Slams 15
How difficult should it be to count to thirteen tricks? That is what all the Norths who responded with a quiet 1H when South opened the bidding with 1D had to do when South’s next bid was 4H, or even a conservative 3H. Or maybe some Souths might open 1H, a legitimate enough Acol opener. Take a look at Board 2 from Tuesday 20/05/2025 at X-Clubs.
Board 2 Dealer E NS Vul
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K4
QJ985432
K
AJSo, say South does open 1D. North should just bid a quiet 1H, there is no reason to launch into the atmosphere with 4H but even if North does that, simply asking for aces and kings will reveal one ace and two kings, so South has every reason to bid 7NT unless South believes that North would leap to 4H with only a six card suit headed by the QJ. Whatever way NS bid, there should be no real excuse to settle for anything less that 7NT. Why 7NT and not 7H, you might say. Isn’t 7NT being greedy for the extra few match points? Usually that might be the case, but this would be more about safety than greed.
Imagine counting to thirteen tricks with hearts as trumps when you can also count to thirteen in No Trumps. And imagine futher that the hand on lead has kept quiet while listening to your bidding, with an eight card diamond suit and has nothing more inspirational to lead!
There were 130 NS pairs across all of X-Clubs. Seven bid to 7H and only FOUR managed to count to thirteen and bid the absolutely laydown 7NT, with fourteen top tricks.
