Saturday morning May 25, 2007

This technique was covered in my last Getting to Slam class last month at Riverchase Presbyterian. South is in control of the hand, holding an opening hand and limit raise support in trumps, but too strong for 1S-3S. If you play Jacoby 2NTs, this is a good application of the convention. I recommend a splinter bid, as discussed in class. This unusual double jump shows 4+ trump support, an opening hand, slam interest, and shortness in the bid suit. North has nothing to bid but 4 spades. It's South who probes with 5 clubs showing control. North chimes in with his diamond control at 4D, which encourages South to show his heart control. From North's perspective, he can count 10+ trump and all four aces, so the jump to small slam in spades is not out of the question, regardless of points. Again, Points Schmoints. A club lead offers a failing finesse but with a backup finesse if necessary to make the contract. Fortunately, declarer doesn't lose two 50% chances and gets his 980 while his competitors mire in the 4S muck.

Saturday morning May 25, 2007

OK, you asked. The auction is control bidding after the second round. Once hearts are agreed to be trumps, West bids his club ace, followed by East's diamond ace. This takes care of the singleton minors. Since you can't cue the ace of trumps (the agreed-upon trump suit has to be a parking spot in order to pass) West cues the ace of spades. East in turn echos a second-round control in clubs, telling West he has a singleton or king. West does the same in diamonds. With control of the hand now shifted back to West, East parks at 5 hearts. West knows the team has all four aces and three singleton suits (spades, clubs and diamonds). It's a risk I think only real experts would take in a knockout championship, but West rises to 7 hearts. With the bidding, a trump lead might be best.

The trump lead is won by the 8 in hand. West clears the clubs with the ace, then gets the news when he floats a low club to the board, West's jack of trump forcing out the king. A spade back to West, who trumps another club. A spade back to a high trump, then the ten gathers South's last trump. North had 1 club, which means South started with six. South also had 2 hearts and followed to two rounds of spades as did North. There was nothing in either set of NS discards indicating spades were anything but split evenly, which leaves South with only 1 diamond. If it's the stiff king, it will something he'll talk about for the rest of his life. West successfully finesses the queen of diamonds and discards his last club on the ace, making 7.

Saturday morning May 25, 2007

Forget that clubs makes also makes 7. The key bid is West's first one. What to do? Sixteen HCP and three aces which partner doesn't know about; which means West is in control. Most novice and intermediate players use a jump-shift as a strong hand, even when forced to ignore an overcall. Use the jump-shift in hearts to show that strong hand and a biddable suit. Key bid coming up. East will be tempted to resume control of the hand by bidding 4C. Instead, use the double-jump in spades to show shortness in spades and a limit raise or better in partner's suit. This is a splinter bid. Regardless whether it's clubs or hearts, declarer will still have to take the same heart finesse as the cards lay. Get the extra 70 points for hearts instead of clubs.

Saturday morning May 25, 2007

Once South picks his jaw off the ground, he needs to resist the temptation to barge on up the ladder too quickly; instead he needs to concentrate on not giving partner an opportunity to pass the hand out. Stayman pokes at finding spades as trump, but fails. His three spade bid lies (doesn't have 5) but he knows partner isn't going to pass. The 4 diamond bid over the 3NT is the first indication to opener that partner may have something decent. In this case 4D is a real suit, followed by two cue bids. North's 5NT asks partner to pick 6NT or 7NT. In this case our South had meat for breakfast and went for the grand salami. With 14 tricks to be had, no brain cells were hurt on the play.

Saturday morning May 25, 2007

Perhaps the most entertaining hand of the day! Not much on scientific Standard American bridge but a great whack-whack-rewhack bidding sequence. South's failure to jump to three hearts on her first bid allowed West to enter spades into the fray. Seven hearts down two doubled would have been a good sacrifice! North's ace of hearts is trumped. West starts to get a little pumped. "I can make this!" What started out as sacrifice now is real. Trumps are quickly drawn, back in hand for the new sport Running the Ten of Diamonds. Yes! The king is quickly captured and the doubled slam brought home. Well done!

Saturday morning May 25, 2007

I put this out here because one day before we go to the Big Table in the Sky, you too may be North and pull 9 spades to the A-K-Q-J-10-x-x-x-x. The proper way to bid this is with a 2C opener. 2C-3C, 3S-4H (denying controls in clubs or diamonds). This should wake North up to the very real possibility that he'll lose two diamonds off the top, which means he should stop at 5 spades. Oh, well. A bridge hand only takes 7 minutes. All six tables made 7 spades, three bidding the slam. Looking at East's hand, the Q of hearts or 4 of clubs looks like the obvious leads, neither working. Only a small diamond will do the trick. Luck is part of the game!