e-Vil Files - The Final

This will be the final of my e-Vil Files series. I will shortly be starting a new series for the new player, since we at the Hutt club have a number of them just starting on club play on our lowest graded night, Wednesdays. This series will be specifically aimed at new players, and will be very basic, but may still be of interest to a number of readers who just want to refresh their play. Even reading about basic bidding or play can reinforce some things.

Board 5 from Tuesday 27/10/20
Dealer N EW Vul

	86542 742 J9 QT5
KQ7 QT5 62 98764		AJ AK9 AKQ85 AKJ
	T93 J863 T743 32

For the final e-Vil File, I have chosen a deal from Tuesday’s teams event. That is because we bid to 7NT in three bids: 1C-2C-7NT. Others bid to 6NT and not all of them made, though 6NT should have been easily made, yes, without the overtrick, but overtricks don’t matter when you’re in a slam. What matters is that you make it! As I have said before, making slams should be easier than making tricky games, this one certainly should have been.

As East, I opened 1C, the Evil “Superclub”. Forcing for one round, and either a natural 1C as in basic Acol, or a very big hand of 20+ HCP or equivalent in playing strength. When my partner raised to 2C, as he indeed would in normal Acol, showing 4+ clubs and not 4 or more of any other suit, and 6-9 HCP, I could now bid 6NT with 100% certainty, but I looked at the possibilities in more detail and decided that there was almost a 100% certainty of making a grand slam if partner had as little as five clubs to the queen and four points elsewhere. It was difficult to imagine where partner’s 4+ clubs and 6-9 HCP could be for the grand slam not to be at least a 90% chance, so bidding 7NT was more than reasonable.

As you can see, the situation was about as bad as it could be, but even when a hand is not laydown, competent declarer play can make all the difference. No other system that I am aware of would have been able to bid these EW hands to 7NT with any certainty.
If you don’t have a copy of my red book, still one or two available.