With 5-5 come alive!

A diamond was led &a spade continued the jack winning. South took the A & K on the spade continuation & switched to the 4H. Do not take the finesse - on South's lead it is sour. Finesse the QC & on the repeated club the long clubs give two heart discards & the KD takes care of the remaining losing heart for 11 tricks & a top.

3NT is not as good a contract. With his 5-5 distribution W should insist on a trump contract

On the night 4 people went down (In no trumps?)% were in a part score (With13 points opposite an opening bid?!) 2 made 10 tricks in a suit contract, 1 made 10 in NT & 2 hit the top spot

South with a 2 loser hand (in either Clubs or Hearts) can bid the Acol 2 Clubs. West should overcall 2 Diamonds and North with 5 Diamonds and an Ace should Pass hoping South who has shown a powerful hand will double for take out which North will happily leave!

South not to be denied will bid 3 Clubs, his best suit, North will bid 4 Clubs setting the suit. South now cue bids 4 Diamonds, first round control showing the Ace or a void, Noth cue bids 4 Spades showing the Ace but denying the Ace of Hearts and now South can bid the safe 6 Clubs, only losing the Ace of Hearts setting up his 5th Heart for the 12th trick.

On the night the Board was played 10 times and nobody bid the slam. Clubs always made 12 tricks (5 pairs), Hearts made 11 tricks (3 pairs), No Trumps ugh 10 tricks (1 pair) and the Diamond sacrifice by East /West made 5 tricks which was not doubled!!!

South will open 1 Spade, always the higher ranking of 2 five card suits, North knows that the final contract will be Spades but bids 2 Diamonds to await Souths reply. South can bid to 3 Hearts showing 5:5 in the majors after North's 2 Diamond showing at least 9 points. North is happy to bid Blackwood 4NT, the 5 Heart respopnse shows 2 Aces and the safe 6 Spades concludes the auction. On West's probable lead of Club Queen, declarer will win with the Ace, draw trumps in two rounds,lose the Ace of Diamonds and make all the remaining tricks.

On the night the Board was played 10 times with only 2 pairs bidding and making 6 Spades, although everybody made 12 tricks!

A direct raise to 4 Hearts by North shows a distributional 7 loser hand with a maximum of 10 High Card Points. It is not necessarily a shut out if opener has a very strong hand.

West will lead Queen of Diamonds, taken by South's Ace. You can see 2 likely Spade losers, and at least 1 trump loser. You must be careful not to lose any Diamonds. The Clubs will provide at least 1 discard for the Spade. Thus you need to ruff Diamonds. At trick 2 play 7 of Clubs and finesse the Queen. This will lose to the King but set up 2 Club discards on Ace & Jack (1 Spade & 1 Diamond). East now has an awkward lead but a trump (Heart) will give nothing away. South may well duck and let the Heart run around to the 10 in dummy, but West will play and win with the Jack. West now leads a Spade, the 10 is best. North plays the King, East the Ace and returns another Spade which South takes with the Queen. South leads a diamond and ruffs in dummy and plays the Ace of Clubs discarding his last Spade. Declarer now plays a trump from dummy, and when East plays 8 Hearts South plays the Ace, 95% certain that West holds the King, East when in with King of Clubs is unlikely to have underled King of trumps. By ruffing another Diamond and playing Jack of Clubs discarding South's last Diamond the contract is guaranteed,

The Board was played 6 times, 10 tricks were made 3 times, 9 tricks made 3 times.

The correct opening bid for north is 1 Diamond, the higher of the 2 equal length minors. East despite his 14 points passes. (East would have doubled a 1 Club opening by North). South passes and West must now protect by adding 3 points to his holding. West bids 1 Heart which must be a 5 card suit but in the protective seat does not need to obey the usual suit quality test. North & East now pass and if South passes this will end the auction, 1 Heart by West. However South may reasonably compete over 1 Heart with 2 Diamonds, passed around to East who can now see that North/South probably have 8 Diamonds between them, East holds Ace of Diamonds and 3 others can put West with a singleton Diamond, therefore no losers in that suit, and can raise the bidding to 3 Hearts. West with a 7 loser hand should bid 4 Hearts.

On the probable lead of a Diamond West as declarer will play the Ace and not draw trumps but cross ruff the hand in Clubs and Diamonds taking the Spade finesse on the way. West will make Ace of Diamonds & 3 Diamond ruffs, Ace of Clubs and 3 Club ruffs, Ace & Queen of Spades and Ace of Hearts for a total of 11 tricks.

The Board was played 6 times but game was never bid! Hearts were played 3 times making a minimum of 10 tricks, the other 3 times North played in either 1 Diamond or 1 NT going down which was a better score for North/South than the Heart part score for East/West.

After South has passed West is just not quite good enough to open an Acol 2 Club bid so has to settle for 1 Club opening. North overcalls 1 Spade and East with a balanced hand, 4 Spades and 8 points bids 1 NT. South should raise to 2 Spades and West reverses by bidding 3 Hearts. After north passes East has a problem but a bid of 3 Spades, the oppositions suit and 100% forcing, will communicate to partner, "I am still not sure where we should play this hand, if I raise Hearts we may be in a 4:3 fit and I am too balanced to have any ruffing values". West will rebid his Clubs (4 Clubs) and East will sign off in 5 Clubs.

North will likely lead Spade King take with East's Ace, West discarding a Diamond. Trumps are drawn in 2 rounds finishing in East to lead Jack of Hearts. If this is not covered by South's Queen it is allowed to run and will hold, if covered West will insert the King. With Hearts breaking 3:3, 12 tricks are now making, 7 Clubs, 4 Hearts and 1 Spade. A Diamond lead, unlikely from the King Jack will hold it to 11 tricks.

On the night the board was played 10 times, 7 times Clubs made 11 or 12 tricks, 1 East/West bid 4 Hearts and made 10 tricks, and twice North/South were allowed to play in Spades making 8 tricks.

In my opinion West is just good enough to open 1 Diamond with a good 6 card suit. North overcalls 2 Spades, 15 points and an excellent 6 card suit. East with a balanced 13 points knows that their side should be in game bids a forcing 3 Clubs, West rebids 3 Diamonds and East bids 3 Spades, partner have you got a Spade stop for 3 NT? West denies by bidding 4 Diamonds and East signs off in 5 Diamonds.

West will lead Ace & King of Spades and at trick 3 will exit with a trump. West will then take a second round of trumps with King or Queen to leave none outstanding. East will now play Ace of Clubs and Jack of Clubs overtaking with the King in East, lead a small Club and ruff both Nort and South following to the 3rd round of Clubs the 8 and 9 of Clubs in dummy are now masters. East plays 3 of Hearts to the Ace (does not need the finesse which works anyway) and plays 8 & 9 of Clubs discarding his 2 losing Hearts, 11 tricks made.

On the night the Board was played 10 times. Nobody bid and made 5 Diamonds, 2 pairs played in a Diamond contract, 3 D + 2, and 5D - 1. North played in Spades 7 times usually only making 7 tricks and 1 East/West finished in 4 Clubs making 10 tricks. 

After the West rebid of 2NT showing a balanced 17/18 points East should sign off in 3 Spades.

South may well lead a Heart, taken by the Ace and play a small Diamond to the Ace and then lose a Diamond which South should win. South should then lead a Spade taken with the Ace. Lead a small Heart and ruff, lead a small Diamond and ruff with the 10 of Spades. Play King of spades, lead another small heart, North must play his King and East trumps. East now has only the 9 of trumps whilst North has the Queen. East leads  a small Club finessing the Queen which holds, plays the Ace of Clubs and then leads another Heart, if North ruffs with the Queen then East will discard a Club or a Diamond, if North refuses to trump your 9 of Spades will win the trick, 9 tricks made either way! (South if he held the Queen of trumps could not overtrump as he is known to hold a 4th Heart.

On the night the Board was played 10 times and only 1 East/West played in Spades. Those in no trumps made a maximum of 6 tricks, and if you played in Hearts you may make 8 tricks if you are lucky!

We offer a possible bidding sequence to bid to the Spade slam on this hand. 12 tricks will always make, losing only 1 Club as 3 Clubs in the West hand can be discarded on the Ace & King of Hearts and the Ace of Diamonds leaving 1 Club to ruff.

The bidding: East will naturally bid 1 Diamond. What do you bid with the West hand? We favour the bid of 4 Spades immediatly, pre-emptive and showing a suit quality of 10 (number of cards in the suit + the number of honours) this is actually about 9 and a half. East with the Ace of trumps plus 3 other top tricks bids 4NT, 5 Club reply shows no Aces, so East will sign off in 6 Spades. Note a stronger hand with the same shape would go more slowly starting with 1 Spade.

On the night the board was played 10 times and nobody bid the slam, 2 declarers made 13 tricks, did north underlead his Ace of Clubs? 4 other pairs made 12 tricks and the rest only made 11.

After 2 Passes North will open 1 Heart, East with 18 points and 2 Heart stops should bid 1NT. What next? Despite being vulnerable I think South should bid 2 Hearts with a singleton Club, the hand has ruffing values and the King of Spades behind the 1NT overcall, (South cannot see the West hand). West may do the weak take out of 2 Spades and North with that distribution should bid 3 Hearts. With that massive East hand at least 2 Heart tricks most players would not be able to resist the double which should end the auction. The contract can be made see below.

East will lead the Ace of Diamonds! North ruffs and considers his losers. Almost certainly the King and Jack of hearts are with East, and he will also have to lose the Ace of Spades. He can therefore only afford 1 Club loser. Expected and hoped for break in Clubs is 4:3. Note the important 7 of Hearts in dummy. Take Ace of Clubs and ruff a Club. Lead Diamond and ruff. Ruff another Club, (Queen falls) and another Diamond. Play another Club, the 9, and ruff with Souths last trump the 7 which West cannot overtrump. Play a Spade (losing now or later) and when next in play the Ace of Hearts and then the master 10 of Clubs. East can take his King & Jack of Hearts and nothing else. 10 Tricks made.

North will open a minimum 1NT, East with 6 points will Pass and South with zero points will bid 2 Spades, weakness take out, (or 2 Hearts if playing transfers). Now with 22 points what should West bid. West's 22 points plus North's 12 to 14 points accounts for 34 to 36 out of the 40 points which leaves only 4 to 6 points in total with East & South.

West may double for penalties but on careful play 2 Spades doubled will only go 1 down for 100 points, bid 3 Hearts which will just make for 140 points, or better still bid 3NT and hope. Your luck is in as you will take 2 Spade tricks, 2 Heart tricks and 5 Club tricks = 9 tricks off the top. The Diamond suit is guarded as North is on lead.

On the night the hand was played 14 times and nobody bid 3NT. All the scores went to East /West and their best score was 800 for 4 Spades doubled! Three pairs made game in 5 Clubs, the rest of the field gaining a part score in Hearts, one pair in 2NT plus 1 and the rest of the scores were North/South playing in 2 or 3 Spades, often undoubled for 2 or 3 off.

You don't get 22 points dealt you very often be bold and bid game. Fortune favours the brave.

The bidding is straightforward but an alternative would be; 1 Heart, 2 Clubs, 2NT, 3 Spades, 3NT.

Lead 5 Spades, 4th highest, take trick with the Ace in dummy to preserve an entry in the East hand. play Ace of Clubs and small Club, North will take his King and probably return a heart which you will take.

You will now make 3 Spades, 3 Hearts, 1 Diamond and 4 Clubs, total 11 tricks.

On the night the Board was played 14 times, 12 times in 3 NT, 2 pairs only making 8 tricks, 1 pair making 9, 4 pairs making 10 tricks, 2 pairs making thr par 11 tricks, 2 pairs making 12 tricks (South must have led a Diamond) and 1 pair making 13, defence!!!

The other 2 pairs were sadly in 6 Hearts, not a chance, and 3 Spades + 1 for 170, timid.

After East passes, South has a standard 1 Heart opening hand, West, despite being vulnerable should bid 4 Diamonds, North with 2 outside Aces and knowing that their side has at least 11 trumps bids 4NT Blackwood. East should now bid 5 Diamonds. South should now employ the DOPI/ROPI convention, after an oppersition bid over 4NT Blackwood, Double = 0 Aces Pass = 1 Ace (DOPI) next suit up = 2 Aces etc. After a double of 4NT Blackwood, Redouble = 0 Pass = 1 Ace (ROPI). South therefore passes with 1 Ace and North should bid 6 Hearts.

West will lead King of diamonds, which will hold the trick and switch to a club. South should play the Ace from dummy and draw the 1 outstanding trump. When South plays a Spade to the Ace he notices the Jack drop from West so that the King, Queen and 10 of Spades will take care of Norths Clubs. However had he not put up the Ace of Clubs but let it run around to his Queen that would also work this time!

On the night the Board was played 6 times with 2 pairs bidding the slam for the par score of 980 to North/South. Had East/West sacrificed on 7 Diamonds, doubled of course, they would only lose 3 tricks, 2 Clubs and 1 Spade for a score of 800 to North/South. Funny old game?

North will open 1 Spade, after East has passed South is worth 2 Hearts, only 8 points but does have 8 Hearts. West should bid 4NT (Unusual NT) asking partner to bid a minor,  and North with a Heart fit, South is known to hold at least 5, will bid 5 Hearts. Well will East bid 6 Clubs (or 6 Diamonds)? This contract will make 11 tricks for 1 off! Should South bid 6 Hearts it will make 12 tricks played carefully.

West will probably lead Ace Diamonds, and switch to Queen of Clubs taken by Norths Ace, Ace of spades is led discarding Souths last Club and a small spade is led and ruffed with the 9, only the 7 & 5 of trumps are missing, you don't want to be overruffed! lead a Diamond and trump, ruff another Spade with the 10 Hearts, lead the last Diamond and ruff again, and draw trumps. You make 2 black Aces and 10 trumps.

On the night the hand was played 10 times only 1 pair bid and made the slam (Gill & Alan) and only 3 pairs made 12 tricks. No East/West found the minor suit sacrifice, even 7 Clubs or Diamonds doubled is only 2 off for 300 against a 480 game or 980 slam!

South with 9 playing tricks with Hearts as trumps should open 2 Clubs. West should interfere with 2 Spades, he wants a Spade lead if North ends up as declarer. North with a repectable balanced 11 points bids 2 NT. South bids 3 Hearts showing his suit, North agrees with 4 Hearts and South bids 4NT for Aces. 5 Diamonds shows 1 Ace, must be Spades, and after 5NT, 6 Diamonds shows 1 King. It does not matter if this is the King os Spades or Diamonds to South as now he can count 13 tricks, 6 trumps, 4 Clubs Ace of Hearts, partners Ace of Spades, and either King of Spades or Diamonds fot the 13th trick. He should not be worried about Hearts as North has supported this suit.

On the night this Board was played 10 times and everyone made 13 tricks in Hearts. However only 4 pairs bid a SMALL slam, nobody was bold enough to bid the Grand Slam!

After East has passed South will open 1 Heart, (too strong for 3 or 4 Heart opening). West will overcall 2 Diamonds (I think he is too strong for the Unusual 2NT overcall showing 5:5 on the minir suits). North will raise to 3 Hearts, only 3 Hearts to the King but he does have a doubleton Club. If East makes the excellent bid of 3 Clubs (I can support your Diamonds partner and I have a reasonable 5+ card Club Suit), South with his 5 loser hand will bid 4 Hearts and West will sacrifice in 5 Clubs.After that North should keep quiet! South may Pass, Double or bid 5 Hearts.

4 Hearts will make by South, losing just Ace of Hearts, Ace of Clubs and Ace of Diamonds as the Spade suit divides 2:2. 5 Clubs (or 5 Diamonds) woll also make by East/West if they drop the singleton King of Diamonds, a not unreasonable play.

On the night the Board eas played 9 times, 8 times South played in Hearts making 10 or11 tricks, 3 pairs bidding game. One East West pair bid 5 Clubs, got doubled and made 11 tricks for 550. (Even 5 Clubs minus 1 would have been a top for East West). Congratulations to Pat & Jack for being so bold!

East should open 1 Heart despite having inly 11 points as he has a very reasonable rebid of 2 Diamonds. West with 19 points and a 4 card Heart suit makes a bid of 1 Spade to see what East opened with. East's bid of 2 Diamonds shows 5 Hearts & 4 Diamonds so West bids 4NT (Blackwood for Aces) knowing the reply will be 5 Clubs, none, as he has them all! 5NT for Kings brings the reply of  6 Hearts, 2 Kings, which is left as the final contract. Had East bid 6 Spades, 3 Kings, then a Grand slam in Hearts would have been a very reasonable contract.

On the evening this hand was played 9 times and not 1 pair bid the slam!