| Board 27 South Deals None Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
West opens 1D; East has a classic strong jump shift (2H.) If this promises five or more hearts and denies a side suit, West raises and East drives to slam, likely by way of 4NT (Blackwood or RKCB.) East's singleton diamond suggests some wasted values, but it's not hard to visualize a laydown 12 tricks opposite a hand similar to opener's actual holding: AQ of spades, K of hearts and the Queen of clubs -- 11 working high cards. If West were stronger in diamonds, the suit would provide a discard or two for East's black suit losers.
Playing a more flexible style of jump shifts, 2H does not promise a five card suit and West rebids 2NT. On this particular auction East can be assured of at least a small doubleton in support, since with a singleton heart West would perforce have four spades, 5-4 in the minors or six diamonds and would have a clear alternative to 2NT as a rebid. East rebids the hearts, setting trumps, and having limited his hand, West is worth a 3S control bid, which should lead to slam. My partner and I fumbled this one when I raised 3H to 4H, thinking that would be encouraging, while partner felt he had shown his hand and that I was putting on the brakes.
Not playing strong jumps, East responds 1H, West rebids 1NT, and East continues with a gadget 2C (New Minor Forcing.) Even if a jump to 3H would be forcing it is unlikely that West will do more than simply raise to game, so East wants a chance to set trumps and enlist West's help in the slam hunt. West shows delayed (three-card) support; East bids 2S -- ostensibly a game try. West likes his AQ in that suit plus the King of hearts and leaps to game. That should be plenty enough encouragement for East and again 4NT insures that the partnership is not missing two Aces or Key Cards.
Four of nine pairs bid this excellent slam, a laydown unless North has a black suit void or South has a stiff diamond.
Side comment: partnerships who do not play gadgets such as New Minor Forcing and Fourth Suit Forcing should absolutely play strong jump shifts. Taking care of your own good hands should be a high priority.
| Board 28 West Deals N-S Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
North opens 1H; "Ask Jerry" made the point recently that an opening one bid does not promise or require any particular suit quality. You should view a poor suit as a minor flaw, not an excuse to completely distort your shape. South has a fine limit jump raise, suggesting about 11-12 in value or about 3.5 "cover cards." North counts 4 or 4.5 losers, depending on whether the jump promised four trumps; either way, that should be enough firepower for slam. This hand is an advertisement for Roman Key Card Blackwood -- North is interested in the top trumps and the Ace of spades and not much else. South replies 5S (2 Key Cards plus the Queen of trumps) and North confidently bids slam despite the crummy suit. Playing simple Blackwood North would do better to cue bid (3S or 4C depending on style) and South should realize he has what partner wants; 4NT confirms opener has two Aces and again 6H is reached.
Turns out slam is a bit dicey -- without an opening spade lead, declarer must hope West has the Ace of spades. This makes slam a better than 50% proposition, however, as sometimes East will lead spades and solve the problem. Six pairs bid and made slam.
| Board 30 East Deals None Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
East opens 1H. While West is strong enough for a strong jump to 3C, such three level jumps are best played as denying a side suit -- there just isn't room enough to explore below the critical point of 3NT. A 2C bid is reasonably strong, however, even playing Standard, so the jump isn't as important. Over 2C East chooses his rebid from among 2H, 3C and 3H. 2H is best played as ambiguous but forcing; it's what opener does when nothing else looks right. 3C and 3H should be game forcing, about 15+ in value opposite responder's 11+ or so. The 10 and 9 bolster the good major and I liked my partner's 3H jump. I continued with 3S, basically inviting partner to bid 3NT with a diamond stopper; opener would've rebid 2S rather than 3H with a spade suit so there was little risk of spades being raised. Partner took a preference back to 4C and I felt confident heading to slam. Over my 4NT partner's 5C showed 0 or 3 key cards; zero wasn't consistent with his strong jump. I could count 10 obvious tricks just based on partner's key cards and expected the hearts suit and partner's strong bidding to provide enough for grand slam. Perhaps that was a bit overconfident -- a singleton in any suit could've been real trouble, but as is I was able to ruff two diamonds, cash the King of trumps and return to hand safely to finish pulling trumps. The Jack of clubs would've improved the odds quite a lot. Only three pairs bid any slam, so while 7C scored a top it probably wasn't worth the risk.
No comments:
Post a Comment