The moment South opens the bidding with 1C, North should be thinking slam in clubs, surely? And if not slam, then game. But when North starts slowly by bidding 1D, East has the chance of coming in with a spade bid, which could be, and should be, more than just 1S. That might make the bidding for NS a bit more difficult but should not stop North asking for aces or key cards and settling for a small slam in clubs.
Board 23 from Thursday 31/01/19
Dealer S All Vul
Replay this board by clicking here.
At this point let me introduce you to our way of bidding a hand such as North’s. We use the “Evil 2NT” in a number of situations, one being in response to an opening bid: a bid of 2NT agrees the opened suit and is used as “Roman Key Card”. North thus bids 2NT and whether East bids 3S or not, South shows 0 or 3 key cards and that will easily lead to 6C, the only question being whether 7C is on. And we can find that out as well (if South has the king or singleton diamond).
If you would like to learn about our “Evil 2NT” I will send you a further article on this particular deal. Better still, you should purchase a copy of “Thirteen Tricks and Evil Acol – a better way to play Acol”. I have a special offer for anyone who is seriously interested in improving their bridge and their results. Email me at villyn@xtra.co.nz
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