When was the last time you (successfully) bid game with a combined nine count? And when was the last time you (also successfully) sacrificed against a cold slam, also with a combined nine count? Both those things could have happened on the very first board of our deal from last Tuesday's X-Clubs.
Board 1 from Tuesday 25/02/2025
Dealer N Nil Vul
North might open 1D (my choice) though some might open a more optimistic 2C. Over 1D East has two choices of bid: a weak jump overcall of 2S or a Michaels cue bid of 2D. Or, I suppose some Easts might even overcall just 1S. All these bids should tell West that the deal is a freak. If North opens 2C, an intrepid East might still bid 2S. All roads should lead to Rome, but it seems that few did, with most NS pairs ending up in a prosaic 5D, making with an overtrick. But where’s the fun in that? I have great admiration for the EW pairs who launched into 4S, some even doubled, and more so for the one or two who tempted fate by sacrificing in 5S when NS bid to 5D. Tempting fate, because that could well result in NS bidding their slam, but hey! If you’re prepared to push opponents into a slam then you should be prepared to either defeat it or bid one yourself. Few pairs, even the more advanced, would take the push to a slam having decided to play in 5D, and in fact only a few pairs did bid the slam, and some EW pairs did find the sacrifice and scored over 85%! Sadly, some who did sacrifice in 6S and were doubled were down three. Why down three when DF says EW can make ten tricks? It looks as though a trump lead and trump continuation will result in declarer losing two hearts and two aces, but sadly for some who had the temerity to bid 6S as a sacrifice, their declarer also turned the top into a bottom, that was the difference between -300 and -500! If you sacrifice, you have to have your wits about you when you end up playing the hand!
K
AJ52
AKQ542
A4