I have always been an advocate for playing slams with a trump suit and not in No Trumps but there is clear evidence that, if bid properly, this one should be played in 6NT rather than 6S with a 5-3 spade fit, or clubs with a six card club suit headed by AKQ.
Board 10 from Tuesday 11/02/2025
Dealer E All Vul
East does not have an easy rebid after opening 1S and hearing 2C from partner. 2D would be a slight underbid but 3D a definite overbid. East’s best option I believe is 2NT. This rebid should still be the same as a 1NT rebid, 15-16 HCP. The singleton club is the only drawback. But given that East rebids 2NT, West can also rebid the clubs. With a known minimum 15 HCP with East and at least 10 HCP with West, we are now in a game forcing situation and any bidding is now exploratory and looking for the best game and possibly slam. Most pairs these days play an opening of 1S guaranteeing five or more, but West should always be aware of the near certainty of a spade loser. In clubs, if East has at least two, the odds are that the suit will run for six tricks. But considering the bidding and the likelihood of a spade loser AND a club loser, what is the best choice of a slam? When there are two long suits both with a possible loser, which do you choose? The answer is: neither. In No Trumps even if one of the suits has a loser, the other may not have one, and if both have a loser then one of them can surely be developed to create the required tricks in that suit. That is how West should be reasoning, and after asking for aces and kings and finding East with two of each, bid a very confident 6NT. As it happens there is a spade loser but because of the unlikely 3-3 break in clubs, 6NT makes an overtrick and scores 92% across the whole of X-Clubs. I believe the one pair that bid and made 7NT deserved 0% rather than the 100% they scored.
Q42
JT872
T6
T75