South  with 23 points & 6 quick tricks must open with 2C. North with 9HCP & a 5 card suit should give a positive response of 3C. South bids Spades & North , with Q J 3 supports. Blackwood shows an ace with North & now South can count 13 tricks -5 spades, 5 clubs, A K & A & bids 7NT. The play is straight forward provided the high clubs & KH are played before playin over to the QS & throwing the losing diamons on the last two clubs & the A hearts. Playing in 7S is tickier due to the block in clubs. However this can be overcome. Take AD, then KH, A & K spades, A & K clubs before draing the last trump with QS. Then the AH is played & the blocking QC discarded. Now 3 clubs take care of the three losing diamonds.

On the night only two pairs bid to a slam making 12 tricks in 6NT. They played on spades before the clubs & had to overtake the KH, creating a loser.When planning the play at trick1 always think about entries.

With 6 quick tricks & a singleton South should open with 2C. I think North with a 5 card major & 7HCP shoulld bid a positive 2S. Thereafter the bidding should be straight forward to the slam in  hearts. The key in the slam is the way to play the hearts Missing the K 10 & 8 the finesse against East is incorrect. A small heart to the J caters for any 3 - 2 break  and K, K x, K x x or K 8 6 3 with West.

On the night two people bid the slam but both went down. It was a tricky hand.

Are you one of those who jump to game without investigating other possibilities fully? If so you are in good company as Australian International Sartaj Hans jumped to 3NT in the 2007 Ozzie Grand National Teams final & paid the price going down on 7D lead. The JD forced out the King & when the club finesse failed a spade to the A & the 9D returned meant death. Note that when you have two cards left in a suit the higher card is played. If the 4D is returned instead of the 9 the defence take one fewer trick.. The bidding should be straight forward up to North's second bid. With two 5 card suits & fewer than 15 HCP the higher ranking should be bid first & hence !S by South & not 1H as I saw on the night. Similarly North should bid 2D not 2C.The key bid is North's 3C, Fourth suit forcing saying "Partner tell me more about your hand." South's rebid of 3H tells North that he is 5-5 in the majors & the excellent contract of 4H is reached. Slam should not be investigated as the combined count is probably 30 0r fewer & the void in partner's first suit is a huge disadvantage.

Onthe night 7 Pairs played in 3NT 4 going down, 2 making 9 tricks for 400 & one making 12 tricks despite missing 2 Aces! 2 pairs bid to 4H making 420 & 450. Congratulations to them on finishing in the correct contract.

Over the pre-emptive 3CEast with 16HCP is too good to supinely pass & should double.it would be too timid for West to bid only 3S in  response. With 9 plus points & a known 8+ major suit fit it is correct to try for game. A takeout double of a pre-empt will normally have 6 losers or fewer. West has 8 losers & so 8+6=14. Deducting from 18 the Losing trick count says a 4 level contract & therefore West should bid 4S..  In the playthe KC lead is taken by the A & on a heart return to the A the QC is cashed  7 a further club led.  East must trump this with the King & finesse South for the QS.. North has shown up with 9HCP. With 11 HCP & a 7 card suit the opening would be 1C.

On the night 7 pairs were allowed to play in a club contract conceding 100 in most cases. One pair played in 3S  making 170, one went down in 4S & one made 4S for a complete top. Don't let pre-empts talk you out of your rights!

South with 5 HCP & a 6 card suit headed by three honours is worth a one level response. When South repeats the Hearts showing at least a 5 card suit North with 3 card support & 18 HCP must bid the game. If East overcalls 1 Spade South will pass & whether or not West bids 2Spades North should reopen wittha double & South should now bid 4 hearts.

The play should be straightforward. After E W have won two spade tricks dummy takes the next trick. South should now play A K & a third diamond ruffing in order to enter his hand & then taking the winning heart finesse to make the game with 6H, 2D & 2C. On the night only 2 pairs made the game with a number of Easts being allowed to play in spades. Don't surrender easily when you have 18 HCP!

Countig the losers - 1S,2H, 1D & 1C Shows that East has 8 playing tricks & opens 2H. West with a massive heart fit bids 3H - stronger than 4H. East should now show his second suit. With a massive two suit fit West can count 6 heart tricks &probably 5 Diamonds. A slam is almost certain unless there are 2 missing Aces. Blackwood shows only one missing so the slam is bid. If South opens a weak 2 Spades East should first double & then bid his hearts to show a strong hand. A bid of 3H is only competitive & does not do justice to the playing strength of the hand.

On the night all played in 4H making 12 tricks except for one pair who managed to die in 3H! A sequence of 1H, 2H, 4H is feeble. If it goes 1H,2H East should make the forcing bid of 3D & the magnificent double fit is found. Big fits enable slams to be made on combined counts of 24HCP!

With 15 points & both majors West is just worth a reverse. East with a flat hand & 9 points goes for the 9 trick game. On the 4C lead the JC must be played. If this holds a second club stop is held if North is kept out of the lead. Hence a repeated heart finesse thro' North brings home the game with 5H, 2S, 1C & 1D. South must hold theAD for his bid so a diamond lead to establish the 9th trick is safe. Note that the AC or QC lead defeats 3NT. With a suit headed by 3 broken honours & a certain outside entry a top honour is a good lead.

On the night 4H made once (should go down) All the rest were in part scores exceptfor one 3NT which went 2 light failing to play JC at trick 1 & taking the heart finesse the wrong way.

With 6 quick tricks & a singleton North is worth  a game forcing 2C. South bids a positive 2H. (Note that to bid Clubs & then hearts means that you hold 5 clubs) A massive heart fit having been found Blackwood finds that all the Aces & Kings are held & the grand slam should be bid.

On the night one pair bid 6H making 13 tricks for a top & two pairs bid and made 6S. All the rest languished in game contracts. With a combined holding of 33 points a slam should always be reached