT
6D-? South has five losers; length or the trump Queen are likely to cover one of those, and partner is known to have an Ace and a King. An opening bid can be expected to have at least one more trick so slam is obvious. Since there is no sure loser it's usually right to play in the suit contract, hoping for an extra chance at an overtrick; if there were 12 likely tricks at notrump and a likely loser, 6NT would be correct.

Playing RKCB, South can bid 5S over North's 5D to ask about the Queen; North replies "yes" and, depending on agreements, may be able to bid 6C to show both the trump Queen and the King of clubs. That doesn't make things any more obvious so 6H still looks like the best spot. Really, the key to the grand slam is four spade tricks, which would require South to show North the King of spades. Perhaps a 3S control bid before employing 4NT would be effective.

After a simple 1H response:
1C-1H
2H-2S (game try: at least 3 spades including one or two top honors)
4H-4NT (despite minimum values, North likes his spade cards)
5D-5NT
6D-6H or 7H -- South knows North has extras

After a 2D jump: (E/W pass afterward, though a 3D raise won't affect things much)
1C-(2D)-2H
3H-3S (control bid/slam try)
I prefer control bids on Aces and Kings rather than singletons or voids, where practical; this helps tremendously on hands like this where North's hand improves when South shows the King of spades. You can't always stick to this rule but here South must have a powerful hand and so would have other options with a singleton or void in spades. Continuing:
4C-4NT
5D-5S (one key card; Queen ask)
6C -- this normally shows the Queen of trumps plus the King of clubs -- but North has already shown that King. Perhaps this should promise extra values, inviting 6NT or 7 of something. Another possibility is for North to bid 6NT, under the assumption that South must have been willing to play at least 5NT if North denied the Queen. I really wouldn't expect to reach a grand slam in any of my partnerships but it's interesting to think about these bids.

Finally, for all the "1430" bidders: the point of inverting the 5C and 5D responses to RKCB is to leave more room for the Queen ask when the reply is one key card. I've been startled to learn that many players have adopted "1430" without the Queen ask! RKCB is designed to learn about six "prime" or "critical" cards: the four Aces and the King and Queen of trumps. The idea is that slam will usually be poor (worse than a finesse) if you are missing any two of those six cards. "1430" adds several pitfalls and complications that, on balance, make it worse than plain RKCB in my opinion; if you don't use the Queen ask, there is no reason to play "1430" at all!

A "1430" auction:
1C-1H
2H-4NT
5C-5D ( 1 or 4 key cards; Queen ask)
6C-6H (Q of hearts + King of clubs)

Well, no help this time. But sometimes a 5H reply to 5D, denying the Queen, would allow stopping at 5H, while the "0314" scheme might land you in 5NT or hoping for a 2-2 split at 6H. On the other hand:
(1) When the weaker hand is asking, the "0314" scheme is often better.
(2) If the opps interfere over 4NT, how do you handle it? An online poll showed that half the players using "1430" thought double of interference equaled the first step, 1 or 4, while the other half assumed that DOPI means double = 0, pass = 1, same as usual. Adopting "1430" with no discussion of interference is a disaster waiting to happen. I recommend that DOPI means what it says; there is no space difference between double and pass so there is no reason to invert the responses. But if you choose to do so, don't check the DOPI box, write "DFPS" instead -- Double First step, Pass Second.

One pair bid 7H and the rest 6H; not often the entire field bids slam. All took the obvious 13 tricks. On this occasion 6NT would've been better than 6H, but with only 30 hcp that would be difficult to find.

Board 26 East Deals Both Vul	♠ 9 7 5 2 ♥ 10 7 ♦ 9 8 6 ♣ K 6 5 3
♠ A K 8 6 ♥ 3 ♦ A K 7 3 2 ♣ A J 9	N W E S	♠ J 10 3 ♥ A K Q J 9 5 2 ♦ Q ♣ Q 7
	♠ Q 4 ♥ 8 6 4 ♦ J 10 5 4 ♣ 10 8 4 2

East opens 1H. A strong jump to the three level doesn't leave much room for figuring out where to play, so it's sound policy to avoid such jumps on a hand with a side suit. On the other hand a 2/1 response promises a better hand than a nebulous one bid, so there is less need to jump. West responds 2D. East jumps to 3H; while the scattered side cards are of dubious value, one or two of them are likely to be useful and so the hand is clearly worth more than seven tricks. West doesn't want to risk being passed at 3NT; a 3S bid, whatever it means, keeps the ball rolling. (3S should be assumed to be a notrump stopper; East is unlikely to skip over a spade suit for the jump.) East repeats the hearts and now West can proceed with 4NT. East replies 5D (one Ace) or 5S (two key cards + Queen). West should now bid 5NT to confirm all the Aces or all six critical cards. East can now assume his hand is worth at least eight tricks and reasonably bid 7H, planning to ruff a diamond if needed to set up the suit. If East merely replies "no Kings", West is strong enough for 6NT, which may be safer and/or higher-scoring than 6H.

Another rare everyone-in-slam hand. Most pairs reached 6NT, so 6H scored poorly.