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Daily Bridge in New Zealand

A “May-be Slam”

Approaching a “maybe” slam is what today’s article is about. Your partner opens a weak no trump and you have a 16-count, a reasonable but not great suit and no shortage. Two flattish hands, therefore, and a maximum 30hcp. On some days, slam is there: on others, you might even be struggling to make game!

 

 

A 10 8 6 5 3

A 6

A Q 6

Q 6

 

West

North

East

South

 

 

 

1 NT

Pass

2 

Pass

 

 

Your partner opens a 12-14 1NT.

You elect to transfer to spades (2Heart-small). What now when:

a.    Your partner bids 2Spade-small.

b.    Your partner super-accepts with 3Spade-small. (maximum points, 4 spades)

We took this in three stages with the Panel. Firstly, were they happy to transfer as opposed to say bidding 3Spade-small which many play as a slam try in spades? There were mixed responses, the first two having their own approaches:

 

Bruce Anderson I am transferring to spades; the only alternative, an old fashioned 3Spade-small, game force, slam interest, takes up too much bidding space. This kind of hand is why a system like Symmetric Relay was invented; responder can find out opener’s exact shape and the whereabouts of his/her honour cards, and then know, not guess, whether to bid the spade slam or play game.”

Michael Cornell “No- because I do not have a suitable bid when partner simply bids 2Spade-small. My initial bid would have been 4Diamond-small, a mild slam try with 6+ spades.”

Peter Newell “It depends a bit on options. I would rather bid 3Spade-small forcing if available. The main reason is that it looks like spade contracts will play better from my side with the lead coming up to my minor suit queens. The other reason for 3Spade-small forcing is the lack of a good rebid once partner accepts the transfer of 2Spade-small. Over a super-accept I have an easy 4Diamond-small cue bid. If I can't bid 3Spade-small forcing then yes happy to transfer. 

Kris Wooles “4Spade-small: I think mostly we are looking at game so a practical bid of 4Spade-small would mean the lead would be up to the minor suit queens rather than through them. Downside is we may miss a slam.”

The problem with a transfer is what to bid when partner replies with 2Spade-small. Kris continues:

“If I went with the transfer then after 2Spade-small, I would bid 4Spade-small.” 

Meanwhile, Andy was happy to transfer and his continuation over 2Spade-small would be:

Andy Braithwaite “4Spade-small which is a mild slam try- with a game hand only, I bid 4Diamond-small transfer to spades.” (presumably over 1NT)

Bring on the 3Diamond-small bidders:

Bruce Anderson “3Diamond-small: to find out more about partner’s hand. Their next bid will tell me whether they have spade support; if so, a slam can be investigated.”

Stephen Blackstock “3Diamond-small: Slam is still possible opposite a perfect minimum for example Spade-smallKxxx,Heart-smallKQx,Diamond-smallJxx,Club-smallAxx. Even Spade-smallKxx,Heart-smallKQxx,Diamond-smallxx,Club-smallAxxx makes slam excellent. Let’s see what partner has to say.”

Peter Newell “3Diamond-small: This will help uncover whether partner has 3+ spades in which case I'm interested in slam. Over 3Diamond-small, if partner bids 3NT, I'll pass.”

Nigel Kearney “3Diamond-small: Bidding 3Diamond-small looks like the normal approach after the 2Spade-small response to the transfer though it's not ideal with a one suiter. If partner continues with 3Spade-small we can cue bid, otherwise we can bid 4Spade-small next.”

So, bidding a natural forcing 3Diamond-small seems to be the popular approach. However, on the actual deal, our partner may indeed have bid 3Spade-small, a “super-accept”, maximum hand with 4 spades. What then? Back to Nigel:

Over a 3Spade-small super accept, I would cue bid 4Diamond-small and try one more time with 5Heart-small if partner signs off in 4Spade-small.” Partner could have Spade-smallKJxx, Heart-smallKQx, Diamond-smallJx , Club-smallAxxx so let’s stay optimistic. There are a lot of hands where slam could make.

Bruce Anderson “4Diamond-small: which shows slam interest and denies a control in clubs. Slam could still be reached if partner does not sign off over my 4Diamond-small bid.”

 

Stephen Blackstock “4Diamond-small: We still need further description from South. It will be very hard to bid some good grand slams, since Spade-smallKJxx,Heart-smallKx,Diamond-smallKxxx,Club-smallAxx say is not quite good enough for 7Spade-small, but Spade-smallKxxx,Heart-smallKx,Diamond-smallKJxx Club-smallAxx loses only to 3-0 trumps. Clearly, a Blackwood sequence will not be adequate here. However, there is no hurry or need to prejudge what South may hold. I am always bidding 6Spade-small now and have no concerns about two quick club losers: as I see it any South hand with no first- round controls is too soft for a super-accept. If we don’t have that agreement now, we soon will!

Note that I don’t expect South to have a good side suit like Club-smallAKJx. I would expect a 3Club-small super-accept with that holding. All the space between 2Spade-small and 3Spade-small may as well be put to use when opener wants to show a good maximum opposite a 2Heart-small transfer.

 

Peter Newell “4Diamond-small: cue bid. I would expect partner to bid 4Spade-small with no club control otherwise 4Heart-small (in which case I'll key card) or bid 5Club-small

 

Here is an alternative way of cue-bidding and will help focus on that club suit, where we need partner to have at least one control for slam to be an option:

Andy Braithwaite “3NT: asking partner for a control in clubs. This cannot be to play with at least a 5-4 spade fit.”

Michael Cornell “3NT: serious slam try and over 4Club-small continue with 4Diamond-small. If partner bids 4Spade-small now I will pass, having already made 2 tries.”

So, after a super-accept, our Panel are heading off to slam. However, there were mixed opinions on how we approach the above hand after partner’s 1NT opening. These are well summed up here:

Nigel Kearney “You could play that a 3Spade-small response to 1NT is a slam try in spades. You could also use four level transfers and respond 4Heart-small if you just want to play 4Spade-small but use 2Heart-small then 4Spade-small over 2Spade-small as a mild slam try. Either of those would work here.”

Let’s see the 4 hands:

South Deals
Both Vul

A 10 8 6 5 3

A 6

A Q 6

Q 6

J 4

J 10 4 3

K 10 8

J 10 9 8

 

N

W

 

E

S

 

K

Q 9 8 5 2

9 7 3

7 5 4 3

 

Q 9 7 2

K 7

J 5 4 2

A K 2

 

West

North

East

South

 

 

 

1 NT

Pass

2 

Pass

3 ♠

Pass

3 NT

Pass

4 ♣

Pass

4 

Pass

4 

Pass

4 NT

Pass

5 ♣

Pass

6 ♠

All pass

 

 

In the above, 3NT was a waiting bid and was followed by three cue-bids. 5Club-small showed one key card. With 10 trumps between the two hands, North did not ask for trump queen and just bid the slam.

play safe.jpg

Most players made all 13 tricks but should they? There is a 100% safety play to avoid losing two trump tricks with the above holding (even where West holds Spade-smallKJ4) but it involves leading a small spade from the North hand. You can only do that, in 6Spade-small, if the diamond finesse works. So, maybe win the opening lead and take this finesse. When it works, take the 100% safety play in trumps. If it fails, hope the king is singleton.

So, an interesting maybe-slam to bid and then to play.

Any Thoughts?

South Deals
Both Vul

Q 10 8 3

Q 10 7 4 3

8

A 8 2

   

N

W

 

E

S

 

7 6 5

A K 9

J 9 6

10 9 7 4

 

West

North

East

South

 

Dummy

You

 

 

 

 

1 NT

Pass

2 ♣

Pass

2 ♠

Pass

4 ♠

All pass

 

A straightforward Stayman auction. 1NT was 15-17. Your partner leads Diamond-smallA. Any thoughts?

Richard Solomon

 

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