I wonder how many will pre-empt 3 Spades with the West hand?

Very tempting, non-vulnerable.

North will probably Double (for take-out) and then will East risk a 'to the level of the fit ' bid of 4 Spades?

South will now bid 5 Diamonds, and that will probably be that.

Scenario 2 will be if East passes the Double.

South will bid 4 Diamonds, and North can bid 4 No Trumps. This could be straight Blackwood, asking for Aces, or Roman Key Card Blackwood (more advanced, asking for the number of Key Cards, the King of Trumps counting as an extra one)

With Blackwood, South will reply 5 Diamonds (just one Ace) and North may well decide to leave it.

With Roman Key Card Blackwood, South will respond 5 Hearts, showing 2 of the 5 Key Cards (Ace of Hearts and King of Diamonds).

North now has to make a decision - but not yet! They are definitely committed to the small slam, so why not give partner some more information on the way? Bid 5 Spades to show the Ace

South will now just bid 6 Diamonds and there it will lie, although the Grand Slam is always on.

Scenario 3 is if West decides to Pass inituially.

North opens One Club and South responds One Diamond.

I erxpect that North may well feel that South needs a wake-up call, and just bids 4 NT, with bidding progressing as above. Again, 7 Diamonds is on,,. as is 7 No Trump is on, but that  relies on a Club finesse. 6NT is safer.

I can imagine all sorts of different bids on this hand.

1. East could Pass, South bid One Spade, West Pass, North One No Trump, East Pass, South 3 No Trump.

2. East Pass, South 2 No Trumps, West Pass, North 3 Diamonds (transfer), East Pass, South 3 Hearts, West Pass, North 4 Hearts.

3. East opens a weak 2 Diamonds, South Doubles, West Pass, North 4 Hearts.

4. East Pass, South One Spade, West Pass, North 2 Hearts, East Pass, South 3 Clubs (change of suit at the three level forcing to game), West Pass, North Three No Trumps.

A great hand, so why does one pair stop?

East will open the bidding with a pre-emptive 3 Clubs, showing a 7-card suit and 5-9 High Card Points (HCP).

It is South's call now that will determine the final contract.

In one case, South passed, as did West and North, and 3 Clubs was the final contract.

The other 3 Souths all Doubled (for takeout), and then West bid up to 5 Clubs, either by calling direct or else overcalling a 4 Spade bid by North.

North will definitely want to pre-empt on this hand, to break up any East/West bidding.

The general concensus is to open 3 of a 7-card suit with 5 to 9 HCP and 4 of a suit with 8 cards.

However, there is another school of thought that will bid more cautiously Vulnerable against Non-Vulnerable.

Those that opened 4 Diamonds put East in a real quandry. Do they double for take -out/penalties, bid their Spades or Pass?

An opening 3 Diamonds gives East an easier Double.

South has 7 Hearts and a void in Diamonds, so, if partner has opened 3 Diamonds, showing (seemingly) a 7-card suit, they will now bid 3 Hearts.

If East now decides, after 2 Passes, to bid their Spades, they may well only make 7 tricks.(Heart lead, trumped, Club return, anther Heart ruff, another Club, a third Heart ruff, Ace of Diamonds and a Diamond ruff).

The optimum contract is 4 Diamonds doubled, 200 to East/West, but, on the day, 2 Norths escaped with 4 Diamonds undoubled, one went on to 5 Diamonds doubled, down 3, one South was left in 4 Hearts, down 3, and one East suffered 3 down in 4 Spades.

North has a decision to make. Why did their partner Double 3NT?

They must have a solid suit to take 5 tricks off the top - what suit could that be?

West has openend a Club, so they must have a stopper there.

West has also bid No Trumps, expecting their partner to have Diamonds covered, so, again, they must have the Majors covered.

Could East possibly bid a Diamond if they were 4 to the Jack? 

It seems to be the only option - East must be 4-3-3-3 with a dubious Diamond holding....

So lead the 9 of Diamonds ....

First 6 tricks taken, and 300 to North/South.

Of course, East has this dilemma of 10 HCP and a balanced hand. Looks too strong for 1 No Trump and too weak for 2 No Trumps..

It's the Double by South that makes this lead the only one that fits the bill. Undoubled, North will probably lead an inoculous Heart or Spade, giving West 9 tricks.

First to the bidding.

West has to make a calculated assessment. They have 18 High Card Points, so a combined 30 -32.

Is that enough for a slam? Only really if they have a long suit or two to cash.

Should they bid a straight 3 No Trumps?

Maybe an Acol 4 No Trumps, asking East to bid 6 if they are maximum? 

You could still have two losers off the top.

Three Wests decided to ask for Aces, ready to bale out if responses were unfavourable.

Using Gerber 4 Clubs, a response of 4 Hearts showed one Ace - so one missing...

5 Clubs asked for Kings. A 5 Spade response showed 2 Kings, so no gaps there.

So they bid 6 No Trumps and left East to suffer...

A low Diamond is led, and East sits and comtemplates where 12 tricks are coming from.

They know the Ace of Hearts is a loser, so they need every other suit to produce winners - 4 Spades (if the Queen is with South), 2 Hearts (minimum), 3 Diamonds (again, if the Queen is with South) and 3 Clubs.

Entries to hand may be a problem to finesse the Spade twice AND get back to hand a third time to cash the fourth Spade....unless the Ace Of Hearts is with North...

Having worked that out, they must rise with the Jack of Diamonds on trick 1 and then force out the Ace of Hearts by leading LOW from table.

If North goes up with the Ace, you establish a third Heart trick.

If North plays low, you have that extra entry to hand for the Spade finesse.

12 tricks and slam made....

Then get to hand via the King of Diamonds, a low Spade to the 10, back to hand, another Spade finesse, and you are home and dry.

West will want to see if there is a Major suit fit, so a Stayman bid of 2 Clubs (announced by East) will see whether partner has four Spades or Hearts.

After North passes, East will bid 2 Diamonds to show no 4-Card major.

South now Passes, and West bids 2 No Trumps to show 11 or 12 High Card Points.

East Will quietly Pass, and will soon find out the bad news that they are going to lose 7 tricks....

Rub of the green, I’m afraid - bidding is correct, just unlucky to have the long Diamond suit against them.

If East/West don’t have Stayman in their armoury , the bidding will probably be One No Trump, Pass, Two No Trumps, Pass, Pass, Pass.

For those that play a strong No Trump (15-17), the bidding may well be One Club, Pass, One Heart, Pass, One No Trump, Pass, Two No Trumps, Pass, Pass, Pass. 

A note on the play - when South leads a Diamond, a LOW Dimond must be played from Dummy to preserve the stop in the suit.

Their only hope of a positive score is if South bids their Diamonds (going down) 

You have 17 High Card Points, so your initial bid must be forcing to game.

If you just bid 2 Hearts, your partner will leave you there as a weak takeout.

You could just bid 3 No Trump. It is likely that , with a 31 combined point count and 2 'flattish' hands, this will make 10 or 11 tricks.

You could give your partner a choice of Hearts or No Trumps.

If you play transfers, bid 2 Diamonds to show 5 Hearts, and then bid 3 No Trumps after your partner has completed the transfer by bidding 2 Hearts.

They can then decide to leave it or bid 4 Hearts.

As the cards lie, East/West can make 6 No Trumps, or even 7 Hearts.

Can you see how to make 13 tricks?

After initial 1 Spade and 2 Diamonds bids, you would expect East to just bid 2 Spades, or maybe 2 No Trumps (playing 15-17 No Trump)

However, playing 5-card majors, East decided to support their partner's Diamond suit with 3 Diamonds.

West now bids 4 No Trump, Roman Key Card Blackwood, and East responds with5 Clubs, showing one (or 4) of the Key Cards (Aces and King of Trumps)

West just bids the slam - 6 Diamonds.

They have to be careful with the play.

North leads the King of Hearts.

If West now decides to draw trumps, they will lose to the Ace of Diamonds and then to the Queen of Hearts.

West won the Ace of Hearts and then crossed to the King of Clubs, discarding their two Heart losers on the Ace and King of Spades.

They then forced out the Ace of Diamonds and enjoyed 12 tricks - slam made.

Well done Peter and Steve, the only pair in the Country to bid and make it.

South has only 10 High Card Points and a very dodgy singleton Diamond.

Any thoughts of a Game bid should surely be off the table!

The choice should be between

a) leaving partner to struggle in One No Trump or

b) making a weak takeout bid in Clubs.

If your partnership doesn't play Stayman (2 Clubs asking for a 4-card major suit), you can just bid 2 Clubs and there it will rest.

If you do play Stayman, then you must have a partnership agreement on how to make a weak takeout bid in a Minor suit.

If you play transfers, then you will have one of two options in your partnership agreement.

Some pairs will play 2 Spades over One No Trump as a Transfer to Clubs, and North will bid 3 Clubs.

Some Pairs play 2 Spades over One No Trump as exactly 11 High Card Points.

In this case, they will bid 2 Clubs (Stayman) and then bid 3 Clubs to show a weak takeout in Clubs.

On the day, only one Pair managed to find the correct contract.

After East has Passed, what do you open as South?

If you are playing Strong Twos, you could open 2 Spades - 8 playing tricks.

After West passes, North asks for Aces (4 Clubs Gerber or 4 No Trumps Blackwood).and receives the answer 3.

South's 8 playing tricks plus your 5 make 13, so just bid 7 No Trumps...sounds easy...

However, what if you play Weak Twos?

You may have to open One Spade, North 2 Diamonds.
You now know you have enough HCP for a Slam.

South asks for Aces and gets the positive response of one Ace.

Now asks for Kings. Gets a very positive response of 3!

South can now bid 6 No Trumps.

North may take a positive view that, if South can bid 6 without knowing about the Queen of Hearts, the Grand Slam is possible.

A third bidding sequence will be if you play Benjaminised Acol .

You may open 2 Clubs , then 2 Diamonds from North, 2 Spades from South and 4 No Trumps from North.

Well done if you found the Grand Slam!

East will probably open 1 Spade and South will Pass.

What do you bid with the West cards? 

Maybe just a simple 2 Diamonds to start with?

Perhaps North will now bid 3 Hearts?

East maybe bids 3 No Trumps?

South Passes.

West 4 No Trumps (Blackwood)

East 5 Spades (3 Aces)

West 6 Diamonds.

Need a bit of luck with the Diamonds (2-1, or South with the three trumps).

7 Spades is on, but how do you find it? 

How about 6 No Trumps?

A good discussion with your partner.

On the night, 2 Pairs found 6 Spades and one pair 6 Diamonds, making 12 tricks.

The one pair to make 13 tricks only bid 4 Spades, and 6 No Trumps went down 2 somehow.

You are certainly going to bid your 7-card Heart suit, but at what level?

If you bid 2 Hearts, West has plently of bidding room, and your bid isn't really pre-emptive.

You may decide to bid 3 Hearts, which you would have opened if you were the Dealer.

West will now Double for takeout, leaving East to bid on.

What if you bid 4 Hearts?  This really test West's resolve! They have 19 HCP (High Card Points) and partner has shown at least 6 HCP, so they should be in game, but now they are having to guess.

On the day, one West was in 5 Clubs, one East in 4 Spades....and one West punted 3 No Trumps, going 4 off.....

Even if 4 Hearts is doubled, it only goes 2 down for - 500, whereas 4 Spades makes + 650, and there is a small slam available in Clubs - + 1320 

South has shown a minimum hand with 5 (6?) Spades.

North has anly shown a 10+ High Card Points hand with a Club suit.

North has the driving hand and MUST bid on....

They need to show a powerful hand in the minors, by changing suit at the 3 level.

North bids 3 Diamonds and South knows there is a game-forcing hand with a minimum of 5 Clubs.

South now bids 4 Clubs to set the suit. 

North bids 4 Diamonds (first-round control in Diamonds) and South , crucially, bids 4 Spades.

They have shown the Ace of Spades but NOT the Ace of Hearts.

North bids 4 No Trump - Roman Key Card Blackwood.

South responds with 5 Hearts - showing 2 of the 5 'Key Cards' (Aces and King of Trumps) and North know this must mean the Aces of Clubs and Spades.

North can now 'safely' bid 7 Clubs.

On the play, North must ensure the Diamond ruff in order to make all 13 tricks.

On the night, nobody bid it.....

South has 16 High Card Points (HCP) but partner has Passed.

Should they Double? They don't have a biddable suit, and No Trumps could be dodgy on a Diamond lead.

Maybe they quietly Pass and so does West.

What should North now bid?

It is possible that they have a fit in Clubs or Hearts, and in their bidding armoury they have a wonderful bid - Halsall.

This is a bid of the unwanted suit (as well as the opening suit) and  shows a 2-suited hand.

North bids 3 Spades, showing a minimum 5-5 in Clubs and Hearts.

South can now bid 4 Hearts - the optimum contract.

On the night, South bid on to 5 Hearts, which luckily made (should lose 3 tricks - a Club, a Diamond and a Spade).

One West plumped for 3 No Trumps, going 3 off, and one East tried 2 Spades - obviously didn't pre-empt.

Without Halsall, North may just Double, and be rewarded by a response of 3 Hearts which they can convert to 4.

East has an incredible minor two-suiter, but how can they find a fit with partner?

If there had been a suit bid by North, many partnerships at the club pay a convention called CRO (pronounced Crow)

This shows a two-suited hand.

However, over a No Trump opener, I suspect most Easts will just bid their 6-card Club suit.

South will possibly bid a weak 2 Spades and West and North will Pass.

Does East now bid again, perhaps showing their Diamonds?

A very competitive auction that left 2 Souths in 4 Spades going 2 off (10 tricks are makable Double Dummy), with One East in 4 Clubs and one in 5 Diamonds.

Everything goes off!

The first thing to say is that North/South were lucky that East only bid One Heart.

If they had bid a weak 2 Hearts, showing a 6-card suit, (South 2 Spades) and then West 4 Hearts (to the level of the fit), life would have been more difficult...

So, North One Diamond (minimum 5-card suit) East One Heart, South One Spade, West 2 Hearts.

North now bids 3 Clubs., giving Souith the choice of the minor suits....

However, South is looking for something better, and rebids three Spades - a forcing bid, looking for a stop in Hearts.

North decides that South has a minimum 6-card Spade suit, and so bids 4 Spades.

South is rather tenacious and thinks a Slam may be on!

4 No Trumps - Roman Key Card Blackwood.

North now bids 5 Hearts, showing 2 of the 5 Key cards (4 Aces and King of Trumps) and denying the Queen of Spades

South signs off in 5 Spades, but North likes their singleton Heart and upgrades their hand, bidding 6 Spads....

The play is straightforward with the Queen of Spades falling doubleton.

The King of Hearts is led, then the 9 of Clubs, 10, Jack, Queen.

A Spade to the Ace, back to the King (the Queen falling), draw the remaining Spade and 12 tricks are made.

On the night, One East managed to find the Heart overcall and only went 4 down (undoubled) in 4 Hearts.

3 North/South pairs were in 4 Spades, making 10, 11 and 12 tricks, and one pair bid and made the small slam. 

Does South open 1 Club, or a Strong No Trump?

Whichever they choose to open, East/West may be in possesion of a bidding agreement that shows a 2-suited hand (minimum 5 cards in each of 2 suits).

If South has opened 1 Club, West may use CRO (pronounced Crow) and bid 3 Clubs to show 5 Spades and 5 Diamonds.

If South has opened a Strong No Trump, West may use Multi-Landy, bidding 2 Spades to show 5 Spades and at least a 4-card minor.

If you don't have either CRO or Multi-Landy in your armoury, will West just pass quietly? Possibly, leaving North?South a clear run to 5 Clubs or a very risky Slam.

North will get excited (maybe over-excited!) and will either bid a straight 5 Clubs, or 4 No Trumps, looking for Aces, ready to sign off if partner has only 1, although they will have to bid 6 (unless they play 1430 Roman Key Card Blackwood).

East may well sacrifice in 5 Diamonds and South has to decide whether to bid the slam, Double or Pass.

On the night, two North/Souths were left to play in 5 Clubs for a top result.

2 bid the slam, going off (losing Ace of Diamonds and a Heart).

One East/West sacrificed in 5 Diamonds Doubled, for an average on the night.

Your instinct is to Pass with such a pathetic hand, but you have 10-Card Heart fit and a possibly helpful Diamond suit.

Only the brave deserve success!

Some Passed, some bid 2 Hearts. Both allowed East/West to find their Spade (or Club) fit and find their Game (or even Slam)

One North bid 4 Hearts.

One down, but an outright top.

Wow!

Double dummy, you can see that there are 13 tricks off the top in Spades, Diamonds or No Trumps.

West will surely open One Spade with this 6-loser hand.

North is going to overcall in Hearts - definitely 3 and probably 4 Hearts.

Surely  East will possibly/probably now Double, and West will have to decide whether to leave it in (going down 3 for + 800) or to look for the slam.

Or will East be proactive and bid their Diamonds at the 5 level?

And will West then raise to 6 with their Diamond support?

or how about East bidding 6 No Trumps? They can assume that North must have K Q J of Hearts as you have the Ace, and that only leaves 2 High Card Points at the most for South.

A hand for partnerships to discuss over a glass of vino...

Your partner has shown a pre-emptive hand, a long Heart suit (at least 5 cards, probabaly 6), and little else.

Looking at your hand, you can see one, possibly two tricks against 4 Spades.

They are going to make it, so is there a case for a sacrifice?

In 5 Hearts, you are going to make possibly 6 Heart tricks, one Diamond and hopefully more on a cross-ruff.

You can see potentially 5 or 6 losing tricks.

If you bid on to 5 Hearts, the opposition are likely to Double.

You are Vulnerable, and so may well go off for at least - 800, possibly  - 1100.

The opponents are Non-vulnerable, so, if they find their (makable) slam, they will only make + 980.

You must just Pass quietly and hope that your partner’s brilliant pre-empt has prevented them finding their slam.

South opens 1 Spade and West overcalls with 2 Diamonds.

North has an 8-loser hand but good support for Spades.

They have to decide whether to bid 2 Spades (showing 4, but not a particularly good hand outside), 3 Spades (invitational) , or some other forcing bid.

If they bid 2 Spades, South will possibly Pass.

If they bid 3 Spades, South will either play 'safe' with a Pass or raise them to 4 Spades with a 6-loser hand.

The only Pair to bid (and make) 6 Spades used an 'unassuming cue bid'..

This is a forcing bid of the opponent’s suit to go for at least game.

So the bidding goes - 1 Spade, (2 Diamonds), 3 Diamonds (unassuming cue bid).

Then 4 Clubs from South (Ace of Clubs), 4 Hearts from North (Ace of Hearts but no stop in Diamonds).

South could now sign off in 4 Spades, but pushes on.....

4 No Trumps (Roman Key Card Blackwood), 5 Hearts from North (2 Key Cards - Aces or King of Trumps, but no Queen of Spades).

6 Spades from South - they know that North has the 2 missing Aces.

Always going to lose a Spade, but the Queen of Hearts is in the right place.

6 Spades bid and made.

The easiest way is to unblock early.

Win the opening lead with the Ace.

Play Ace and Queen of Diamonds.

Now lead the 2 of Hearts and play just the Queen.

Cash the King and Jack of Diamonds, discarding Spades from your hand.

A Club back and your 13 tricks made - One Spade, 3 Hearts, 4 Diamonds and 5 Clubs.

If they don’t lead a Spade, you can run your 5 Clubs first to indemnify yourself against a 5-1 Club split, and have the Spade finesse in reserve.

East is going to bid, but it depends on whether they have a 2-suited overcall in their armoury.

Several pairs at the Club play CRO- - a bid showing a reasonable hand and a minimum of 5 cards in 2 suits.

The 'C' stands for Colour, and, if you have 2 suits of the opposite colour of the bid suit, you overcall by raising the bidder's suit one level.

The 'R' stands for 'Rank', and if you have 2 suits of the opposite Rank (Majors or Minors), you overcall 2 No Trumps.

The 'O' stands for Other or Opposite, and is a bid of 3 Clubs - but BEWARE - your partner may just misunderstand you!

If you play CRO, your overcall will be 2 Clubs, showing a minimum of 5-5 in the Red suits.

If you don't play CRO, you may well overcall 2 Hearts, being ready to bid the Diamonds later.

South now has to decide at what level to bid their Clubs.

It looks like it's going to be a competitive auction, so they may well bid a straight 5 Clubs (which will go down one - 3 Aces to lose)

However, East/West can make 6 Hearts, so will they bid on? 

Assuming West and North now Pass, East may well now bid 5 Diamonds, giving partner the choice of red suits.

Would you?

Look at all 4 hands and make your decision...

After East has Passed, South will surely open 2 Clubs (Acol, showing 23+ High Card Points).

West will Pass and North will probabaly bid either 2 Diamonds (negative) or 2 Hearts (ladder, showing 3-5 High Card Points).

South will now bid 3 Clubs (forcing to game and showing Clubs) and North 3 Hearts.

South doesn't know about North's lovely 6-card suit - yet....

On the day, one South bid 4NT and was left there.

One South just punted 6 No Trumps.

One North tried 6 Hearts.

The only 'successful' pair played the 2 Heart bid (after 2 Clubs) as a long suit.

South bid 4 No Trumps (Roman Key Card Blackwood) and was rewarded with 5 Clubs  - one Key Card, which South knew had to be the King of Hearts..

They then bid 7 No Trumps - thank goodness for the Queen of Diamonds!

The Acol weak 2 opening bid is a disciplined opener, showing an exactly 6 card suit (never 5 nor7), 6-10 High Card Points (HCP), at least 2 of the top 3 Honours (A, K , Q) and no outside 4-card Major.

Your partner can expect this, so any other interpretation will give your partner false information.

Do you open a weak 2 Diamonds? 

You do not have the values in a pathetic suit and you should Pass.

Will North open 1 Club? Possibly, as the hand meets the requirements of the Rule of 20 (HCP plus number of cards in longest 2 suits combined)

East will surely overcall 1 Spade and South may  bid 3 No Trumps!

A really interesting bidding problem, with the likelihood that everyone will go down.

With 21 High Card Points (HCP) and stoppers in all suits, most Wests will open 2 No Trumps.

With 7 HCP, East will raise to 3 NT and there the bidding will end - with most pairs making 12 tricks...

At one table, West took their shape into account and bid a strong 2 Diamonds (minimum 8 playing tricks in Diamonds)..

Maybe a bit thin for the strong 2 bid, but it worked!

East raised to 3 Diamonds, West asked for Aces with 4 No Trumps, East bid 5 Diamonds (one Ace) and West bid 6.

The play is tricky. You have to preserve an entry to dummy to run the long Clubs.

If a Spade, Club or Diamond is led, you win in hand and unblock the King and Queen of Clubs.

Now play the Ace of Diamonds and lead a Diamond to the Jack.

this reveals the 4-1 split.

Now play the Ace of Clubs.

If South ruffs, overruff with the Queen and play the 7 of Diamonds.

You can now discard your losing Spade and Hearts on the established long Club suit - 13 tricks made.

If they don't ruff, keep discarding until they do!

If they lead a Heart, of course, you will lose the first trick.

Many players will be thinking long and hard about an openng bid.

An 8-card suit. Should I pre-empt? No, too strong for that.

!5 High Card Points, so surely not strong enough for a 2 Club opener?

Add extra values for the singleton and 2 Doubletons?

Only a 4-loser hand - do I punt 5 Clubs?

Would we miss a slam?

If you are playing simple Acol, maybe best to open One Club and see what happens.

If you play Gambling Three No Trumps, this is a perfect bid - 8 top tricks in a solid minor suit and an outside entry (Ace of Hearts).

On the day, two pairs opened with the Gambling 3 No Trumps.

One South left their partner there (making 12 tricks).

Another South raised their partner's 3 No Trumps to an invitational 4 No Trumps.

North bid 6, and the stone-cold slam made.

On one table, South opened One Heart.

This is NOT a recommended bid.

There are only 10 High Card Points (HCP), there are 8 losers, the trump suit is poor - there is nothing to recommend this bid, and it could have gone horribly wrong....

However, with 26 HCP it is easy to understand that North just bid 7 No Trumps.

The bidding at the other table was more scientific. 

After three Passes, North opened 2 Clubs (23+ HCP).

South responded 2 Diamonds - a relay bid, but probably not the best with such a strong hand  (Others may bid 2 Hearts to show 7+HCP and 5 Hearts, or even 2 No Trumps to show 9+ HCP).

North now bid 2 Hearts, South 3 Hearts and  North 3 Spades (a cue-bid, having already agreed Hearts).

South bids 4 No Trump - Roman Key Card Blackwood (RKCB) asking for how many of the 5 Key Cards - Aces and King of Trumps.

North now bids 5 No Trumps to show all 5 Key Cards, and South 6 No Trumps.

North knows that South thinks they probably only have 23 HCP. As they have 26 HCP, they can now bid the Grand Slam , 7 No Trumps.

East starts off with the Ace of Diamonds and then switches to partner's Spade suit, playing Ace and 3.

West spots the danger - a cross-ruff - and leads a Heart to eliminate 2 trumps.

However, it's too late....North wins, ruffs a Diamond, ruffs a Spade, ruffs another Diamond.

The Ace of Clubs and another club leaves North/South with 9 tricks and the contract made.

If North had drawn trumps first, they would have only been able to make 8 tricks.

Well, you are going to pre-empt with your 8-card Club suit, but at what level?

On the night, two  opened 3 Clubs, two bid  4 Clubs, and one East opened 5 Clubs.

This put off the North - South pair from finding their best contract.

If South passes, then, after West passes as well, North has to punt 5 Diamonds - or even 6 Diamonds.

However, if South finds an excellent takeout Double, North may now 'assume' that South has the Ace of Spades and some other values and bid the Grand Slam, 7 Diamonds.

But just a minute....

Looking at their hand, South knows that North, for that Grand Slam bid, MUST has a void in Clubs AND the Ace of Hearts.. South holds the Ace and King of Clubs......

They have  a Diamond to reach North's obviously amazing long Diamond suit...

Bid 7 No Trumps!

Nobody found this on the night, with 7 Diamonds bid once, 6 Diamonds twice and 5 Diamonds twice, all making 13 tricks.

If East had bid 4 Hearts, this would have been  shut-out bid.

However, now West should get very excited!

They know partner has a 6-card Heart suit and opening High Card Points.

Distribution  look really promising for a Slam. That void in Diamonds could be the key.

Time to ask for Aces or Key Cards (Aces and King of Hearts) by bidding 4 No Trumps.

If you are playing Roman Key Card Blackwood, the  reply comes 5 Spades.

This indicates 2 Aces (West already has the King of Hearts) PLUS the Queen of Hearts.

If you are using Gerber, you will have bid 4 Clubs, and the reply will have been 4 Spades.

If you play straight Blackwood, the reply would have been 5 Hearts. Both of these would have left you a bit of a guess about the Queen of Hearts.

Do you bid 6 or 7 Hearts? Or even No Trumps?

You know there are definitely 2 Spade tricks, almost certainly 6 Hearts, one Diamond and 2 Clubs.

Your Diamond void should bring in 2 ruffs - that's 13 tricks!

Who can't bid the Grand Slam now?!

On the day, only one pair.

Two pairs only managed 4 Hearts, one pair bid the small slam in Clubs, another in Hearts.

This produces some very interesting bidding!

At one table, the bidding went 1 Spade (S), Double (W), 4 Hearts (N), Pass (E), Pass (S), 4 Spades (W!), Pass (N), Pass (E), 5 Hearts (S), P, P, P, making 11 tricks.

At another table, the bidding was 1 Spade, Pass, 1 NT (N), Pass, 2 Diamonds (S), Pass, 2 Spades (N), P, P, P. making 8 tricks.

Another table started 1 Spade, then 2 Clubs by North, 2 Diamonds (S), 2 Hearts (N), 5 Clubs (S!), making only 10 tricks.

At the other 2 tables, South opened 1 Diamond, then, after 1 Spade by West, 2 Clubs (N), P (E), Double (S), P (W), 2 Hearts (N), the final contract was 4 Hearts by North, making either 10 or 11 tricks.

West opens 1 Club and East responds with 1 Spade.

West can see at least a game, and need to show their void in Diamonds.

They can use a Splinter Bid - a jump bid showing a game force in partners suit and a singleton or void in the bid suit.

Some partnerships play a single jump, some a double jump.

So, (just East/West bids), 1 Club, 1 Spade, STOP 3 Diamonds.

Thereafter, you can cue bid as you know you are going to the game at least.

East bids 3 Hearts (Ace of Hearts), West 4 Clubs (Ace of Clubs), East 4 Spades (Ace of Spades, or sign -off).

West can see a potential slam, and bids 4 No Trump - Roman Key Card Blackwood, asking for the 5 Key Cards (Aces plus King of Trumps)

East bids 5 Spades, which West now knows means the Aces of Hearts and Spades, PLUS the Queen of Spades.

5 No Trumps asks for Kings in ascending order, and gets 5 Clubs (King of Clubs)

West can now decide whether to sign off in 6 Spades, or go for the Grand.

Which would you do?

Well, not sure about the bidding!

West's Spade bid was intended as a 4th Suit forcing in No Trumps and East encouraged with 4 No Trumps.

West assumed this was asking for Aces, and East bid an inspired 6 No Trumps.

Why West bid 7, who knows?

Did you play North to have the Queen of Hearts?  And the Diamonds to split 2-2? Or for South to have the Diamond Queen?

If so, you make 2 Spades, 4 Hearts, 6 Diamonds and a Club - 13 tricks - well done!

As you can see, there are 14 top tricks, so the Grand Slam is always going to make, but how do you bid it?

It is very difficult to show 5-card suits in both hands and find all the missing Kings and Aces, so I suspect the bidding could have gone (with East/West silent)

South 1 Spade (playing 5-card majors); North 3 Hearts; South 4 No Trumps; North 5 Spades (Roman Key Card Blackwood, showing 2 Aces and the Queen of Hearts); South 5 No Trumps; North 6 Hearts (2 Kings) and South 7 No Trumps (or, in this case, 7 Spades, but more risky).

I suspect the truth is something a little less scientific.....

With 16+ High Card Points, West has 3 alternatives - bid a 5-card suit, double for take-out or bid 2 No Trumps if they have 2 stoppers in the bid suit.

Here it is clear to bid 2 NT and for East to raise to 3NT.

After North leads their singleton Diamond, all West has to do is force out the Ace of Clubs and enjoy at least 10 easy tricks.

Win with the Club Jack and play two more top Clubs, discarding Hearts. 

Now a Diamond to the 10, a Heart to the Queen, cash the Ace of Hearts, a Diamond to the Queen and a Heart, ruffed by North and over-ruffed with the 9 of Spades.

Gosh, you've already taken 9 tricks!

You have J 6 3 of Spades and a Heart, South has the A K Q 10 of Spades and North has 4 trumps.

Now lead anything from East and you cannot be stopped from making your Jack of Spades...

The only lead that would have defeated the contract would have been a Spade.

On the day, every North just opened 4 Hearts and that was passed out.

North needs a bid that shows this massive Heart hand.

If you play Acol, you may reasonably just open One Heart, 2 Clubs from partner, then asking for Aces (4 No Trumps).

Getting a positive response of 5 Hearts (2 Aces you now bid 5 No Trumps, asking for Kings.

With a response of 6 Diamonds (one King, you may decide to just bid 6 Hearts

If you play Strong 2s, then an opening 2 Hearts will be followed by 3 Clubs, then as above.

The final option is to open an Acol 4 No Trumps, asking partner to bid their Aces.

With no Aces the response is 5 Clubs, then 5 Diamonds for just the Ace of Diamonds, 5 Hearts for the Ace of Hearts, 5 Spades for the Ace of Spades and 6 Clubs for the Ace of Clubs.

With 2 Aces, the response is 5 No Trumps.

In all cases you will make 6 Hearts easily, only losing a trick if the King of Diamonds is offside.

There are 11 tricks 'off the top', so how do you find the 12th?

You are going to have to squeeze West to give you an extra trick in one of the minor suits.

Win whatever is led and play 3 rounds of Spades.

Now play 3 rounds of Hearts.

West has to discard from either Diamonds or Clubs.

If they discard a Diamond, you have 4 Diamond winners.

If they discard a Club, let them have their Queen of Clubs and you have set up your fourth Club. 

3 Spades, 3 Hearts, 3 Diamonds and 3 Clubs.- 12 tricks made.

West will obviously want to find a forcing bid - they don't want their partner to pass!

If they play Benji (Benjaminised Acol), they will probably open 2 Clubs - 20 - 22 High Card Points unbalanced.

If they play Strong Twos, they may risk an opening 2 Spade bid - it's only a 4-loser hand (hmmm....)

Would you risk opening 2 No Trumps (20-22 HCP BALANCED) with a singleton Jack of Clubs?

The killing bid was an Acol 2 Clubs - 23+ HCP, forcing partner to bid.

With 15 HCP and 7 Hearts, East then bid a straight 7 No Trumps.

With any other opening bid, it looks like 6 Hearts will be the contract, making all 13 tricks, of course.

East will Pass originally, and South bids One Club.

Let's assume that West passes - more information later!

North bids One Diamond and East passes.

South now has to make a decision on whether to support partner's suit or rebid their Clubs.

I expect many Souths will now jump to 3 Diamonds and North will bid 5 Diamonds.

Their problem with showing support for Clubs at this level would be that a bid of 4 Clubs may well be misinterpreted as Gerber, asking for Aces.

Now what if West is the competitive type? 

West has great shape and is itching to get into the auction, despite their lack of high cards.

How do you show a two-suited hand?

CRO, CRasSh or Tesco - your choice.

If you play CRO (common at Bude Bridge Club), bidding the opponents suit at the next level promises at least 5 cards in each suit of the opposite Colour ( the C of CRO- alerted).

If you have a minimum 5-5 in the opposite Rank, bid 2NT - this is not a natural No Trump bid, so must be alerted!

If your 5-5 is in the Other suits, bid 3 Clubs (alerted) - not promising clubs!

CRaSh is exactly the same, but C is for Colour, Ra for Rank and Sh for Shape - pointed suits are Diamonds and Spades, rounded suits are Clubs and Hearts.

(Note that Tesco bid s are for Every Litle Helps - Extreme suits (One up in opponents suit), Lowest suits  (2NT) and Highest suits (3 Clubs))

So, over a One Club opening bid,  West will bid 2 No Trumps, showing a minimum of 5 cards in each major suit (opposite Rank).

North now bids 3 Clubs and East STOP 4 Hearts.

South bids the Club game (5 Clubs) and East (or West) sacrifices in 5 Hearts (doubled), going one off for an excellent result for East/West (-200 against -600)

The Wednesday hands continue to prove interesting!

When North picks up this hand and looks at the vulnerability, non-vulnerable against vulnerable,  they know they are going to pre-empt 5 Diamonds if East-West bid a game.

Many (most) Norths will bid 4 or 5 Diamonds over the initial Spade opener.

South shouldn't even consider bidding - North has set the trump suit and you have two as well. South's Hearts aren't exactly solid!(Of course, 6 Hearts makes, but does rely on a 2-2 split of the trump unit.)

At the most, they are going to go 2 off doubled for -300 against -620 for the vulnerable game.

If East-West push on to 5 Spades, North will 'sacrifice' in 6 Diamonds - and will make it! If a Spade isn't led, North/South will make all 13 tricks.

What a horror hand!

East opens the bidding. 

The Heart suit doesn't have the top honours to open a weak 2, unless you play the Multi 2-Diamond, so East will Pass.

South has a 4-4-4-1 distribution so will probably open One Club ♣ , the suit below the singleton (open the middle of 3 connected suits)

West will want to show their Diamond suit ♦ , but would love to Double the Club. They know that East would take this out, though, so will bid Diamonds at the one or two level. Let's assume One ♦ as their Clubs may not be as solid as they look.

North will Pass, as will East and South will probably Double to try to find a major fit.

West now bids their Clubs. Let's assume they jump to 3 Clubs to make North's call more difficult. 

North may risk 3 Spades♠ or they may Pass. 

If they Pass, East will bid 3 Diamonds, if they bid 3 ♠ , East will Pass.

South will Pass .

what happens next is decided by the view taken by South and West.

The only game possible is Five Diamonds by West. 

After ruffing an original Heart, just one small Club is ruffed. A Diamond returned, two more top Diamonds and then a top club.

If North ruffs, Ruff the return, play the other top club and another. The West hand is good. 

If North doesn't Ruff, just continue with other top club and another. 

They just lose one Club and the 10 ♦ .

North has some values and has already shown fewer than opening points by their original Pass.

They certainly don't want to give partner false hope by changing suit at the 3 level.

The call in these circumstances is 'Double'. It does not imply a Diamond suit ( or even a stopper) but lets partner know they can bid again to compete.

South realises that game is not possible but will want to compete for a part score. They therefore just bid a simple 2♥ , which is where it should rest, bringing in 9 tricks, as long as you take out trumps straight away and take your 4 Hearts, 4 Clubs and One Diamond.

You certainly get some hands on a Wednesday!

Firstly, the bidding.

South passes, West opens One ♠ (some will open 4♠ )  and North pre-empts with 3♥ .

What should East bid? 

Any change of suit at the 3 or 4 level is forcing to game, so there is no rush to bid 5♦ . Just bid 4♦  to show the length of the suit and strength of the hand.

West may just sign off in 5♦ , or make a splinter bid of 4♥ to show a void or the Ace of ♥ , or they may bid 4NT asking for Aces ( or controls).

When it comes to South's lead, leading partner's suit is always advisable unless you have a singleton or a death wish! The only sensible alternative would be a trump.

If East has a void (as they do here), leading the Ace ♠ is suicidal, giving an easy 13 tricks.  If both E and W have at least one, your Ace will win in the end.

On any other lead, East makes just 11 tricks.

If the contract is 4♠ , West will only make 11 tricks as long as South doesn't ruff a long Diamond. In the end, West will have to Ruff and lead away from their long suit.

After a sinple raise (One Diamond, 2 Diamonds), West shouild just Pass.

There is no fit and it is best to bale out while you can.

Any change of suit at the 3 level will be game forcing.

2 Diamonds +1 should be fairly standard.

After South's dubious Double (no clubs???), North-South may compete in Hearts but shouldn't be allowed to make 4 Hearts.

Any contract above 3 Diamonds or 3 Hearts should be Doubled for penalties.

4 Clubs Doubled  -4 was pretty disasterous....

East has to assume that West is game forcing with their 3 Club bid, so maybe bid 3NT? 

This will get murdered, with defence making at least 8 tricks.

Assume this will be doubled, East will have to try to rescue with 4 Clubs, doubled, -800......

How were the following contracts bid...

2♠*   E: 1♠ , S: Double, W: Pass, N: 2♣ , E: 2♠ , S: Double.  The first double was taken as a take out. The 2nd for penalties.

2♥    E:1 ♠ , S: Double, W: Pass, N: 2♣ , E: 2♦ , S: 2♥ . South's 2♥ was a costly mistake.

It seems that everyone thinks that a Double of East's One Spade is the best bet.

If South passes, so does West and North and the contract fails by one trick, making just +100 for N/S.

South really doesn't have a lot of choice but to Double and see what happens......

The first bidding sequence is ideal for N/S, giving N/S +500.

The second sequence seems strange, as the obvious bid for South, after East's 2 Diamonds, is 3 Clubs, supporting North's suit and with a 6-loser hand.

If West now supports Diamonds at the 3 level, this will be a clever bid as they will only fail by one trick, although 'bidding to the level of the fit'  should deter them.

North, with their 8-loser hand, should pass and leave it to South to make further decisions.

So, to sum up, either +110 or +100 to North/South, or East/West risks losing -500.....

Double dummy, North/South will be disappointed if they think they can make 4 Hearts!!

East leads a Spade to the Ace, West cashes their King of Clubs, leads a small Spade foe East to trump.

East now cashes the Ace of Clubs - down one before they get in!

Not an easy defence to find, but if East/West are able to bid their long black suits, it may be possible to find this defence.

If East/West are in game, they will lose just 4 tricks in Spades or Clubs.

Assuming we can see all 4 hands (Double Dummy), 4 Hearts is a certain contract.

East’s lead of a Club is extremely unlikely, but will, after the ruff, hold the contract to 10 tricks.

However, the top of the doubleton will be a much more obvious lead and will lead to 11 tricks making.

After the lead of the 10 of Diamonds to the King, North wins and plays a small Heart to the King.

Ace of Spades and a Spade ruff, then a Club towards Dummy.

East plays low and South wins the Jack and returns a Spade for another ruff.

Another Club, another finesse, then the Ace of Clubs, discarding a Diamond from North.

Another Club, ruffed by North, and then North exits with their last Diamond.

If East wins, whatever is led gives North their 10th and 11th tricks.

If West wins and leads another Diamond, North ruffs low and again East is on lead to give North their game plus one.

What if you can’t see all four hands?

10 of Diamonds led, taken by the Ace.

A Spade to the Ace, a Spade ruff and then a Heart to the King.

Another Spade ruff and then the Ace of Hearts, showing the 4-1 break.

A Club towards dummy, Spade ruff, another Club, Ace of Clubs, throwing Diamond, and then another Club, discarding your last Diamond (loser on loser).

East wins and is now on lead.

A Spade lead gives North their ruff for their tenth trick.If they decide to cash their Queen of Hearts first, 11 tricks are made.

Not an easy hand to bid.

Somehow, West has to show their powerhouse hand and agree Hearts as Trumps - East has shown at least a 5-card suit and extra values.

If West bids 4 Clubs, it is certainly forcing, but is it seeking a fit in No Trumps? A No Trump slam is doomed to go down.

A bid of 3 Hearts merely shows preference, so West will have to bid 4 Hearts and hope that the jump bid will invite East to look for the Slam.

If East now bids Blackwood 4 No Trumps, West can show their 2 Aces by bidding  5 Hearts. Now 5 No Trumps asks for Kings and a response of 6  Diamonds shows just the one King. East can now sign off in 6 Hearts.

3 No Trumps by South is not a clever bid, although it will make if East/West don't find the best defence.

  If they do, they will take the first ten tricks for 6 down! A small Club to the Jack, the 10 of Spades, not covered, then the other Spade, West taking their 4 Spade winners, then King and another Club .... oops!

The only 'making' contracts are  3 Diamonds from North or 3 Spades from West.

It will take a brave South to Double after East opens One Diamond. 

I suspect most Souths will Pass and West will bid One No Trump, East taking out to 2 Diamonds.

This will play for just 7 tricks.

Alternatively, after East bids 2 Diamonds, South may now Double as they know West doesn't have a 4-card major.

North will bid 2 Hearts..... 8 tricks.

It is difficult to see how the Spade fit can be found. It would be interesting to hear from  the 2 pairs who bid in Spades..

P.S. The bidding at one table went  N-Pass,  E-1♦ , S-Double,  W-2♣️,  N-Double, E-2♦ ,  S-2 ♠️, W-Pass, N-3♠️, E-Pass, S-4♠️, going 2 off......

Response from another table - bidding went  N-Pass, E-1♦ , S-Double,  W-Pass, N-1♠. S passed as N had not opened as dealer.

This is a great hand, with absolutely no clues if North opens a pre-emptive  4 Diamonds.

With 8 diamonds, the perceived wisdom is to open 4, but with a poor suit and being Vulnerable, many Norths will just open with 3 Diamonds.

East will pass and South will have to consider whether to raise to game.

If they Pass, West may punt 4 Spades.  Now, after 2 Passes, South may try 5 Diamonds.

West will Pass (or Double?), North will Pass , and will East try 5 Spades vulnerable? Doubtful, but could bring a windfall.

Both 5 Diamonds North/South and 5 Spades East/West make on best play.

To make 5 Spades you must lose East's Diamond early, take the ruff and then work out that South has 3 Hearts to the Jack or Queen.

After the Diamond Ruff, draw trumps, cross to the King of Hearts (the Queen falls) and finesse against the Jack.

Just the 2 Aces to lose.

For 5 Diamonds to make by North, you just play to drop the King of Diamonds singleton.

Then 8 Diamonds and 3 Clubs roll in.

Will East open 1 No Trump on a balanced 11-count 3rd in hand? Possibly, non-vulnerable.

If so, South is going to double and West really has no rescue bid.  Down 2 for -300.

What happens if East passes?

South, in the protective 4th seat, may well open 2 No Trumps, which will be passed out.

What does West lead? Whatever they try, they give South a free finesse.

The only way to get the lead to East is with a Club, and the return of a Heart may well look good, but North's Jack of Hearts is a crucial stopper.

Ace of Diamonds and a small Diamond and your 8 tryicks roll in.

East may well open One Heart, although the wiser bid is One Spade.

South, using basic systems, will bid 2 Clubs.

After West Passes, North will show their Spades - 2 Spades.

East Passes, South bids 3 Diamonds and North bids the No Trump game - 3 NT.

If they are lucky, East will lead their Ace of Spades and another Spade, with 12 tricks rolling in.

If they are unlucky, East will lead a Heart, only making 7 tricks.

If North/South are using CRO, after East opens One Spade (or One Heart), South will bid 2 NT, showing at least 5 cards in each minor suit.

If North raises this to 3NT, a killer Heart lead will defeat the contract.

The first thing to note is that 3NT by South should NOT make.

On a Diamond lead, East takes the first 6 tricks.

Why West should lead a Spade away from K J is a mystery....

but then how South bids NT with no Diamond stop after East has bid the suit is also a mystery, or inspired!!!

The only North/South game contract to make is 5 Clubs.

With this distribution, bidding will be fierce.

The bidding could possibly have gone Pass - Pass- 1♦ - Double - Pass (or 1♠ ) - 1 ♥  (or2♣ ) - 2 ♦  - Double (showing the black suits) - Pass- 4♣ - Pass- 5♣  .

South won't leave East in 2♦ if they feel a game is on. If South has bid their ♠ suit, West may we'll push on to sacrifice. They are non-vulnerable against Vulnerable, so all the more reason to be aggressive.

You really do wonder how South could have bid 3♠  at any point in the auction.

The regular bidding will go Pass - Pass - 1♣  - Pass - 1♠ - Pass- 2NT - Pass- 3 NT.

With East/West vulnerable against non-vulnerable, they will want to bid their game rather than expecting to get the opposition 4 off doubled.

If North or South do introduce their major suit, East will press on to the game. 

Note that, if South bids 1♠ over the opening 1♣ , West will bid 1NT to show the suit covered.

There's no right or wrong on this hand - just a freaky distribution where you have to glean what you can from the bidding, assess the posible/probabale layout, and then go for it!

West opens an obvious One ♦  and North will overcall. Depending on style, this will be a jump overcall 2 ♠  (6-card major with 5 - 9 HCP (High Card Points)) or a simple overcall of 1♠ , showing a 5-card suit and 7 - 13/14 HCP.

East won't be kept out of the bidding as they have 12 HCP and a 6-card suit, so either  2 or 3 ♣ .

So now it's down to South. I expect many will bid 4 ♥ . They are non-vulnerable against a probable East/West game, so can  go 3 off doubled and still come out on top. If the Kings of Hearts and Spades are onside, , 11 tricks shouild make.

West may well now bid 5 Clubs which should go one down if South leads their partner's suit.

With such wild distribution, it is often wise not to double.....

Firstly, I can only assume that East opens One Spade, West bids 2 Hearts (they should really have 5 Hearts for this bid), East raises to 3 Hearts and West bids the game - down one.

If there is any mention of Diamonds, surely they must be in either No Trumps or Diamonds.

It is very difficult to bid the East/West hands. If the King of Hearts is with South and a Heart is led by North, you are probably only going to make 11 tricks anyway.

Some pairs will have Splinter Bids in their armoury. They can bid (STOP) 4 Clubs, agreeing Diamonds (game forcing) and showing a shortage in Clubs. This can easily be misunderstood!

West can cue bid their Ace of Spades (4 Spades) and then East bids 4 No Trump, asking for Aces. When the reply is 5 Hearts, they are showing 2 Aces which must include the Ace of Clubs (if it had been the Ace of Diamonds, they would hace cue bid 4 Diamonds).

East is 'forced' to bid 6 Diamonds - not very scientific!

Possibly the best simple bidding sequence is One Spade - 2 Diamonds- (STOP) 4 Diamonds - 5 Diamonds,  This allows West to either stop at the 4 level, bid the game, or bid Blackwood if they want.

Many pairs will just bid One Spade - (STOP) 3 No Trumps - Pass.

If you played Roman Key Card Blackwood, over 4 Diamonds, West could then bid 4 No Trumps, East 5 Spades (showing 2 of the 5 Keycards (4 Aces and King of Trumps) plus the Queen of Trumps) and West would have a handle on all the high cards.

You are now forced to the slam.

Don't beat yourself up about not bidding the slim Heart game here - it will all depend on your bidding style, partnership agreement and bravado!

You will notice that 3 East/West pairs were declarer. 

This was because, after 2 passes, East has opened One Spade with their very thin 11 High Card Points and 5-card suit. 

This has cut South out of the auction.

West has converted to One No Trump and has inevitably gone down. One West let East play in One Spade.

At the other 4 tables, after 3 Passes, South has opened - One Diamond at 3 tables and  One Club at the other.

If you play 5-card majors, you may well open One Diamond, North replies One Heart and now South has to choose between Pass, or Two or Three Hearts.

At two tables, South probably jumped to Three Hearts and North bid (and made) the game.

At one table, South bid Two Hearts and North passed, making just 9 tricks.

The final pair opened One Club. They play a 5-card major AND Diamond opening, so a One Club bid can be a singleton.

North bid One Heart and South let it go, making 10 tricks.

It is well to notice that most pairs will open the South hand with One Heart - the middle of three connected suits. This will be raised to Two Hearts if they play a 'losing trick count', or 3 Hearts if they feel ambitious. South will then either leave it or punt the game.

This sort of hand is what makes bridge such a fascinating game.

Stayman is an asking bid. It promises nothing - unless you play 'promissory Stayman'.

In this case, West wanted to know that East had Hearts covered so that they could bid 2 No Trumps.

However, if using Stayman, you must have an idea what you are going to bid whatever the response.

I assume that, after a 2 Diamond response, West will still bid 2 No Trumps, and was really hoping for a Spade fit.

The fact that all Easts failed to make their contract reflects this.

North would surely have gone 2 off in 2 Spades..

Hmmm......

You would expect experienced players, playing a weak No Trump, (12-14) to open the North hand with One No Trump and for this to be passed out.

There may be a pair that opens one Club (or One Diamond), either because they play a Strong No Trump or because they don't like their weak holding in the majors.

There also may be an East that overcalls on a 4 -card suit....there are one or two in the club.....

If North has opened One Club, it may have become competitive, with South supporting the suit.

There may also be a West who raises their partner's suit with 4-card support - I can understand this in a competitive auction where they assume their partner has a 5-card suit and they are bidding to the level of the fit.

Other suggestions, please....

It all depends on your bidding system.

If you play a strong no trump (15-17) and 5-card majors, you will open the North hand, after 3 passes, with your better minor, one Diamond.

South will raise to 2 Diamonds and that will complete the auction for a top result.

Any pair playing a weak no trump (12-14)  will open One No Trump and this should be left. It should go one off.

If East/West try to get into the auction by overcalling (or opening) Hearts, they may well make 9 tricks.

Of course, it could be that North didn't count their HCP and then didn't open One♠ .....

From Deb - who won in 2♦ 

13 of my 14 points are in my 2 4-card suits. Ron Klinger says if you have non-touching 4-card suits, you bid your suits up the line to keep the bidding low eg lowest suit first. If my points had been evenly spread amongst the 4 suits, I probably would have bid 1NT with that shape.

klinger also advocates a 16-18 strong no trump.....

what do you do if partner responds Two Clubs? Can't bid Two Diamonds, can't bid two Spades , can't  bid two no trumps...

Pass is the correct bid. There are some partnerships that will open One No Trump on ten  HCP after three passes, but not recommended!

So how did 4 pairs reach a contract?

South and West certainly can't open the bidding.

North must therefore have opened One Club, and East will Pass.

South should now bid One Spade and North will call Two Clubs.

South now calls Two Diamonds and that becomes the final contract, which will make, probably exactly.

So how does East get into Two Diamonds? Must be an 'adventurous ' East who overcalls with a 4-card suit?!

i can see that, if East does open with a very light One No Trump, West will raise to Two NT and may luckily come to eight or nine tricks.

Pass!

North has originally passed and South has made a simple overcall.

For North to take out the overcall, all the bid can mean is 'I am short in your suit , possibly void, and I have a 6-card major. Please leave'

In this situation, afyter East's 3 Diamonds and a Pass from South, North may well bid 3 Hearts, showing a 6-5 hand, and this will be left for a good result.

The question should be 'how does declarer make more than 7 tricks?'

it looks like there are 2 Spade tricks, 2 Diamonds, 2 Hearts and a Club, so where do more tricks come from?

Win the opening Diamond lead with the King.

Lead a Spade, East plays the 9, dummy the 10 and West wins with the Queen.

A Diamond is returned and you win with the Ace.

The Ace of Spades drops the King and you play a Spade to the Jack. East has to find a discard, probably one of their Diamond winners.

 The Ace and King of Hearts and a third Heart means that they can take their Heart and Diamond winners, but are then endplayed as they have to lead away from their King/Jack of Clubs.

8 tricks made.

What if East decides to discard a Club instead of a Diamond? Now a Diamond to East's winners will allow them to take 3 Diamonds but then they may play a Club. This will give Declarer the rest of the tricks.

9 tricks made.

First, the bidding.

West will Pass and North should open a cautious One Spade. It may seem that there are only 3 losers, but the hand is full of holes and can't  guarantee 8 tricks.

After East passes, what does South bid? Certainly looking for a game in Diamonds, but looks odds on for a slam.....

It will depend on what slam conventions you play. Whatever you play, take our time. If North has two Aces, a small slam seems likely, but if they only have one, you need to stop in five Diamonds.

 If you use Gerber, bid Four Clubs, then sign off in Five Diamonds.

If you are using Blackwood, bid Four No Trumps and again leave the Five Diamond response.

Now the play:

If West leads either black suit, East will take their two Aces.

West has probably led a trump, and then 13 tricks roll in - 8 Diamonds and then 5 Hearts from the top.

So what if a Heart is led? 

Take the Ace, King and Queen - discarding your singleton Club - and then the King of Spades.

East will win their Ace, but then South can trump a Club , draw Trumps and cross to the Queen of Spades and the two master Hearts.

alternatively, East will play a Spade back to the Queen, then a Club Ruff and 12 tricks made.

How do the defence make 3 tricks? No idea!

Can only think that a black card is led, East takes their two Aces and leads a Spade back.

If you try to get back to hand by ruffling a Spade, you will set up West's 10 of Diamonds.

Chris

How I let Defence win 3 tricks... Penny

West 5♠, Dummy K♠, East A♠, Declarer 4♠

East 6♠ , South 7♠ , West ♠ , Dummy Q♠ 

Now what do I lead?

I chose... Dummy Q♣ , East A♣ , Declarer J♣ , West ♣ 

East J♠, Declarer A♦...

And now West's 10♦ makes for their 3rd trick.

Now I can see the whole hand I can see that I should have led ♥ s throwing the J♣ on the 3rd heart and then trumping a ♣ to get back into hand to draw trumps. But that relies on a 3/3 split in hearts, which is less likely than a 4/2 split AND me recognising that (a bit advanced for me).

I like to think they were very good defenders :-)

Actually, a 4-2 Heart split doesn't matter. If the 4 are with East, just discard your club on the third Heart and you win the rest.

if West has 4 Hearts and East trumps, just over-ruff, draw trumps and lose the club at the end.

West will open One Club, North will Pass and East bids One Heart.

what does South now call? They could overcall their Spades, and indeed 2 Spades will make,  but this is an intermediate bid (8-15 points) so perhaps better to just Pass for the moment and see what happens.

west now calls One Spade and North passes. 

East must dissuade any further bids and just bid One No Trump ( or possibly 2 Clubs).

what does South bid? Both his major suits have been bid so if they double , it may be a disaster - and so it will be! East/West will make 8 tricks in No Trumps -5 Clubs, 2 Diamonds and either a Spade or Heart.

it may be that West will then bid 2 Clubs (which makes) or they may Pass and North bid 2 Diamonds, which should go at least one off.

Optimum contract is One No Trump by East for +120, with perhaps 2 Diamonds by North going one off the best for North/South.

After North passes, East pre-empts with 3Clubs.

What does South bid?

If they double, West can bid 5 Clubs (bid to the level of the fit - 7 + 4) and North is stuck for a bid. 

Alteratively, West can punt at 3NT , which will make unless North leads the Queen of Spades to unblock the suit.

If South decides to bid 4 Spades, this will make, with 5 Clubs going just one off - optimum contracts.

To make 4 Spades, West will probably lead a Club.

This is ruffed by South and a Diamond led towards dummy. If West ducks, win with the Queen and play a Spade back to hand. 

Lead another Diamond. Whether West their Ace wins now or later, you are going to make 6 Spade tricks, 3 Diamonds and the Ace of Hearts - maybe 11 if West leads a Heart!

The normal Acol bidding will start with One Diamond from North - too strong to pre-empt and not strong enough for a 2-level bid.

East will now bid One Spade and South now needs to consider carefully.

2 Clubs is too strong and One No Trump suggests a Spade control. Maybe consider a Double, showing minimum points but no Spade stop.

West will now bid 4 Spades (which will make) and both North and South will need to consider whether to sacrifice in their minor.

5 Diamonds by North doubled will go 2 off for -300, a good sacrifice, whereas 5 Clubs doubled by South should only make 7 tricks on best defence, - 800.