Slam Bidding Part I - Mr Bridge

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