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Brian Mace as often seen at the bridge table...with a "concerned" look!

Your Pick of Slams?

Today’s deal also comes from the final of this week’s Open Trial. Before I reveal all, here’s a decision for you as West:

 

 

The first 3 bids are natural with 2 somewhat an underbid though your spade void is no asset and 3 by you would normally promise a strong hand with 5 clubs. You held your breath that partner would find a bid over 2!

They did! 2 is 4^th suit forcing but not game-forcing. However, your 3 (descibed as "5th suit forcing" )  creates a game-force after which 3 shows heart honour doubleton or three small hearts. Your 4 covers as “Last Train” which means you would be prepared to pass 4 if that is what partner chose or else as here a diamond cue-bid. 5NT is “pick a slam”. So, your pick?

The early auction was as described. West was Brian Mace who had to choose. While a void in partner’s long suit is often not an asset, Brian valued it here after initially bidding down his strong hand. He said he could not imagine a hand where his partner did not hold A and could insist on slam. It was also evident to his partner, Malcolm Mayer, that Brian did not hold a club control or else Brian may well have chosen 4 instead of 4. Therefore, Brian placed his partner to hold A and chose 7. This is what he saw after receiving the 3 lead. Hopefully, Malcolm tabled his club suit first!

 

Dummy seemed fine with the only problem being dealing with West’s 4th club. So, Brian won in dummy with A and then played K discarding two clubs. He ruffed a spade and played a heart to dummy’s J. A second spade ruff brought some very welcome news:

With the fall of Q (4 rounds had been played), Brian could draw trumps and discard his remaining small club on the J. He did not even need the favourable diamond lie. Had the Q not fallen, he would still have chances if a defender held K and 4 diamonds headed by the J. Something would have to give in the 4-card ending.

The unlucky Trials runners-up

 
  Lysandra Zheng, Jeremy Fraser- Hoskin, Zachary Yan and Tim Pan...needing 7 more imps, 
  less than a game swing

This was not an easy grand-slam to bid and indeed earnt the Mace team 13 imps in the final when their opponents stayed in small slam. A sequence which started 1-1-3- 3- 3would be difficult to progress with certainty beyond the 6-level. However, with West owning up to the missing key-cards, Q and K, the grand may have been within reach. 

Richard Solomon

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