Vil Gravis's blog

Slams 05

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Sun, 01/12/2024 - 09:12

Thursday last was a session for slams, but surprisingly this one escaped most NS pairs.

Board 19 from Thursday 28/11/24
Dealer S EW Vul

A7
AQ
KQJ92
Q942
QT2
K73
63
KJT83
9854
J65
T854
65
KJ63
T9842
A7
A7

Double Dummy 22

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Sun, 01/12/2024 - 08:13

This is worth reporting. My hapless correspondent wanted to know where he went wrong in a 4H contract that everyone was making. Deep Finesse was there to prove that he should have made 4H like every other declarer, so where did he go wrong?

Board 13 from Friday 29/11/24
Dealer N All Vul

Q743
QT86
943
42
J2
2
KJT76
A9873
KT6
73
Q85
KQJT6
A985
AKJ954
A2
5

Your Call 16

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Sat, 23/11/2024 - 18:39

This one was sent to me by a regular correspondent, who was justifiably proud of the fact that their partnership bid to the excellent 7H grand slam. Really, it should not have been difficult for most pairs, yet even 6H was a rare occurrence. One pair across all of X-Clubs did bid to 7NT and scored an undeserved 100% when West kindly discarded a heart on the run of South’s diamonds after a club lead, but let’s talk about how to arrive at the small slam in hearts at least.

Board 16 from Friday 22/11/24
Dealer W EW Vul

JT5
KQ9532
76
A5
Q87
T864
J4
J987
K943
7
932
KQT62
A62
AJ
AKQT85
43

Your Call 15

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Wed, 20/11/2024 - 15:00

This deal comes from the NZ Wide Loveblock event on Friday 15/11/24. I have chosen it because a deal like that will never come up again but it does illustrate the need for a more intricate bidding system to handle an opening 1NT from the opposition, not just Hamilton (aka Cappelletti or Pottage - ed), which seems to be the most common in current use. Let’s look at the full deal before I make some suggestions.

Board 4 Dealer W All Vul

AKQ862
KQT9432
J4
A75
T943
AKJ5
973
8
AKQJ82
Q83
T5
J6
765
T97642

Your Call 13

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Sat, 02/11/2024 - 10:22

This one, from X-Clubs, is not just about bidding but also about opening leads and declarer play.

Board 4 from Tuesday 29/10/24
Dealer West All Vul

A3
98643
92
KT75
K95
T52
KJ7
Q643
JT762
7
Q8654
A9
Q84
AKQJ
AT3
J82

Slams 04

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Tue, 17/09/2024 - 10:18

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

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Sat, 14/09/2024 - 14:30

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

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Thu, 05/09/2024 - 16:20

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

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Sat, 31/08/2024 - 20:42

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

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Mon, 26/08/2024 - 14:46

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

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