Click here for results. Unfortunately the hand diagrams do not match the ones we played; they are labeled "Monday Morning." I edited the diagrams below.

Board 1 North Deals None Vul	♠  Q 10 8 ♥ Q 10 ♦ K 9 5 ♣  J 9732
♠  K 5 4 ♥ A J 8 6 ♦ Q J 3 ♣  K Q 8	N W E S	♠  A J 9 3 ♥ K ♦ A 10 8 6 2 ♣  A 6 4
	♠  7 6 2 ♥ 9 7 5 4 3 2 ♦ 7 4 ♣  10 5

I suspect the East/West auction began 1D-1H; 1S at virtually every table -- and that West tanked before rebidding 3NT. Lacking a known fit and with no (legal!) knowledge of West's extra values, East passes. Commonly used American methods are terrible when it comes to finding this sort of slam, because no one thinks about responder having 16 or 17 hip until they're staring at a hand like West's. What to do?

There is a standard treatment for responder having 4333 shape and 16 or 17 hip -- respond 3NT. But doesn't that show 13 to 15? Not according to most experts, as shown in almost any textbook as well as the consensus system "Bridge World Standard." With 13 to 15, responder makes a forcing bid and typically follows with a no-trump rebid (3NT or 2NT depending on the auction and partnership agreements.)

With that agreement, this hand is a snap -- 1D-3NT; 6NT would be quite reasonable with East's control-rich, three Ace beauty. While 1D-3NT on 13-15 will usually be the correct spot, I would guess one hand in four or five belongs somewhere else (5 of a minor, a 4-3 major fit or a slam) and you must resign yourself to missing those (or taking unfair advantage of body language) if you play 1D-3NT as a minimum game force.

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

South opens 1H; an adventurous West might leap to 3D but with scattered values, a tepid 6-card suit and relatively balanced shape I'd pass. North makes a forcing raise; Jacoby 2NT is the popular treatment. In that style opener rebids a singleton, if any; lacking a singleton, opener rebids 4H, 3NT or 3H according to strength. A few write-ups define 3H as 18+, perfect for today's hand, but the most common agreement is 16+ (3NT would show about 14 or 15.) North likely signs off at 4H but South is strong enough to continue -- 6 extra hip generally means two extra tricks so South should not pass 4H. A 4NT inquiry produces a one-Ace or two-keycard "plus the Queen" reply from North. Queen? What Queen? With a known ten-card fit, odds heavily favor dropping the Queen or being able to take an obvious finesse half the time if the suit splits 3-0 so North should reply 5S in Key Card methods. All five key cards and the "Queen" are accounted for, but North's discouraging 4H argues against pursuing a grand slam. What about 6NT? With no expected top or trump losers, it will often pay at matchpoints to play in the suit, giving better chances for an overtrick, so 6H should be the end result. Four pairs bid slam, four settled for game, and one cashed in on a horrible 6C sacrifice.

Back to that 4H bid -- while North has nothing extra, South can have anything short of a 2C opener, so it would be good for North to leave opener some bidding room. A common expert treatment known as "Serious 3NT" calls for North to bid 3NT with serious slam interest and otherwise make a control bid on the way to game (3S or 4D on North's hand today.) I prefer the opposite style, where North bids 3NT to say "I don't see slam but I can cooperate if you have even more" while control bids would be considered Serious.