| Board 3 South Deals E-W Vul |
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South has a fine 1C opening; only 11 hcp but two quick tricks, good shape and good playing strength in clubs. North, with 17 hcp, has obvious slam interest and can flash that message immediately with a jump to 2H. South raises to 3H and North can "pause" at 3NT, suggesting a balanced minimum for his jump shift. This should not be taken as a suggestion to play 3NT after a major suit has been bid and raised, but if partner passes 3NT might score well anyway. South likely retreats to 4H and that ends the bidding. I would not feel bad about missing this 28 point slam, but perhaps South underated the value of the club suit.
Other plausible auctions include 1C-1H; 2H, and North has no obvious way to suggest slam. I would continue with a game try (2S); if opener accepts by bidding game, North can proceed toward slam. South is dead minimum in high cards but Kx is excellent help in spades, South has four trumps including two honors, and the clubs look like a good source of tricks. South can make a counter-try of 3C, asking if his values there will be useful. North is encouraged but should not leap to 4NT -- South has not promised a spade control. Instead, North bids 3D; is this a slam-oriented control bid or yet another game try? I'd say one game try each is enough so South should take it as a control bid and cooperate with 3S. Now North may leap to 4NT and bid slam after South's one Ace or two key card reply.
Another plausible auction would be pass-1NT; 2C-2H; 4H-pass.
| Board 13 North Deals Both Vul |
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North opens 1C; South responds either 1D or 1H according to style. I'd be afraid of missing a diamond slam if I skipped over my best suit; opener should not skip over a major so we won't miss a fit that way. Over either response North rebids 1S and South can raise to either 3S or 4S. It is difficult to know what to do with a void in partner's first suit; generally, you should expect wasted values. Still, game may require no more than 9 or so hcp outside of clubs, such as KQxx Axx xx Kxxx, ruffing two clubs and setting up a heart or diamond or the club King for a tenth trick, so I'd be inclined to bid or force to game. Since opener might have extra values with slam interest, South can suggest the club shortage by bidding the fourth suit (hearts or diamonds) followed by 4S.
North has a huge hand and should be thinking slam over any raise by South. Taking the simplest sequence, 1C-1D; 1S-3S, North bids 4NT followed by 5NT (regular Blackwood, to confirm all the Aces) or 6S (key card, South bidding 5H to show two key cards without the Queen of trumps.)
East leads the unbid suit, say hearts, and North has some work to do. It may be possible to set up the clubs but with five top winners outside of trumps, crossruffing for seven more tricks may be the best line. Double-dummy the diamonds can be set up and East can be finessed in trumps, but that line's chances look worse than 1 in 6.
| Board 17 North Deals None Vul |
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North opens 2NT; South is certain of a spade fit but hearts might be better if North has four. South can bid Stayman and North will generally reply 3H, the better of his two suits. That's great news, but North must have at least two Aces for the five level to be safe. Well, 20-21 plus 8 leaves only 11 or 12 hcp outstanding, so the risk the enemy has three Aces is fairly small. South continues with 4NT (if that's Blackwood or key card) or confirms the trump fit with 3S ("Other major slam try" artificially agreeing hearts as trumps.) North shows the desired three Aces and South bids 6H.
At our table South employed Gerber, 4C, to which North responded 4NT (3 Aces) and South then bid 6S. Had North shown only 1 or 2 Aces South could pass or sign off at 4S. That runs the risk of a spade loser when North has four hearts and only two spades but avoids getting to the five level when missing two Aces.
| Board 24 West Deals None Vul |
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West opens either 1S or 2C; I'd be more inclined to open 2C with a ten in any suit to bolster the playing strength. East responds 2C and West plans to bid slam unless East has no Aces. The simplest route to grand slam would be 5D as Exclusion Blackwood (or Key card), sometimes known as Voidwood, asking partner how many Aces (or key cards) he has outside of diamonds. Not many have that agreement (hands like this are quite rare!) and there may not be a safe landing if East has neither black Ace.
Next on the gadget list would be a 4D splinter, but this will not excite East with his wasted values in diamonds. 4NT, Blackwood or Key Card, is a practical route to slam; if partner shows no Aces, you pass 5C; one Ace, the odds are 2 to 1 it's black so you bid 6C. With 2 Aces you might have a grand slam but the odds are too high one of them is in diamonds; with 3 you can bid the grand. "1430" bidders have a problem -- the 0 or 3 reply takes you past 5C. (One more item on my very long list of "things I hate about 1430".)
West can try to portray his three-suiter by bidding hearts before supporting clubs; 1S-2C; 3H-3NT; 4C looks right. Grand slam may be reached if East bids 4S and West then leaps to 6C; East will realize West could not be sure of the trump Ace and so it must be right to bid seven.
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