
A Grand Hand
Thomas Rush, PlayBridgeWithThomas@GMail.Com
Here is a hand from the Monday January 20 game at Bridge Club of Houston that I found interesting because it's got a few very important bidding themes:
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One pair found a grand slam, several pairs stopped in 6H, and one only made it to game thanks
in part to interference by the opponents.
Without interference, I suggest that the auction should go like this playing 2/1:
1H 2D
3H 7H
1H: An exceptionally good 1H opening, but still a 1H opening in 2/1
2D: Sets a game force, can support hearts later
3H: A rarity! Opener's jump rebid in his suit in a GF auction shows a solid suit (no losers opposite a singleton in partner's hand with normal breaks). It also sets hearts as trump so P can cuebid or use 4NT to ask for Key Cards. In game-forcing auctions, we don't jump to show extra points, but something like a solid suit is quite important. Note that some only show a one-loser suit with the jump, which I consider to be an inferior agreement.
7H: North can count to 13 tricks in hearts with no quick losers – South's solid six card (or longer) heart suit, North's six diamond tricks, and the spade ace. Should diamonds not split, surely South can ruff a club or two in dummy, or a diamond or two in his hand to get to 13 tricks. If you are playing in a much stronger game, like one of the national events at the NABC tournaments, you might want to see if you can get to a very reasonable 7NT contract instead:
1H 2D
3H 4NT
5D 7NT
1H, 2D, 3H: as above.
4NT: North can count to 13 tricks in hearts with normal breaks – South's solid six card heart suit, North's six diamond tricks, and the spade ace. So why ask for key cards? Simply this: if South has the club ace, we can place the contract in 7NT rather than 7H, and beat all the 7H pairs if playing a pairs (match-point scoring) event. In a team game it makes no difference, so stick with 7H.
5D: Zero or three key cards but must be three since the AK of hearts are known. North knows
that the third key card must (looking at North's two aces) be the club Ace.
7H: North can count to 14 and so bids the grand slam in NT for the top match-point score.
At the table…
Some pairs got a 2S overcall to make their life a bit more difficult:
With South as dealer, the auction started out:
1H - (2S) and North was under a bit of pressure early. I wouldn't suggest West make that 2S overcall (for whatever my opinion is worth), as good opponents will find a penalty double too often for comfort - on this hand, -800 is possible, and on other hands it could be even worse.
One possible auction with the overcall is:
1H - (2S) - 3S - (P)
4NT - (P) - 5H - (P)
5N - (P) - 7H (all pass)
The 3S cuebid shows a limit raise or better in hearts. A jump to 4H would be preemptive. 4NT is the keycard ask; 5H shows two key cards without the trump Queen. I don't believe North should show his void; while typically bidding 5NT over 4NT shows two key cards with a useful void, how does North know his void is useful? How is South to know that North is showing a void in clubs, and not spades?
5NT confirms all key cards and asks about kings. Once again, North counts tricks before he worries about kings. North thinks: "South has the three key cards I don't have, since 5NT is always a try for a grand slam and guarantees all the key cards. Therefore, South must have at least the AKQ hearts, especially since I could have bid 3S with only three. So we've got five heart tricks, six diamond tricks, and the two black suit aces. That's 13 tricks, and we can score a club ruff or take the spade finesse if we don't have 13 top tricks for some reason. Therefore I's accept partner's grand slam try and bid 7H."
Note that in several of the above auctions, North might consider bidding 7NT instead of 7H, since from his perspective, there is a chance that there could be a diamond ruff at trick 1. Certainly, when N knows that his side has all the aces, he would pull a Lightner Double of 7H to 7NT, since the Lightner double is very likely to identify that leader's partner has a void, probably in diamonds. (A Lightner Double of a slam contract is named after Theodore Lightner. It is a lead-directing double that calls for an 'unusual' lead when the opponents have bid strongly to a slam contract - that is, it does NOT apply when the opponents are sacrificing. The hierarchy of lead choices goes like this: Lead dummy's first-bid side suit if one was bid, else, lead declarer's side suit if one has been bid, else, make some other unusual lead (never the suit bid by doubler) such as leader’s longest suit, hoping to give third hand a ruff. If your partner makes a Lightner Double, consider what suits he might have doubled for lead earlier, but didn't in making your decision of what to lead. Also, when partner does not make a Lightner Double, consider the lack of a double when choosing your lead. Note: You might not always set a slam contract because of your Lightner Double; so you lose an extra 200 or 300 points; the win comes when you set a contract that would have made without the double.)
What a grand hand!
Thomas Rush is a bridge teacher who lives in the Houston area and specializes in coaching partnerships to make them more effective in club and tournament play. He welcomes your comments on this article, as well as submissions of interesting hands or ideas for future columns. Contact him at PlayBridgeWithThomas@GMail.com
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