Slams 04

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?

Slams 03

These East-West hands were close to a slam, but should a slam have been bid or avoided, and how should the EW hands have been bid? Those are good questions that may not be easily answered, even after you see the full deal. The deal will also provide the reader with an excellent ‘double dummy’ problem.

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

Slams 02

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

Slams 01

Welcome to my new series, SLAMS. Slams is almost always part of the conversation after every session of bridge. So it seems, by popular demand, I just have to do this. Hopefully this series will interest slam fans and suggest how to bid them, as well as how not to bid them, and how to make them when you manage to bid them. Board 12 from Wednesday 28/8/24 should provide us all with the inspiration to always look for the Mt. Everest of bridge, the Grand Slam.

Board 12 from Wednesday 28/8/24
Dealer West NS Vul

83
98764
QJ86
94
A5
J2
732
AKJ732
KQT97642
A5
AK5
J
KQT3
T94
QT865

Your Call 12

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

Your Call 11

This deal presents a difficult bidding problem, and when the bidding problem was solved, a not so difficult problem for declarer that was nevertheless not solved by every declarer. And when the bidding problem was not solved and the NS pairs ended up in an inferior 3NT, many EW pairs still failed to take advantage of their luck by letting declarer make the unmakeable 3NT.

Board 21 from Thursday 15/08/24
Dealer N NS Vul

4
7
AKT62
AKT852
KT82
KQT5
J975
4
J65
J9832
Q4
Q73
AQ973
A64
83
J96

Your Call 10

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

Your Call 09

This session was played as Swiss Pairs at the Hutt Club, so maybe a direct comparison of results across all of X-Clubs may not reflect how the bidding and play should, or might go. But let’s take a look anyway as there are important lessons to learn if you are going to develop a good understanding as a partnership.

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

Your Call 08

From the same session, this one could be titled “To bid or not to bid”.

Board 7 from Friday 2/08/24
Dlr South All Vul

Q9
A86542
K62
Q7
KT74
KT97
J98
A3
A86
QJ3
AQ5
J965
J532
T743
KT842

After two passes, North opens 1H. East passes, having no sensible option. What should South do?

Your Call 07

Is taking a risk at match points warranted when there could be more to gain than to lose? And the same can apply to teams play though of course there is much more to gain and to lose if you get it wrong. In a match point game, as in the following deal, it was just one board, and the total match points at stake were the equivalent of 4% for the session, to make it easier for the reader to relate to the narrative.

Board 3 from Friday 2/08/24
Dlr South EW Vul

JT6
AJ87
T842
53
K873
6542
J753
9
954
KQT
AKQ96
T2
AQ2
93
AKQJ8764

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