Friday August 23rd 2013

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

North opens 2H in third seat, catching East with a shapely 18 count. East starts with a takeout double; South should pass – the enemy have 24+ hcp and the 6-2 heart fit does not provide safety above the two level. West bids 3D. Playing lebensohl, this suggests 7-10 hcp; a weaker hand would start with 2NT. Not playing lebensohl, East must guess at West’s strength; adding his 18 to an average of 8 for North leaves 14 hcp outstanding, so playing West for about 7 hcp seems right. East counts roughly five losers (a spade, two diamonds and a club) and 7 hcp (probably not in hearts) should cover two; not enough for slam. However, South’s failure to raise suggests West may have four hearts; along with four diamonds that insures a ruffing value in one of the black suits. This is the sort of hand where bidding a slam seems aggressive but you shouldn’t be too surprised if it makes.

East continues with a 3H cue-bid to gain more infomration; West, with an efficient 1-point heart stopper bids 3NT, which should be the final contract. Declarer starts the diamonds with the King, playing the partner of the preemptor for a possible AJx; 10 tricks should be routine.

My partner chose to be optimistic; North led the King of hearts against 6D. Dummy’s Ace won perfoce and South covered the King of trumps with the Ace and of course North’s Jack was smothered. A ruffing finesse set up two heart tricks for a top. 3NT making four scored six out of nine.

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

East opens 1H and South leaps to 2NT, unusual for the minors. With a known 5-5 fit, five losers and excellent controls, West wants to be in slam as long as East has two useful key cards. Although standard advice is “don’t use Blackwood with a void” since you can’t be sure which Aces partner has, I figured that the enemy would not allow us a leisurely auction with their huge club fit. Some might simply blast 6H but I also reasoned that if partner had only one key card, he could not have the two I needed! Over my 4NT, North tried to gum up our bidding with 5C. DOPI to the rescue! It rarely comes up, but when someone bids over 4NT, the standard agreement is Double Zero Pass One (D0P1, or “dopey”.) With two or more key cards or Aces, partner bids up the line to show 2,3,4 or 5. Partner correctly bid 5D here and had no problems at 6H.

DOPI, by the way, is one reason I dislike the “1430” variant of key card asking – an online poll showed that half of those playing “1430” believed that, having agreed “DOPI”, they really meant “Double = first step, Pass = Second”, i.e., Double = 1 or 4, Pass = 0 or 3. I can see no great advantage in that agreement, but I wouldn’t call it DOPI; call it DFPS if you like. Or simply play straight up DOPI.

Side note: DEPO means “Double Even, Pass Odd”; this was Dorothy Truscott’s original gadget but is now commonly used when the enemy bids 5NT or higher, leaving no bid at the five level to show two. “ROPI” means Redouble Zero, Pass One; next time you think you can beat 4NT (i.e., you are on lead with a strong suit) try doubling to see if they get this right.

Board 24:

Board 24 West Deals None Vul	♠ A K Q 10 8 7 4 3 ♥ A ♦ 7 ♣ K 9 6
♠ J 9 ♥ Q J 10 9 8 7 5 3 ♦ Q 6 ♣ 3	N W E S	♠ 6 5 2 ♥ K 6 ♦ 9 5 4 3 ♣ J 10 8 4
	♠ — ♥ 4 2 ♦ A K J 10 8 2 ♣ A Q 7 5 2

West opens with a heart preempt; applying the rule of 2, 3 and 4, 3H would be correct at equal vulnerability. However, with an 8 card suit and virtually no defense I would try 4H. Either way, North cannot really portray his 9 ½ trick hand. Can you think of a way to get partner to bid slam with the AQ of clubs and no spades? Over 3H, North can try 4NT and bid slam if partner shows an Ace. But over 4H, 4NT is more useful as a two-suited takeout bid, and North may simply take the near-certain plus at 4S. If North is allowed to use Blackwood, South’s two Aces and one King makes 7NT standout. Only one pair bid slam.

Board 27 South Deals None Vul	♠ K Q J 6 ♥ K ♦ A 10 8 6 3 2 ♣ 9 2
♠ A 10 4 3 ♥ 10 7 6 2 ♦ 9 5 ♣ J 10 8	N W E S	♠ 9 8 5 2 ♥ Q J 5 4 3 ♦ 7 ♣ K 6 3
	♠ 7 ♥ A 9 8 ♦ K Q J 4 ♣ A Q 7 5 4

South opens 1C. With game-forcing values, North should respond 1D, planning to bid the spades next, whether or not the pair plays an up-the-line style. This pays off when South jump raises to 3D. North must now decide between 6D and (if South has help in hearts) 3NT. With 6 losers and the King of hearts as a plus value (it may be useful if partner has the Ace but not King of clubs and either the Ace or Queen of hearts) slam looks promising. Visualizing, South might have Ax xxx KQxx AKxxx, making slam a near laydown. An immediate 4NT (trusting partner to control the clubs) is probably the simplest approach, but this may a bit pushy. To invite slam, North can try 3S, an apparent notrump probe. South, with a heart stopper, bids 3NT; now, when North pulls that to 4D, his earlier 3S bid can be re-interpreted as a slam try. It woudl make no sense for North to explore for 3NT and then retreat to a part-score, so this should be a clear slam try, but be sure partner is on the same page before you try this!

South has an excellent hand for slam and cue-bids 4H; now North can reasonably proceed with 4NT. South replies with two Ace or three key cards; North bids 6D. (What about the Queen asking bid? Most variants of this will not allow stopping short of slam; I, personally, like to play that 5H asks and 5 of the agreed suit denies the Queen; when the asking bid is above the suit, as here, 5NT denies and North could pass that on this auction. But this does not appear to be a well-known variant.)

Against 6D East tries the Queen of hearts; North pulls trumps and collects two spades, a spade ruff, two hearts, six diamonds and a club. 6NT makes on the club finesse but only one pair bid slam so playing the safer 6D is clearly superior.

Mentor-Mentee August 6th, 2013

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

South has a normal 1H opening -- 11 hcp + 2 for a six card suit, open if the total is 13 or more. Although the AJ tight of spades is a flaw, the good intermediates (three tens, especially the ten of hearts) offsets that. Those who think they need 12 hcp for an opening bid will open 2H. North has a 21 point monster, 6 1/2 tricks plus length in two suits. 21+ 12 = 33, so North should drive to at least a small slam unless some fatal flaw is uncovered. North can start with 2C and plan to rebid in diamonds. South rebids 2H; many players assume this promises extra length but most experts treat opener's rebid as a default action, lacking the ability to bid anything more descriptive. In particular, either 2S or 3C normally shows extra values (15+ or so) and opener will not always be suitable for 2NT. (Those who play 2H promises six card length must rebid 2NT on lots of minimum hands with or without stoppers in the unbid suits.)

Over 2H, North continues as planned with 3D; a bedrock principle of standard bidding is that a new suit-over-suit bid by a responder who has never passed is 100% forcing. Think about this North hand next time you are tempted to pass such a bid! Here, South can repeat the hearts or, if 2H already promised six card length, bid 3NT since he has the spades stopped. The hearts are self-sufficient so rebidding hearts is reasonable in any case. Now North can be confident of a heart fit; ideally, he'd like to know if South has spades under control, but there aren't a lot of high cards around for South to have an opening bid without a high spade. Since any heart raise could be passed North bids 4NT, Blackwood or Roman Key Card. South replies 5D (one Ace) or 5S (two key cards plus the Queen of trumps.) North continues with 5NT, inviting grand slam; this bid confirms all the Aces or all five key cards plus the Queen of trumps. South may and usually does reply with something about Kings, but the crucial part is promising all the Aces or key cards.

South has a minimum so he replies 6D (one King) or 6C (no side Kings, the heart King being included among the key cards.) Blackwood bidders cannot be sure of the trump Queen and should simply bid 6H. Key-carders count a spade trick, six hearts, three diamonds and two clubs; if partner has the Queen or only two clubs there should be a good play for grand slam, but I wouldn't risk it. The last question is whether to bid 6NT (12 running tricks) or 6H (hoping to set up a 13th trick.) At a team game I'd pick the safer 6NT but at matchpoint pairs 6H gives you a good shot at an overtrick.

Against 6H West does not want to lead from an honor; I'd lead the four of diamonds (4th best.) South wins in dummy, plays the Ace and three more rounds of trumps, cashes the AK of clubs, hoping to ruff out the Queen. When West shows out, declarer lead the Jack of clubs, ruffs East's Queen and thereby promotes the nine of clubs as a 13th trick. The one declarer who tried 7H probably failed by taking the club finesse, only a 50% chance; setting up the clubs by ruffing is better than 80%.

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

Board 21: North opens 1NT (15-17) and South bids 2C, Stayman. This is normal when you have 5-4 or 6-4 in the majors: check on four-card support first. If opener does not have a major you can jump in your longer suit next (to game in this case, since you have six spades.) North replies 2S and now South's hand improves with the known 6-4 fit. South can count 6 losers and at about 3 points per trick, 15 hcp should cover 5 of those, so South is interested in slam. In most partnerships South would simply bid 4NT (Blackwood or keycard) followed by 6S; the values are a bit thin to consider grand slam.

One problem with treating 4NT as an asking bid is what would South do with something like AJx Kxxx Ax KJxx? With a combined 31 to 33 hcp, South would like to bid 4NT as a natural, quantitative slam invitation; how many Aces partner has won't tell you whether you have the 33 hcp for 6NT. Experts use a gadget here (3 other major slam try is one possibility) but that's a bit deep for newer players. Only one pair reached the excellent slam; at our table South began with a transfer, then bid game, never learning about the big 6-4 fit.

East, on lead against 6S after a Stayman sequence, tries the Queen of diamonds, hoping not to see K10x or A10x in dummy. Declarer grabs dummy's Ace, puls two rounds of trumps, and crossruffs clubs and hearts, watching for the King of clubs; when it comes down the Queen provides an overtrick.

Friday, August 2nd 2013

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

East opens 1S; this hand lacks enough controls and sure tricks for 2C, but is far too strong to open a preemptive 4S. It is unlikely that 1S will be passed out and even more unlikely that you can make game if partner passes. South may stick in a Michaels 2S cue-bid, showing hearts and a minor; I prefer a bit more strength but not vulnerable vs. vulnerable 2S is reasonable. West shows a limit or better raise by cue-bidding 3H, the suit South is known to hold. Be sure to discuss this with partner, but it should be obvious West does not want to play where South has five trumps. North, with only three trumps, is too flat for any bid; with a fourth trump and some defense he might try 4H, but must be wary of pushing E/W into game. Some would double with North's hand to say "I've got heart support", but I think this will benefit E/W more often than N/S. I prefer the double of a cue-bid raise to show the Ace or King of partner's suit, since he will almost certainly be on lead against a spade contract. North passes and East counts 5 losers (8 likely tricks) with some plus values; there might be slam opposite, say, xxx xxx Axxx AQx. West can cue-bid 4C (if the partnership allows cue-bids to be either first or second round controls, which I recommend) or blast 4NT followed by 6S when West shows two Aces or key cards. The scientific cue-bid produces 4H by West; with no diamond control East settles for 4S and an alert South leads a diamond. The less elegant 4NT forces South to guess; underleading a King against a freely bid slam is unappealing, but a club or heart allows East to dump two losers and claim 12 tricks. Note that on other layouts the diamond lead could be disastrous. Of course South could as easily have had the Ace or AK in diamonds, so I think on average the scientific approach pays.

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

North opens 2C; while two-suited hands can be somewhat awkward to bid, 22 hcp, five quick tricks and both majors headed by AKQ clearly qualifies for the forcing bid. South replies 2D (negative, waiting or semi-positive) or 2H (Steps, 4-6 hcp.) North starts with 2S; the 2C opening insures his bids are forcing until a suit is bid and rebid. South raises to 3S, showing support, a trick or two, and some slam control; with no control of either side suit and no more than one top trump South should raise straight to 4S. As with board 6, opener can begin cue-bidding to discover the diamond problem, or bash with 4NT. Six of ten pairs stopped at 4 or 5 spades while 4 bid slam, three failing on the obvious diamond lead. A good bidding sequence: 2C-2D; 2S-3S; 4C-4H; 4S-pass, North trusting that South would not skip over a diamond control. For those who require first-round control on the first round of cue-bidding, North must continue with 5C and pass when South retreats to 5S. When East leads the King of diamonds, West should drop the Jack to insure partner continues the suit; playing the 6 risks partner worrying about leading into declarer's AJ. If West overtakes he risks finding partner has made an inspired lead from Kx.

Board 11 South Deals None Vul	♠ A 10 6 5 2 ♥ Q 6 ♦ Q 10 9 5 3 ♣ 4
♠ K 9 7 3 ♥ 9 8 5 4 ♦ 6 ♣ Q 10 9 5	N W E S	♠ Q J 8 4 ♥ K 3 ♦ J 4 2 ♣ K 8 3 2
	♠ — ♥ A J 10 7 2 ♦ A K 8 7 ♣ A J 7 6

South opens 1H and is not encouraged by partner's 1S response. Best is to rebid 2D, planning to follow with 3C if possible; bidding 2C instead may lose the diamond suit in a confusing fourth-suit auction. North raises to 3D; in general, responder should try to give opener another chance when opener bids two suits and responder has 8+ hcp, as South's 2D bid has a wide range. With fewer diamonds North could take a simple preference to 2H. Don't worry about the fifth spade -- if partner has 3541 shape and enough to bid again, he'll bid 3S over 3D. As it is, the raise improves South's hand; there may be a good crossruff in the majors. However, any move toward slam will carry the bidding beyond 3NT. An optimistic South values his hand at 20 or so (17 hcp + 3 for the void) or four losers (expecting partner to have no more than two hearts) while a pessimist assumes some wasted values in spades. Several Souths declared at 3NT and that seems a practical call at matchpoints. Visualizing, North might have xxxx Kx Qxxxx Kx, but fewer diamonds or some wastage in spades might leave you short of 12 tricks. If South decides to push on, 4C is the obvious move; North's 4S is not encouraging, but as we see from the scoring, 5D loses out to 3NT, 4H,  and 6D.

At 6D, South pulls trumps and runs the Queen of hearts. East covers and South can ruff one heart to set up the suit, finishing with one spade, five hearts (including the ruff), four diamonds in hand, a club and a club ruff. The recap claims 7D can be made but offhand I don't see a likely line.

Saturday Afternoon, July 27th 2013 (NLM Tournament)

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Board 24 West Deals None Vul	♠ Q 7 6 3 ♥ Q 8 ♦ 10 9 8 5 ♣ Q 8 5
♠ J 8 ♥ K J 10 ♦ A 7 3 ♣ K 10 6 3 2	N W E S	♠ A K 10 9 ♥ A 9 6 5 3 ♦ K J 4 ♣ 4
	♠ 5 4 2 ♥ 7 4 2 ♦ Q 6 2 ♣ A J 9 7

West opens 1C; you might look askance at the unguarded spade jack but I recommend opening any hand with 12 hcp including an Ace or three Kings. East has a nice hand but no slam interest until a fit can be found, 1H is the normal response. West should rebid either 1NT or 2S depending on the partnership attitude toward 3-card raises of responder's major; the club suit is too ratty to rebid if any reasonable alternative exists. Over 1NT East may simply raise to 3NT; or he may trot out New Minor Forcing (2D) to check on a heart fit. West bids 2H to show delayed support; the 5-3 fit is not enough to chase slam and East simply raises to game.

If West raises instead East is more optimistic -- there may be a nine-card fit. East bids 2S as a game try; he will try to show slam ambitions later. West has help in spades but a minimum and uncertainty about a fit -- partner could be 4-4 in the majors. West bids 2NT to suggest only three trumps and minimum values. Again, 4H looks right for East. No pair reached slam.

South has no attractive lead. Placing 24 or more hcp with the enemy, partner rates to have six to nine. When I do not expect partner to have at least 8 hcp I try to make a safe lead; a trump may be as good as anything, as the auction has not pointed to any great discard threat from dummy. Unfortunately this saves declarer a guess, but that might have been true in any suit. Declarer counts three or four spades, five trumps, two or three diamonds and perhaps a club; there is also the chance of setting up the fifth club in dummy. A reasonable line would be to pull trumps, ending in dummy, and run the Jack of spades. North covers and now declarer leads up to the King of clubs; that sets up twelve tricks. As it happens the same line scores +480 at hearts or +490 at notrump, but most declarers settled for eleven tricks.

Board 27 South Deals None Vul	♠ 5 3 ♥ A K Q 8 5 ♦ Q 10 7 4 ♣ A 8
♠ K J 6 ♥ 10 3 2 ♦ 5 3 ♣ J 7 6 5 3	N W E S	♠ Q 9 8 4 2 ♥ 9 6 4 ♦ J 8 ♣ K 10 9
	♠ A 10 7 ♥ J 7 ♦ A K 9 6 2 ♣ Q 4 2

South opens 1D and North responds 1H or possibly a strong 2H. North should certainly be thinking slam in either hearts or diamonds; in most styles a fit must exist since opener will either have 4 diamonds or three or four hearts. South rebids in notrump, suggesting a balanced 12-14 (too weak to open 1NT.) After 1D-1H; 1NT North has some difficulty portraying his strength: most play a jump to 3D as invitational (about 11-12) rather than forcing; 3NT would be to play; and the hand isn't strong enough to risk a natural 4NT slam invitation. 3NT will be the practical choice in most partnerships. If "New Minor Forcing" is marked on the convention card, North can bid 2C, forcing and artificial; this shows at least 11 hcp and 5 hearts and asks opener to show 3 card support if he has it. Here South rebids 2D, showing his extra length and denying heart support. The good fit is enough for an optimistic North to push to slam, such as 4NT (Blackwood), 5H (two Aces), 6D. Key-card bidders will get a "0 or 3" reply; could this be 0? Yes, opener could have KQx Jx KJxxx QJx, for example. Playing normal RKCB. the response would be 5C and responder can sign off at 5D. Opener should realize that, having limited his hand to the 12-14 range, partner cannot have been expecting four key cards; so it is proper in this case for opener to continue to 6D. "1430" bidders have more of a guess; the space-eating 5D reply forces responder to hope for the best. Don't let anyone tell you "1430" is always better; it tends to be better when the responding hand is relatively weak.

If North started with a strong 2H, South rebids 2NT and now North can simply rebid 3D, showing hearts, diamonds and slam interest. South is eager to cooperate with his wealth of key cards; a 3S cue-bid looks right. Now North can jump to 4NT with no worries about two fast spade losers, and, if playing Roman Key Card, no doubt that partner's "0 or 3" reply means 3. Two level strong jumps often simplify the auction.

At 6D declarer wins any lead, pulls trumps in two rounds and runs the hearts, dumping three black cards. Twelve fast tricks are also available at hearts and notrump, but playing slam in the obvious nine-card fit ties for a top as only two pairs reached slam.

Friday, July 26th 2013

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

 

West has a powerful hand, but not really enough to open 2C when the long suit is a minor. Game is unlikely if partner passes 1D. North may overcall 2C; 8 hcp is a bit light for a two level overcall but 2C over 1D has some preemptive value. East doubles, negative, promising four cards in at least one major and, generally, the ability to handle things if partner bids the other. East has plenty enough strength to simply bid 2H but that would show five-card length; use the negative double when you lack either the length or the strength for a two-level suit bid. South has a great fit for clubs and little defense; with 10 or 11 trumps and a singleton, South should bash 5C not vulnerable. 3C would suggest less shape and some high cards; 4C should also contain some defense, otherwise you may be pushing the enemy into a game you can’t beat. With two unbid major suits, 4C might keep them from finding their fit, but I’d rather maximize the pressure. You can expect partner to take four to six clubs, two ruffs in one hand or the other, and a side trick or two; down 3 doubled may be overly expensive, but often they’ll bid or fail to double or partner’s hand may have additional shape.

 Back to West: with about nine tricks, three key cards in either red suit and a void in clubs, West needs relatively little for slam. If they’ve jammed the bidding at 5C I’d simply try 6D. East, with far more than partner can expect, can raise to 7D.

 At our table N/S were silent; over partner’s 1H West has an excellent hand for a void-showing 5C jump – but partner explained the bid as “natural, at least 5-5 in the minors, 22+ points.” No way – a jump to  3C would be strong, natural, and game-forcing. But 5C could be a 6-6 hand, so I’ll admit 5C risked an accident. I remembered discussing void-jumps but they are rare. Any pair that plays splinters should recognize 4C as a splinter, but if East proceeds with 4NT it may be hard to show a void rather than a singleton. Another possibility would be 4D showing, basically, a hand worth a jump to 3D but also having 4-card heart support. Opener does not need 4D to show a hand with just diamonds. Finally, opener can simply bid 4NT; this isn’t ideal with a void but opener has enough controls for slam even if partner has the wrong Ace.

 Let’s assume 4NT, key card for hearts; East replies 5S, two keys plus the Queen. Now 7H is a standout, since the Queen of diamonds can be ruffed out if partner has only one or two and should drop if he has three. West should nevertheless confirm all the key cards by bidding 5NT; East, knowing the Queen of diamonds is a big card, can bid 6NT (“no Kings, but something extra”) and West chooses either 7H or 7NT. Bidding at least 6NT scored well; one pair is listed as making 7S but I suspect they actually played 7H.

 

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

Board 14: East opens 2C; West should make a positive response in spades. Even if you normally expect two of the top three honors for a positive bid, East’s 11 hcp and two side Aces should be plenty enough for slam. The Jack of spades protects against landing in slam with something like Kxx opposite Qxxxx. “Steps” bidders surprise partner with a rare 2NT (10-12) reply while everyone else should bid a natural, slam-positive 2S. I’m sure several Easts bid a murky 2D, waiting or semi-positive.

 Over 2S East simply bids 2NT, almost always better than 3 of a suit on balanced and semi-balanced hands. Now West counts 33+ hcp and must drive the hand to slam. 6NT is straightforward enough; 5NT “pick a slam” is fine if you’ve discussed it. 5NT over notrump is ALWAYS forcing, since 4NT would be invitational. East passes 6NT, of course; over 5NT, 6H is a possibility but I’d prefer a stronger suit. Even if East does show the hearts I don’t think anyone has a clear 7 bid; 6NT ought to be the popular choice. With both majors behaving 13 tricks are easy. Again, 6NT scored well.

Board 20 West Deals Both Vul	♠ Q 4 ♥ Q 7 5 4 2 ♦ J 7 2 ♣ 10 9 4
♠ J 9 8 7 ♥ A J 9 ♦ K Q 8 ♣ A K Q	N W E S	♠ A K 5 3 ♥ 8 6 ♦ A 10 6 4 ♣ 8 6 2
	♠ 10 6 2 ♥ K 10 3 ♦ 9 5 3 ♣ J 7 5 3

 

 

Board 20: West opens 2NT (20-21) and East bids 3C, Stayman; if a fit exists there may be 12 tricks. West replies 3S and now East ponders slam. Visualizing, opener might have QJxx Axx KQJ AKx and the losing club disappears on a diamond. Or opener might have xxxx KQ KQJx AKQ and you can’t avoid two losers. A key-card auction makes sense; but if 4NT implicitly agrees spades as trumps, what does responder do when he wants to invite slam after opener bids the wrong major?

 A popular gadget over a 1NT Stayman auction is “three other major slam try” and the corollary over 2NT is “four other major slam try.” If you think about it, there is no reason for responder to bid 4H over 3S here without a spade fit. So experts use 4H as a spade raise with slam interest; 4NT, by contrast, denies a fit. This gadget tends to be “self-alerting” since partner should be puzzled why you would bid 4H here. On today’s hand opener does not have anything unusual in terms of slam controls: two key cards, poor trumps, a couple of side Kings. Over the gadget 4H, then, West simply bids 4S. East might give up but I think 4NT is worth the risk, followed by 6S over partner’s 2 Ace or Key-card reply. The same applies if E/W play 2NT-3C; 3S-4NT as Blackwood or key card.

What if you use Puppet Stayman? No problem, West bids 3D “one or both majors”; East bids 3H = spades; West bids 3S to show the fit, and now East can cue-bid 4D or proceed with 4NT. However, I feel Puppet Stayman makes it hard for responder on certain hands such as 5-4 either way in the majors, and gives the enemy the chance to double two artificial bids for a lead.

Against 6S North leads the 10 of clubs, not wanting to break a suit with a high card. The lead hardly matters; declarer cannot escape a heart loser and there is no finesse available in trumps. Perhaps East was too optimistic; but the A-K of trumps drops the Queen and all is well. As it happens 6NT also makes on the lucky fall of the diamond Jack. Five pairs bid slam, two failing.

 

 

 

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

Board 26: North opens 1D and South has a classic 3NT response: 16-17 hcp, some 4333 shape, and not too many slam controls. That ends the bidding in a hurry. Most club players, however, bid 3NT to show 13-15; this often traps opener with an unbalanced hand, and leaves responder no good way to bid today’s hand. I’m sure many simply bid 3NT anyway; 2/1 Game Forcers probably bid 1D-2C; 2NT-3NT. Everything works for declarer; surprisingly,  +690 scored well. You don't always have to bid to the max to score well at matchpoints. On a diamond lead, declarer wins cheaply in hand, crosses to the King of clubs, and leads the ten of hearts while he still has everything under control. 3-3 splits in both hearts and clubs results in 12 tricks.