The deals in this section offer comments on how various bidding sequences might develop to get you to the right contract. 

When this deal came up, no-one bid the grand slam, there were only 4 out of 17 in a small slam, and two even stopped in a part-score.  What should have happened?

Let's clear the part-scores first. It all starts with the opening bid from West; given that three suited hands are notoriously hard to bid after an artificial opening, it was surprising to see that five tables opened this hand 2♣.  The danger of opening 1♠ on a strong hand is that the hand might get passed out, but with this amount of shape, and the propensity partners have to respond today with nothing, there seems little danger.   There is still one minor hurdle to overcome after partner responds 1N to the opening 1♠, and that is about the nature of a 3♥ rebid. It is indeed common amongst top players these days to play 3♥ as promising 55+ shape and being of invitational strength - but to run that way you need some artificial alternatives to handle stronger hands (Gazilli is the name of the most common approach of the past decade). Of the 7 pairs who started 1♠ - 1N - 3♥ there was only one who passed - the others either raised or bid 3N, in all cases stopping in game.  Three others protected their partners by rebidding 4♥ after 1♠ -1N, but that also finished the auction.

After a 2♣ start, the 2 pairs who bid the slam proceeded with 2♣ - 2♦ - 2♥  and with 2♣ - 2♦ - 2♠; the first of these led to a confused sequence which East truncated by bidding 6♥, while the latter allowed East to bid 3♦ which West in due course supported and that was how one pair reached 6♦. 

Is it possible to bid the grand slam here confidently? There are two paths I can offer:

• 2♣ (not liked, but who can argue with success) - 2♦ (waiting) - 2♠ - 3♦ - 5♣ (Exclusion KC) - 5♦ (no key cards) - 5♥ (trump Q ask) - 6♣ (got it and something in clubs) - 7♦ 
• 2♣ (not liked, but who can argue with success) - 2♦ (waiting) - 2♠ - 3♦ - 3♥ - 3N - 4♦ - 4♥ (option to play) - 7♦ (with hearts now running, needs only a little more than partner having a queen in the suit they bid)
• 1♠  - 1N - 2♣ (clubs or extras) - 3♦ (6+ diamonds, max 7 hcp) - 5♣ - 5♦ - 5♥ - 6♣ - 7♦    as above. 

This grand slam hand was bid at only 3 out of 17 tables - and there was even a greater number stopped in game, missing even the small slam. 

This was the auction at the one table where one pair bid the grand.

Let's look at first at those who missed any slam; two Wests declined the opportunity to investigate anything by jumping to 3N in response to the 1♠ opener, and their partners, slightly pessimistically, passed that.  As so often, taking your time in the bidding gives you much better chances. The other three failures started with 1♠ - 2♦ and two of those Easts now closed down discussion by jumping to 5♦; in a way this was fairly descriptive (the 4♣ in the auction shown is better) and partner might well have bid on, but the sequence is so rare that West was uncertain about it and passed. The final disaster stopping in game started like the auction shown, but on the third round East cue bid 4♠ and West found a pass.  These disasters were all avoidable.

The others all got to a small slam but stopped out of the grand. Should the grand be bid? If we assume the spades run for five tricks then there are eight top tricks outside diamonds, so either a 3-2 diamond break or a 4-1 break collecting the jack together with a club finesse is enough - and this makes the grand slam about 75%.  That's with the odds for bidding a grand, but only just. The difficulty in bidding it is that East doesn't know about the ♠J and without that, the grand slam is not one you want to bid. And it is inevitably East who drives to the slam.  One player sitting East was more optimistic than the other ten.

If you assume everyone will bid a slam, then on average bidding the grand slam will gain you 5.5 imps, so although you'd rather be bidding it, it's not the end of the world to miss it.

When this hand was played, 4 four East-West pairs managed to stop in a part-score despite having 25 hcp between the two hands. How did things go wrong?

There were two starts to the auction - with South at six tables opening 1♣ and four opening 1NT It was interesting to note the actions by North opposite partner's choice.

All Norths facing 1NT passed, which made life relatively easy for East who could now describe their hand with a double. There are two good reasons why this should not have happened - one is that when known to be outgunned, North bidding anything will make it more difficult for the opponents to realise this, and the other is that with 44 in the majors, with any less-than-invitational hand and this shape, it pays to bid Stayman aiming to stop in 2♥ or 2♠.  Here partner would be bidding 2♦ over which North could pass such a weak hand on the basis that losing 50s was not an issue, but at other times, bidding 2♥ here to promise both majors does ensure you find at least a 4-3 fit.

Against the 1♣ opener it was a bit more varied, and two Norths responded. Curiously the same proportion of East-Wests got to game in the two cases - North passing and North bidding. 

How should the bidding go after the start shown?   The hand is balanced and we have to look at how different strengths of balanced hands are shown; the "standard" pattern is that 1NT shows 11-14 here, double and then NT shows 15-17, and 2N shows 18-20.  Doesn't the last of these look an ideal description? The answer is yes but in practice nobody found that - which is why two of the four didn't get to game.

What should happen if North shows hearts on the first round?  Here it is more awkward for East - one chose 1NT which is hard to criticise (and played there), while the other doubled a 1♦ transfer, and their partner supported diamonds!  Not nearly so easy, but when they resorted to 3NT that worked well.

This slam was not bid in a Monday night pairs contest - and perhaps more curious that game was reached and made in two inferior denominations, both seven card fits, and more often than pairs played in clubs.  The first difference generated was in the opening bid with 3 out of 8 choosing 1♣ while the other 5 chose 1♦.  It was interesting to note North's choice at this point; the theory goes that when you are outgunned - and here an 8-count opposite a passed partner, and lacking the boss suit means you are - it is better to keep quiet.  But at the same time, this is a robust suit and bidding it might stop the opponents playing in 3N.  All but two passed and for one of the two this proved a lucrative choice, as in that case the bidding went 1♦ - 1N - 3N  and partner led a heart anyway and the defence cashed five tricks.  Silence is golden!

When North overcalled 1♥ the common choice was for East to support whichever minor  partner opened.  The one East who chose a double instead found partner bidding 4♠ on the next round, and he fretted and then let that go and it made when all the suits behaved well.  The spotlight was now on South who now  supported partner, all but one of them jumping to 3♥.  All four Wests who heard 3♥ now simply bid game - missing the chance to show slam interest with a heart cue bid - and the slam was missed.

There were two tables given an easy time by the opponents, one where North passed and the other where South raised to only 2♥.  They took very different routes - one jumped straight to game, while the other bid around the houses. The latter should have at least converted from the diamond semi-fit into the bid club fit, something which would have been much more difficult if South had jumped to 3♥.

What can we learn from this?  First is that no bid gives a certain win - and sometimes pass is the winner.  The other is that despite the dangers - and one pair did lose 800 on the board - taking away bidding space does matter. The stories just told don't exactly support this but could you not imagine the following bidding sequence if you were left in peace 

1♣ (3+) - 2♣ (support) - 2♦ (values) - 2♠ (stopper for NT) - 3♥ (FSF, tell me more) - 5♣ (good hand for a minimal raise) - 6♣ (I cannot see losers outside the one heart)

or even

1♦  - 1N (my only suit can be clubs) - 3♣ (natural, GF) - 3♠ (stopper in case 3N is right) - 6♣ 

There were eight unsuccessful continuations by East-West on this hand after South opened 3♣ and it is worth looking at what went wrong.

The two auctions which had the least chance of success were when West passed over the opening bid (and now defended 3♣) and the one occasion when West overcalled 3♥ which their partner sensibly raised to game (a difficult game to make, and declarer duly went off).  All the remaining auctions started as shown and there were five different actions now chosen by East - there was one pass, three of 3♦, nine of 3♠, and one each for 3N and for 4♠.  From the most popular of those starts, eight Wests crossed their fingers and bid game (six making) while one passed.

What was the right response from East to the takeout double?  The East hand is at best slightly above expectations on this logic - vulnerable opener might average an 8-count and partner coming in at the 3-level might well average a 14-count and that leaves 18 hcp between the other two hands.  This particular holding of an ace a king and a queen is rather more useful that the hand would be holding four jacks or values in clubs that were wasted. East will be confident that a spade part-score will be comfortable, but  is uncertain about game and indeed uncertain whether the side has enough spades to play in a spade game.  There were three players who were not willing to settle for a spade part-score as East - and they chose pass, 3N and 4♠.  What do we think of those choices? 

Pass has a serious potential upside; you will expect declarer to lose only one club on this hand which gives them six tricks; they still need to find another three. The slight negative is any values held by North will be sitting over partner's strength - but you have an ace and a king as compensation. The pass deserves to collect 500 on this hand, but a trick slipped by at the one table playing 3♣X.  There is a lot to be said for the 3N choice, as a little extra from partner in any number of ways could generated nine tricks, and being able to duck two clubs and win the third gives an easy avenue for cutting off the South hand. On this layout game is trivial, as you take the heart finesse in to the safe North hand.  There is not so much positive going for the 4♠ bid, as that depends both on some extras from partner and a suitable spade fit - so it is rather more of a gamble.

And it is worth noting that the spade game required a little care - two of the ten delcarers in that contract were found wanting.  Yet it is hard to imagine anyone going off in 3N.

BTW, about the 3♦ response - that is to be avoided. When partner makes a takeout double your first duty is to find any major suit fit you have as that is enormously more valuable than any minor suit fit.  Over 3♦ the correct continuation by West is pass and now you miss the spade fit.

It feels like two Easts earned a reward on the hand, one had a successful gamble with 4♠ , and another hanful got lucky when West deicded to stretch to 4♠ at just the right time!

This hand - on which every table made 13 tricks - provided a difficult bidding exercise.  Only one of the twelve tables in two events which played the hand ended in the top contract of 7N, with people playing at every level between 3N and the grand slam.

One pair had a successful auction via 2♣ - 2♠ - 4N - 5♣ - 5♦ - 6♠ - 7N.   The two spade positive is scorned by some as lacking two of the top honours in spades, but the fact is that a sequence like 2♣ -2♦-3♣-3♠-4♣   will leave you uncomfortable, so the alternatives don't always work well.  The 2♠ response to 2♣ is not forcing to slam, and you easily have enough values to cope with 4N if you end up there, so you should be safe.  After 2♣ -2♠ we find one of the few times where a leap to 4N is ace-asking rather than quantitative (since 2N would have been forcing, quantitative can wait).  After finding one ace (from five) with 5♣ the 5♦ ask is about the trump queen and 6♠ shows that and denies any outside kings.  Provided the spades behave, South can now count 13 tricks, and in fact the extra spade delivers a fourteenth.

If North starts 2♦ and South shows a very strong balanced hand, the future isn't so clear.  Opposite most 3-card spade holdings North is very interested in a slam, but opposite say Ax or Kx you really don't want to be slamming - you want to stop in 3N or 4N.   Can we do that?  It is tricky - you need to show the spade suit and then get a reaction from partner.  The winning result comes if North transfers into spades and South breaks the transfer with a 4♣ cue bid : North can return cue bid and now South takes charge to bid the grand as already illustrated.

If South accepts the transfer (3♥-3♠) then it is more tricky.  The options to suggest slam interest by North now are 4♠ (if you have agreed this is strong than bidding spades at the four level over 2N), or 4N (with the danger partner bids 6N on a maximum with no spade fit), or 5♠ (but if partner is negative you are playing in spades when you want to be in NT).  A final option might be 3♥-3♠-5♣  if that is known to show short clubs and long spades (same downside as 5♠).   A tough choice.

I think this means that 2♣ -2♠ gets my vote !

BTW : two pairs reached 7♥.  We know that in one case the pair were heading for 6♥ but in response to a 5N ask for kings, North mis-bid with 6♠ and South felt forced to bid 7♥ as they were now too high for 6♥.   Lucky them!

This was one of the slam hands from a recent pairs league session, but it's not the slam bidding that we want to examine but  rather it is the way the auction developed at this point. 

Every South was faced with this or something similar (at half the tables West passed initially) and there were two natural choices - either 3♥ or 4♥.  The field divided dead evenly between the two, but when you look more closely, you find that only one team in Division One chose just 3♥, while only one team in Division Two chose 4♥.  Do we think there is a message there?

Let's look at the results to see. The sole 3♥ bid ln Division One led to a slam being bid and the (joint) worst result for any table in Division One.  The one 4♥ bid in Division Two resulted in East-West going minus while every other East-West went plus and the best result in that Division.

It does look like the message is confirmed - the right bid with an eight card suit is at the four level!

Which all leads up to this hand, where this was the start to the auction at five tables.  At four tables West made 3N their second bid - a choice which ignores options such as the spade slam here and cannot be right (3N can come on the next round if appropriate).  Some tables saw the auction go 1♥ - 2♣ - 2♠  after which West powered into slam.  Back to this auction - would you believe that after that start four different contracts were reached at the five tables!

The initial choice was between bidding 3♠ and 4♠; the case for the latter is hard to find if you believe that 3♠ is forcing - as the lower choice gives more room to explore slam, and caters for partner inventing spades for lack of a diamond stop for no-trumps. The jump to 4♠ resulted at one table in pass, while at the other West blasted 4N and bid the grand slam!  

Over 3♠ how should West continue? One West just bid 4♠ to end the auction, one bid 4♣ as a move towards slam, and the third blasted 4N and then to 6♠. Again the pattern we see is game and grand slam - which give you the hint that somewhere in between is likely to be the best answer.

The grand slam did of course make - but is it where you want to be?   With half the field not bidding a slam, there are enormous dangers in chancing a grand slam and going off. But even if we assume everyone bids the small slam, we need odds progressing towards 70% to make the grand good.  Here the grand slam would be beaten by ♠Jxxx with North (and sometimes by South), or by the majority of 4-1 club breaks.  When you combine these you get a roughly 50% chance of making the grand. So yes indeed, small slam is the best place to be. 

It looked like a total failure for East-West when the above auction occurred, as even when having to lose to the ♦Q there were still 12 tricks there for declarer.

What happened?  The 2♥ opening showed less than an opening bid with 5-5 in hearts and a minor.  The East hand is strong and probably wants to play in diamonds but spades is also possible.  To double feels wrong as surely partner will bid clubs, but - as for (but not quite the same as) doubles of opening 1-level bids, doubling and then bidding a suit shows a hand too good to make an overcall that might be passed. That sequence cancels the takeout message.  Once could invoke that here, but...

Even with a simple 3♦ overcall, and more assuredly after double then 3♦, the West hand will try 3N and when that happens will East argue?   In practice East did not argue and the defence quickly cashed their top five clubs to put the contract down.  Four tables played 3N going down.

Which is why the 3♦+3 score of +170 turned out to be an excellent result on the day.  You never can tell!

The key to bidding this hand accurately is having the tools, and only two pairs out of eight managed to land in the preferred contract.  The first tool needed is the ability to show a balanced 26-count below game.  The increasingly standard technique for doing that goes under the tag of "Kokish".   It involves opening 2♣ and over partner's 2♦ (negative / neutral) bidding a two-way 2♥ bid.  This is either a heart suit or a game forcing balanced and partner asks with 2♠, over which 2N now shows the game forcing balanced. Any other response to 2♠ says that 2♥ was natural.

Hurdle number one overcome, you can now investigate the best game to play in.   This would not be possible if you had to leap to 3N to show this strength.   The tool needed is some form of 5-card Stayman, which here would be 3♣ asking and 3♠ showing five of them (still in a balanced hand).  At this point West can raise to game and mission is accomplished.

Without this last tool, you would be forced to raise 2N to 3N, which is a playable game, but nowhere near as secure as the 4♠ game. It has lots of chances.  If the spade queen falls singleton or doubleton you are home, and if not you need some luck with the minors.

Those who reached the slam needed the spade suit to break evenly with a doubleton queen (a 27% chance) and on top of that the heart ace onside.   Those who bid a slam should worry that they have used up a whole month's worth of good luck!

This hand proved surprisingly diffiicult to bid.  Across 24 tables in play, the four-four club fit was never reached.   Two tables played in 4♥ making, three tables played in spades (one making, two going off) and all the rest played in 3N, seventeen times by East and twice by West.   How did that come about?

The inevitable start to the bidding is 1♠ - 2♣ (although I suspect when West played 3N it was because East respsonded 2♦).   West has a choice now, and for most the preference was to show the heart suit.  And that is the right thing to do, as it is possibe that partner has bid 2♣  on a 3433 shape and you have no club fit, making it too early to raise clubs.  And if you have a fit in both suits, then hearts is the preference.   Now, over 2♥, what is East to do?

It seems that seventeen Easts looked no further than the possibility of a diamond stop and bid 3N.   End of the auction.  Was that the right bid?

As the results indicate, no.  East is right to think about 3N but the diamond holding is too shaky, partner might be better placed as declarer (say holding ♦Kx), and partner might have a 5-card heart suit to show.  All these considerations say that East should continue with a Fourth Suit Forcing 3♦ bid and over that, West can now show club support.   [Those for whom - in the modern style - the initial 2♣ bid was game forcing, could choose 2N rather than 3♦]

That way we end up in 5♣ or 6♣ making twleve tricks while the other languish in 3N going down.  Isn't bridge an easy game after all?

Three pairs stopped in game and their bidding sequences all shared one feature - and that was a premature jump to 4♥, albeit in three different contexts (one 4♥ opener, one opened 1♥ and rebid 4♥, and the third started more slowly bidding 1♥ and 2♥ before jumping next to 4♥). The key point to make is that unnecessary jumps to game make slam investigation difficult and therefore should show slam-unsuitable hands.

At some tables, the bidding started as shown. Worth noting is the fact that the 3♥ bid here is forcing (and therefore unlimited in strength). The next step is for North to confirm the trump suit and the way to do that - with limited space here - is to bid 4♦. Why does it confirm hearts?  The reason is that introducing a new trump suit at the 4-level never makes sense, so the bid always agrees the last bid suit. It doesn't necessarily promise diamond control, this is just a hand willing to play in hearts but too good a hand just to raise to game. 

After the 4♦ bid, found at two tables, it was open to either North or South to proceed with a key card ask. All that remains is to avoid the urge to bid the grand, and only one player succumbed to that. The grand slam is not without play. Three ruffs sets up a long trick in clubs and it all comes down to playing the spades for three tricks. Sadly the odds favoured finessing for the queen, so this would lead to defeat..

Too often you see the same hand played in a part-score at one table, but in a slam at another.  On this hand the diamond contracts were at the two level, the three level, the five level, and the six level.  As well as two tables in club part-scores and one table in 3N.

What comes as a surprise is that there was only one table with the bidding as shown. Let's look at the options. West must open the longest suit and the hand is not strong enough to consider anything except 1♠, so that is easy.  In response, East is not strong enough to bid at the two level, and so must bid 1N.  West clearly must move on, and the only question is which suit to bid.  The normal pattern with 4-4 is to bid suits up the line, and here that means 2♣.  Bidding diamonds would only make sense if you were committed to continue with 3♣ on the next round; you might do that with this shape, but it would need to be a stronger hand than this.

Over 2♣ what should East do? Clearly neither of partner's black suits is an attractive option, and the East hand's only chance of generating tricks is in diamonds, so what else can East do but bid 2♦?  So every auction should start this way, and the spotlight is on West who should be thinking - this 2♦ bid is just about as good as good news ever gets.

From West's perspective, what shape can partner have?  Any East hand with two or more spades would prefer to bid 2♠ and a hand with four clubs would always play there, and even a 1453 hand would just prefer to play in 2♣ . All of this tells you that East must have six (or seven) diamonds.  Now where are the losers when playing in diamonds?

You expect zero or one trump loser, no heart losers, no spade loser and at most one club loser.  How can you not force to game now?  And what about more? You cannot be sure about going higher, but you cannot ignore the possibility. As always when you don't know how high to bid the answer is to involve partner, and you can do that easily here. As well as raising diamonds directly, you have the option here of jumping in hearts (the fourth suit). The jump would show shortage, and since 3♥ would show shortage, then 4♥ must be the extreme version of that, promising a void. Very appealing! What better way to engage partner than by fully describing one's hand?

Over 4♥ East can now feel very enthused. Partner clearly has a 5044 shape and extra values. Both the ♦Q and ♣A are great cards, which could have turned out to be in hearts instead, in a hand of the same shape. Is there any alternative to bidding the slam? ( Of course, you must play carefully to make it).

When this deal arose, two tables played at the four level, two played at the five level, two played at the six level, and two played at the seven-level.

What should happen?  The auction illustrated is a candidate start.  North has the shape one normally associated with a pre-empt, but at this vulnerability the hand seems too strong for that.  After 1♣-P, South must use a game force if that is available.  Otherwise the bidding is likely to become too contorted in efforts to keep it forcing.  After the start shown, West will be expecting them to have a club fit and maximum disruption seems the order of the day; hence 4♦.

What can North do now?  It seems odd not to rebid a good 8-card suit, but the strong heart bid from South should temper North's certainty as to what trumps should be.  A pass will leave South able to bid 4♥ although that does seem rather an underbid.  The difficulty with anything else except 5♥ or 6♥ is that it may well be read as showing club support (suggesting a jump shift based on a club fit).  The catch with 5♥ is that it sounds like the hand has two losing diamonds and is looking for a control there.

Sometimes you have to shut your eyes and bid what you think you might make.  Put me down for 6♥ at this point.

But that might not be the end of the story.  North is looking at two aces and a potential diamond ruff.  Does that constitute a raise?

The bidding of this hand was not a success at any of the seven tables when this deal arose.  The most common starting sequence was as shown, but what is West to do next?

There are a number of interesting points around the bidding on this deal.  Firstly, about the West hand; it is 22 points and in range for the common 20-22 point range for a 2N opener, but it is so much better than many 20-counts, in particular having no jacks, that it is really worth an upgrade and should be bid as 2♣-2♦-2N, treating it as a balanced 23-count.  The downside of that approach would be visible here, as it is easier for North to come into the bidding than it would be over a 2N start.

Opposite a 2N opener, the hand with 0256 shape must clearly investigate the minors.  If you are using 3♣ to ask and 3♦/3♥ as major transfers, you really need to use 3♠ to show both minors and get some feedback from partner about interest there.  Here 3♠ served that purpose and opener, despite the good spade holding, was wary about hearts and supported clubs.  This led to the excellent slam which will always make on a spade lead. In the event, on the bidding shown, the ♥K was led.  A priori there was still an excellent chance of success, as either the ♠A with North (ruffed out to set up a discard for a heart), or the ♣K with South would let the slam make.  The bidding made the spade option doomed but the slam was still respectable, but alas failing. Interestingly, one down in the club slam was still better than 3NT down 2 on a heart lead.

6♦ was reached on two occasions and it had the advantage of being played by East, and since they got the ♠A lead, they both made.  

Both 3N and 6♣ depended on the opening lead, but in the case of the slam only there were still good chances to make after the ♥K lead, and if successful the rewards were greater.  It was surprising to see so few bidding the slam, although this does seem to reflect a loss aversion which manifests itself in our not chancing a slam as often as we should.    Or were people lacking the 3♠ gadget?

This hand produced some questions about the bidding.  Let's look at the auction so far : the 2♣ bid is necessary because of the danger of anything else being passed out, and to open 3N cramps the auction and makes finding any other contract impossible.  North's 2N response generally shows 8+ and balanced, but here as a passed hand it is limited to 8-11 hcp.  It is an underused bid these days; bidding 2♦ first and then trying to catch up later when partner expects nothing is often difficult. But what is South to do over 2N?  If partner has 8 hcp then with a balanced 34-count you want to play 6N, but if partner has 11 hcp then with a balanced 37-hcp (neat that you know you are missing no kings!) you want to try 7N.

The answer is a raise of 2N to 5N : this generally asks partner to pick a slam and here - with only no-trumps on offer - it gives the choice of 6N or 7N.   Here partner can happily bid 6N and that is where you want to be.  In fact, EVERY table played this hand in 6N, which is really unusual in the slam context.  What's more curious is that while six tables made the "obvious" 12 tricks, two tables only made 11 tricks.   Can you see on how that might happen with some layouts of the East-West hands?   Click ANSWER to find out.

By the way : on these hands having a mechanism to investigate suit fits is very useful.  If you give North a minimum hand with ♠A32 ♥A4 ♦5432 ♣5432 you have a decent 7♦ contract available.

This slam hand looks a straightforward bidding exercise, but it presents a number of different issues. In practice, only 6 of the 12 tables ended in 6♠ with 5 others in game and one pair tried 7♠. 

The first question comes over the opening bid; strong balanced hands without any jacks deserve strong consideration of an upgrade, and this hand is one of those. If the hand were to start off with 2♣ it is hand to see North stopping short of a slam.vthe 2N opening shown is a slight underbid.

The next important step comes after North transfers to spades; South has an enormous hand in support and shows that by breaking the transfer into a 4♣ cue bid. From North's perspective, a slam is now looming but isn't certain. In practice, at the table illustrated, North just made an executive decision - he re-transferred with a 4♥ bid, and then asked for key cards before bidding the slam.  Even if North just makes a try, and that is the minimum choice, the slam will be bid.

The spade small slam is easily made, but the play in the grand slam is worth looking at.  You cannot make 7♠ on this layout of the East-West hands, but 7N can be made and that gives the pointer to the correct line of play in 7♠. Can you see what that line is?

When this deal came up, three tables bid and made game as NS, and five tables bid and made game as EW.   So this hand had a serious impact on people's results.

The auction as shown was a typical start, although North might have chosen to open a large number of diamonds opposite a passed partner. Over 1♦ East could overcall in hearts or show a two suiter.  It is often awkward when you show a two suiter with a six card major, as partner will never know to support with a doubleton.  Here the were two upsides in East's mind;  the first was that the bid shuts out the spade suit to a serious extent, and the second was that partner will evaluate his or her hand differently if you have shown 55+ in shape, usually bidding to one more than the "level of the fit"  (i.e. bidding to 4-level with 9 trumps) and that often works out well.   There was also the consideration that game on power (e.g. opposite a doubleton heart) was not likely opposite a passed partner, so it would need a good trump fit to justify bidding game.

Over 2N, South chose to bid 3♠ although for most people that would show five, but here it was all or nothing as the suit would never get into the equation otherwise.  Since it was forcing the bidding to a high level opposite a third-in-hand opener it has a strong implication of a diamond fit to which opener could return in emergency.  Both West and North were immediately appraised of the double fit and both bid game.   After the 4♠ call, it felt unusual for East to bid in front of partner, but since West could forecast the 4♠ bid coming, a bid of 4♥ would be pointless if the preference was to defend 4♠; it must have some connotations of continuing and with the extra shape, East could sensibly bid 5♥.  Holding extras in hcp but not in shape, East would double and leave it to partner.

There wasn't much NS could do over 5♥ and the choice of 5♠ was no surprise.  The defence started with two aces and then a second heart, and when North had to ruff, there was no way to pick up the trumps.  In fact, West was a bit too cautious in not doubling 5♠ as the +150 collected was a poor return against making 5♥ .

We could argue that the par result was achieved here (if we get a double).  Five other tables were allowed to play in 5♥ (perhaps South never got the spades in) and only one other tables played in 5♠ (after ♦Q lead, North made that contract).

This hand presented a trap into which a number of people fell.    Having seen the opposition bid 2♥ many Norths simply overcalled 3♦ and found themselves playing there, where two much better alterantives were available.  What went wrong?

The common wisdom is very much that your first priority is to bid your long suit, and you can later double to show partner extra values and flexibility - and this applies fully when the overcall is at the one level, but things change when the bidding starts higher.

The key point about a 1-level overcall is that you are very likely to get a second chance.  When they have opened, as here with 2♥,  an overcall of 3♦ could well end the auction, and you don't want it to be a silly contract when that happens.

Bidding a suit at the 3-level of higher (and the 2-level to some extent) is very committal, you need to be sure it is a safe place.  Double is your more flexible choice, and since your singleton here is in their suit, it is clearly an option.  After 2♥-X  it is very handy for South's 3♣ bid to show some values (South bids 2N first on all negative hands) and over 3♣ is it quite in order now for North to show the diamonds (forcing opposite a positive response) and South will guide the pair either to 3N or to 5♣.  

3N makes easily (on a heart lead) when declarer ducks one round of clubs.  

5♣ seems to be harder work, but here - as often - setting up the long side suit is what matters and on a heart lead declarer should try ♦A and a ruff before two trumps ending in dummy for another diamond ruff. The heart ruff in dummy and the ♠A are enough entries to set up the diamonds.