Sunday, July 6th 2014

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

East opens 1S. West has slam interest but with two suits to show should start with 2H rather than a strong jump to 3H. East rebids 2NT; in Standard this is best played as 12-13 hcp and usually 5233 shape (doubleton heart) as here. In 2/1 the range can be a bit wider, 12-14. With a combined 29 or 30 hcp and no fit, West simply raises to 3NT. The recap says 12 tricks can be made at notrump but this appears to involve guessing the spades correctly and then some sort of squeeze. At the table four pairs bid slam, two going down, while two declarers took all the tricks and one managed twelve.

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

North may pass given the unfavorable vulnerability, or open 1C or 3C according to taste. 3C may be a bit rich but this hand has 13 Goren points and two quick tricks, or equivalently meets the Rule of 20, so I would open -- it may be safer to do that than try to back in later. North has a comfortable 2C rebid so things should not get out of hand, but I suspect most passed as North. East opens or overcalls 1S; even after deducting a point for no Ace this qualifies as an opening bid. The vulnerability silences South. West has a fine hand for a strong jump shift (3H), planning to support spades later. If that treatment isn't available, a 2H response will do. Note that in constructive bidding (nothing but passes from the opponents) a strong hand does not raise immediately with only three-card support -- the fourth trump can be crucial for slam purposes. Having passed, North should not dream of bidding at this point -- an original 3C opening would be far safer than bidding "in a sandwich" between two strong hands.

Some plausible auctions:
1S-3H; 4H-4S; 4NT-5C/5D/5S (whatever shows 3); 6H. East's minimum inproves in light of the heart fit.
1S-2H; 3H-3S; 4H or 4S (to protect the King of clubs); 4NT-5C/5D (whatever shows zero Aces or one key card);
6H (known strong trump suit)-pass or 6S
(1C)-1S-2H; as above
(1C)-1S-(pass)-2C; (dbl)-2H; 4H-pass -- it would be easy to miss slam after an undescriptive 2C

No one bid slam and declarer needs all thirteen tricks for a decent score. Most popular was 4H by West. Leading a suit headed by the AQJ is unappealing but any double-fit auction will suggest that North must attack. Ace of clubs, Queen of clubs doesn't cost anything and prevents the vital overtrick. Even if West had the King of clubs South could not get in to lead them and the club trick will disappear on any other lead.

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

After East opens 1C, I hope West has a forcing raise available! "Inverted minors" are a popular choice, but are quite disaster-prone and not recommended for casual or novice partnerships. The convention card has a checkbox for "J/S in other minor" as a forcing raise; I actually prefer "3 other minor" so you don't lose the useful 1C-2D jump shift.

Playing "J/S other minor", the bidding starts 1C-2D. This denies interest in playing another suit; new suits are used to show stoppers, aiming at 3NT. East rebids 2S and West shows his balanced shape with 2NT. East is content to raise to 3NT but West can still visualize slam opposite a minimum such as East's actual hand today. East would pass an invitation such as a quantitative 4NT (not Ace-asking if you follow the sensible rule "notrump over notrump is natural") so West must view his control-rich hand and good club spots favorably enough to bid 6C or 6NT himself. With 30 or 31 hcp this is a bit of a stretch, but the known fit helps. Five of nine pairs bid slam, with one going down.

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

Despite the poor suit, most will open West's 3 Quick Trick, Goren 14/Rule of 20 hand. North does not have a vulnerable, two-level overcall (which should essentially promise an opening bid) but the good suit makes an aggressive 3D jump attractive. East jumps to 4S whatever North does; the two doubletons aren't quite the expected singleton, but the trump support is rather good. South enters the fray with 5C and West competes with 5S, liking the void. Only one pair reached slam and no declarer managed the twelve tricks shown on the recap. It looks like declarer would need to pull trumps, ruff the two clubs, cash the three red suit winners and then endplay South with a third round of hearts.