Obviously I never recommend lying to your Partner, but there are times when you may need to reign them in! Once you hear this bid:

1S - 2NT* (2NT alerted as Jacoby)

you know you are bidding to Game and that Partner may be looking for a Slam. Ask yourself, 'Have I given an accurate picture of my hand?' It is only 6 losers, but there are no Aces and only 10 points. Should I bid positively or put the brakes on? Your first response can be encouraging:

3C* (showing your singleton).

When Partner starts cue bidding. What next? In your Partnership is 3S stronger than 4S? If you encourage you will find the Slam; if you discourage you will stop in Game.

With apologies to William Hughes Mearns, sometimes you may think a slam is there, but it is only your imagination.

Assuming your 2NT open is 20-22, you will need to decide if you are feeling optimistic. If your point count is slightly higher then you can bid straight to 6NT. Assuming the former, does Stayman give you the extra information you need, or tell the Defence how to approach the hand? In both cases 6NT looks like the correct bid.

You might ask about Kings first, but with a singleton this will not help. In a Duplicate event the safe bid is 6S, unless you think everyone will be in the contract.

South is suggesting a strong two suited hand with Hearts and Spades; you hold no cards in these suits. You have a strong 9 card Club suit that can take at least 8 tricks. There is the possibility of a finesse if Partner holds just one Club or that the King may drop. Your Jack of Diamonds may be a stopper. Can you access the South hand to win any tricks? This may be one of those occasions when you bid the slam and cross your fingers. When will you ever hold cards like these again?

6C will make most of the time but can be defeated by a Diamond lead to the Ace and then the King of Clubs, taking away entries to the table.

The 4NT Ace asking bid is made for this hand. If Partner has no Aces, you can sign off in 5S. If they have 1 Ace, you might gamble on 6S. If they have two Aces, you will want to find out about Kings. If they hold two Aces and two Kings, then the No Trump grand slam is there.

The answer may be to bid slowly. The most important bid is Opener's second bid. When they jump to 3S suddenly your meagre holding looks stronger. This should encourage you to ask for Aces using whichever form of Blackwood you have agreed. 6S is a solid Slam.

With 12 points and a 5-card Spade suit that you do not want to repeat open 1NT. West will find it much more difficult to bid on than they might over 1 Spade; they may even Pass.

Open the bidding with your strongest bid, 2C or 2D.
This guarantees that bidding will continue until at least game.
Then bid slowly. For example:

1. 2D is the strongest bid showing 23+ points, forcing to at least game.
2. 2S is a positive bid showing at least 4 Spades (a 2H bid would be negative).
3. 4NT shows slam interest and asks for Key Cards.
4. Shows two Key Cards.

• Holding all the Key Cards and a fit in Spades you know a slam is on.
• You are likely to make 5 tricks in Spades and 5 in Clubs.
• Partner has given a positive response and thus
  likely to hold at least an Ace and a King.
• Go all in and bid 7NT.

If you open 1D you open the door to your Opponents. They find a Spade (or even a Heart) fit and can bid to 3 or even 4. Shame I did not listen to my own advice with this hand - see the item When should you pass? below.

There are several positive features to the hand.

• You have good four card suits in both majors.
• All your points are in the majors.
• With a black singleton you can bid the middle suit.
• South has already passed and therefore does not have opening values or a long suit.

Looking at the hand again would you open?

• As dealer West can open light, 1C
• East is in no rush, 1S
• West holds a singleton in Partner's suit and has nothing else to say, 2C
• East has 5 losers and expects Partner to hold 7. Slam is worth investigating but it would be too easy to get too high, bypassing 5C. A double raise to 4D could be a splinter showing a void or singleton. However, some play 4D as Diamondwood asking for the same KCB responses given to a 4NT enquiry.
• West holds 2 Aces and bids 4NT. [4H shows 0 or 4, 4S shows 1 or 5, etc.]
• East can now sign off in 5C, but as they hold the Ace of Hearts, King of Clubs and strong Spades, 6C is a very good bid.

Sometimes only hindsight can help. Doubly Dummy suggests that all that can make is 4D and 3S, therefore Double may be the answer. How can you decide this with any certainty? Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Open with your strongest bid, 2C or 2D suggesting you want to play in game at least but Slam if possible. For example,

2D - 2S
3C - 4S
4NT - 5H
6S

Can you tell whether 6NT or 6S will be the most successful contract? Do you play just with your own hand or trust your Partner? Trust your Partner who insisted on Spades (and then blame them if you end up in the wrong contract).

East can take the Ace of Diamonds and lead a small one to the King. West returns a Spade to the Ace. East takes the Ace of Hearts and then returns a Spade for a ruff. The contract is down two. However, if East leads a Club, North can win the first trick and play a Heart immediately. If East plays another Club they finesse their own Jack. North can then take out trumps, ending in hand to play off two winning Clubs, discarding two losing Diamonds. North can then win one Spade and three trump ruffs for a total of ten tricks.

Defence

• South has a choice of lead, 7S or 4D.
• It is often not helpful to lead away from Ace and Jack in the same suit and the 7S may be seen as discouraging.
• The 4D looks like a safe passive lead.
• Once Dummy goes down it looks like Diamonds should be pursued.

Declarer

• When the 4D is led and Dummy goes down you can count 5 top tricks.
• Extras might be found in the Club finesse and with 8 cards in the suit you will start here.
• Your danger suit is Diamonds and they have been led. Where is the 3D? This will tell you which hand holds 5 of the suit.
• If North holds the Ace of Spades you might make both your King and Queen. If not watch the discards to see if a long Spade or Heart will make.

One possible approach. If South opens light with 1D, North can jump straight to 4NT and find South holds two Aces. 6D can be bid and made.

If you open 1S you will probably get a 3S response which will lead you to play in 4S. If you open 1NT you will probably get a 3NT response. The real question is, which contract will provide the most overtricks?

When played 3NT goes 2 off and 4S can be made.

1. Usually only in 4th seat you can use the Rule of 15. If your high card points plus the number of Spades add up to 15 or more, open as though you have a full opener and then bid weakly. With this hand you can see that if you bid you make it easy for EW to find their Spade fit.
2. In third seat, vulnerable, you have to make a judgement about your hand. Have you got opening values and a rebid? The Spade suit is good and you might plan to rebid Clubs.The singleton Heart may indicate that NS have a Heart fit. However, your Losing Trick Count is discouraging. Is your glass half empty or full? On this occasion bidding the Spade suit was correct and 3S can be made. What factors might persuade you to bid with this hand?

In our event seven tables passed out the hand and nine bid Spades. The Pass Out favoured NS and the making Spade contract marginally favoured EW (overtricks drastically improved the EW score).

When the Opponents show a big trump fit and a second suit then it is usually correct to lead your Ace. The concern is that they may find discards on their second suit. In this case they can discard both losing Spades on Diamonds.

The 3H suggests itself as the lead. Partner can take the Ace of Spades on the first round and lead back a Heart to be trumped. EW can also take a Diamond and Club.

Only a Club lead takes the contract off.

One possibility, suggested by Bridge Solver:

1D - 1S
4C - 4H
6S

On this occasion 5D was correct, but how might you tell?