Vil Gravis's blog

I could title this “Spot the Difference” or “Respect Your Passing Partner”. I sent out three bidding problems to a panel of club players. Firstly let me give you the hand you are asked to bid, sitting WEST as was the case at the time:

You are West and Dealer at Nil Vul

KQJ63

Q643

Q3

K7

Problem 1. You have opened 1S and North has overcalled with 2C. After two passes, it is your call. What should you be thinking? Why has partner PASSED?

From our first Tuesday session of 2025 come two interesting deals where what we have discussed about opening leads can make all the difference to the result. That is why we have agreements about opening leads.

Board 11
Dealer South Nil Vul

	Q982 AK76 AKQT7
K53 QT64 QT3 J94		AJT76 AK8 954 52
	4 J97532 J82 863

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

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

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