The annual NZ-Wide Simultaneous Pairs is scheduled for the evening of Friday 15-Nov. In previous years about 1000 pairs from 60 clubs have taken part. Results from most clubs are scored across the field before midnight. Richard Solomon is, and has been for yonks, the main organiser of the event which raises money for the New Zealand Bridge Foundation to promote the development of youth bridge in this country. Richard would be very happy for your club - even if not affiliated to NZ Bridge - to run a heat on November 15th.

Before we look at our double dummy problem let’s take another look at the bidding.

Board 9 from Thursday 12-09-24
Dealer N EW Vul

	3 Q97 Q975 J8654
KJ876 K83 2 AKT7		AQ JT652 AKJT Q2
	T9542 A4 8643 93

East opens 1H and West bids 1S. First question: what does East rebid?

This slam should not have been a difficult one to bid, and was worth 90% to those NS pairs who bid and made 6NT.

Board 18 from X-Clubs on 3/09/24
Dealer E NS Vul

	A962 7 AQJ752 AQ
T83 J98543 T 742		754 AQT2 983 965
	KQJ K6 K64 KJT83

The very first board of the session produced a deal where both sides had the opportunity to gain the upper hand with some aggressive, albeit reasoned, bidding.

Board 1 Dealer from Friday 23/08/24
North Nil Vul

	JT76 75 A943 T96
Q5 AT8 KQ752 K42		3 KJ943 6 AJ8753
	AK9842 Q62 JT8 Q

We can now look at the possible scenario when slam has been reached. Which slam is best? I suggest that if the bidding is accurate and truly reflective of the combined hands, it should be 6NT. East would probably have used Key Card and West shown one key card in spades. Despite East knowing that West has a very long and almost self sufficient spade suit, East will know that West’s spades are missing the ace or king. Therefore the most likely problem in a 6S slam will be in spades, and East’s hand is so good that if the spades ‘behave’ there will be no problem, but if the spades break badly and can not be set up without losing two, then 6NT might still make. I would normally argue that with a spade suit like West's, the slam should be played in spades not No Trumps, but this one is an exception and in fact that is what I, as East, decided on.

Board 24 from Thursday 9/08/24
Dlr West Nil Vul

	T43 T8762 2 8632
AQJ9852 KJ64 J5		6 AKQ95 AT8 AQT9
	K7 J43 Q9753 K74