Slam Bidding Part I - Mr Bridge

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BETTER BIDDING continued from page 9Conventions forfinding slamsI recommend the following:Key-card BlackwoodCue-biddingSplintersQuantitative BidsGrand Slam ForceThe Gerber (4♣) convention is omittedbecause to employ cue-bidding andsplinter bids you need to use the 4♣ bidfor other purposes. Over the next twoarticles I will be covering these aspectsof slam bidding. If after seeing themyou don’t fancy employing them, thenyou could stick to Gerber, but otherwiseyou should steer clear of using Gerber.Key-card BlackwoodBlackwood is the best method for slamexploration. It is no coincidence thatalmost all bridge players use some formof this convention: it is simply one ofthe best ideas in bridge – without theaces, slams cannot be made.I recommend using Key-card Blackwood– it works exactly like normalBlackwood except that you count theking of trumps as an ace. The idea isthat the king of trumps is a very importantcard (as important as any ace) sothat it should be included in your Blackwoodcalculations, e.g. with spades astrumps the key-cards are: ♣A, ♦A, ♥A,♠A and ♠K.The beauty of this convention is thatthe responses are almost exactly the sameas normal Blackwood:5♣5♦5♥5♠0 or 4 key-cards1 (or 5) key-cards2 key-cards3 key-cardsHALF CUBE JOTTING PADfrom the£4 50CODE AF01Mail Order Service 01672 519219The only change is that the 5♦ responseis used to show five key cards as well asthe normal one; the five option will notcome up very often and, rather like thedifference between 0 and 4, there shouldnever be a problem differentiating betweenthe two possibilities.You will see that this addition to theBlackwood convention is invaluable foraccurate slam bidding and yet, at thesame time, there is nothing new to learnother than to remember to count the kingof trumps in the responses!There are two common fears withtaking on this new convention:1. How do you know which suit istrumps?2. How do you know whether partnerhas the aces or the king of trumps?The trump suit should be obvious; infact, you should never use Blackwoodunless you have agreed a suit, or you arehappy to play in the last-bid suit.For example, in the auction 1♥ –4NT, hearts would be trumps, but moreusually there will be explicit agreementwhen both sides have bid the same suit:in the sequence 1♠ – 3♠ – 4NT, spadesare trumps. So, if there is doubt about thetrump suit, then the last-bid suit should bethe one you use. Remember that if youare aiming for a no-trump slam, then acesand kings are not so important and youvery rarely need to ask about them. Moreimportant is the number of points youhold and, as you will see, we willconsider quantitative bidding later.The answer to question 2 is that itdoesn’t matter! The king of trumps isjust as valuable as an ace so if you aremissing any two of the five key-cards,you would not want to be in a slam.It is time to look at some examples:Layout D♠ 10 3 2 ♠ 4♥ K 9 5 3 N ♥ A Q J 7 2W E♦ A 7 6 4 S ♦ K Q J 5♣ A6 ♣ K Q 4West3♥5♠EndEast1♥4NT6♥East opens 1♥ and after his partner’s3♥ response he re-evaluates his hand:18 high-card points, a strong five-cardsuit (worth one extra point) and asingleton (with the long trumps, worthtwo points). That makes 21 points;adding this total to his partner’s 10-12means East is definitely excited aboutthe prospects of a slam.When contemplating the use ofBlackwood, you need to make surethat you will know what to do afterany response.Here East is basically missing fourimportant cards: the ace of spades, theking of hearts, the ace of diamonds, andthe ace of clubs. He can find out aboutall these cards by using Key-cardBlackwood. If partner has two, he willsign off in 5♥; if partner has three, hewill go for 6♥, and if West has four,East would go for a Grand Slam (thislast option is not really likely as Westhas limited himself to 10-12 points).Responding to 4NT, West must rememberto include the king of trumps(here hearts) in his response. He hasthree key-cards: the ace of clubs, the aceof diamonds and the king of hearts, andso he responds 5♠. Now East carriesout his plan and bids 6♥. He bids it withgreat confidence because he knows aboutthe king of trumps as well as the numberof aces.Compare this with the auction belowon Layout E, where West holds the kingof spades instead of the king of hearts asin Layout D:Layout E♠ K 3 2 ♠ 4♥ 10 9 5 3 N ♥ A Q J 7 2W E♦ A 7 6 4 S ♦ K Q J 5♣ A6 ♣ K Q 4West3♥5♥East1♥4NTEndOnce again East starts a Blackwoodsequence, but this time West only showstwo key-cards (5♥): the king of spadesdoes not come in to the reckoning, it isonly the king of trumps that is included.Continued on page 11 ❿Page 10
BETTER BIDDING continued from page 10Over 5♥ East passes; missing two keycards,slam is not a good proposition. Itmight appear that the slam will makehalf the time, but the chance of a void indiamonds brings it just below 50% andtherefore not a good slam. You shouldtry to avoid a slam if you are missingtwo key-cards.Let’s look at another couple of hands:Layout F♠ A K 8 5 4 2 ♠ Q 7 6♥ Q 7 6 N ♥ 4W E♦ A6 S ♦ K Q J 5 3♣ A2 ♣ K Q J 3West1♠3♠5♣EndEast2♦4NT6♠West opens 1♠ and East bides his timeby responding 2♦; there is no need tohurry, since opener will always bid againif you have changed the suit at the twolevel. West rebids 3♠, showing a six-cardsuit and a strong hand. Now the time hascome for East to get excited: with excellentsupport for spades he should reevaluatehis hand: 14 HCP, a strong fivecardsuit (worth an extra point), and asingleton along with the short trumps(worth three points); that all adds up to18 points. West has suggested 16 or morepoints himself, which means the side’stotal points are at least 34, which is wellinto the slam range. Now you, as East,have to ask yourself whether Blackwoodis the best method for exploring a slamwith your hand. Once again the answeris yes, because you are simply in needof the five key-cards: all the aces andthe king of spades (trumps). Thus, ifpartner has three, you would settle for5♠; if he has four, you would go for 6♠,and if he has all five, you would go for7♠ (or perhaps even 7NT).You leap to 4NT, which agrees spades(the last-bid suit) as trumps, and yourpartner responds 5♣; this shows zero orfour aces. Can you partner have zero? Ifhe held no key-cards, then the only highcards he could hold are the jack of spadesand the king, queen and jack in hearts –clearly that does not add up to 16! Hemust have four key-cards and thereforeyou bid 6♠.Change the West hand slightly, as inLayout G, and you would avoid 6♠:Layout G♠ A J 8 5 4 2 ♠ Q 7 6♥ K J 10 N ♥ 4W E♦ A6 S ♦ K Q J 5 3♣ A2 ♣ K Q J 3West1♠3♠5♠East2♦4NTEndThe bidding starts the same way but nowWest has only three key-cards (the ♥Kdoes not count), so he bids 5♠, whichEast would pass. Even if South holds theking of spades, the ten of spades mightmake a trick anyway. It is certainly not aslam you would want to be in.What does 5NT mean?It is important to note that you only usethe king-asking bid if your side has allfive key-cards, as after 5NT you have tobe in a small slam (any response will beat the six-level!) and thus your aspirationsnow should be for a grand slam. Icannot emphasise this enough.Only bid 5NT if you think there isa chance of a Grand Slam.So, essentially, a 5NT bid is a GrandSlam Try.It is rarely important to know thenumber of kings your partner holds, morecommon is the need to know which kinghe holds. Hence the response shouldshow any king you hold in your hand(below the trump suit).With two kings outside trumps, bid6NT (or the Grand Slam). And with ahand where you think you can make aGrand Slam (knowing that all the keycardsare held) bid the Grand Slam.Finally, with a hand which does not wantto accept the Grand Slam Try (e.g.without any kings to show), bid six ofthe trump suit.Here are three West hands to partnerthe same East:Layout H♠ K J 4 3 ♠ A 10 9 8 6 2♥ A 9 7 6 2 N ♥ K 8W E♦ K 3 S ♦ A Q J 2♣ A4 ♣ 2West1♥3♠5♠6♦EndEast1♠4NT5NT7NTAfter West raises to 3♠, East has a slamin mind: 14 HCP + 2 (for six-card suit)+ 2 (singleton with long trumps) = 18.West has shown a better than minimumopening hand, say 15-17 points, leavingyou with at least 33 points between you.Blackwood should be able to solve yourproblems, and there is rather good newsbecause West’s 5♠ response shows thethree missing key-cards. With everythingin place, there is surely a chance for aGrand Slam if opener holds the ♦K. SoEast bids 5NT and West responds 6♦showing the ♦K. East can now countthirteen tricks and thus bid 7NT.Continued on page 13 ❿WASHABLE CLUB CLOTHSGreen Cherry Navywith with withsymbols symbols symbols(BC10) (BC09) (BC08)£22 50Available from the Mail Order Service 01672 519219Page 11
Page 1: BETTER BIDDING by BERNARD MAGEEBidd
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Slam Bidding Part I - Mr Bridge

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