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Interesting Bidding
“Grand Tauranga” by Sam Simpson, Tauranga
The following hand was played recently at the Tauranga club during a Swiss Pairs event and only two pairs bid the makeable grand.
| Board 16 West Deals E-W Vul |
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| West | North | East | South |
| 1 ♠ | Pass | 2 ♥ | Pass |
| 4 ♣ | Pass | 4 NT | Pass |
| 5 NT | Pass | 7 ♥ | All pass |
4
was a splinter (singleton or void club with 4 card heart support) agreeing hearts. 4NT was Roman Key Card Blackwood with the 5NT response showing 2 key cards (here, the two aces) and a void somewhere.
The splinter and then the response to actually show a void were very important to allow the final bid of 7
as now I knew we had no losers in clubs. My partner's high card points, enough to open the bidding, had to be in spades or diamonds.
After looking at the X club results, it appears that no one else out of 50 pairs from six different clubs managed to bid the grand and only 19 actually bid small slam.
This deal highlights firstly how useful splinter bids can be and then the void showing mechanism to enable the asking hand to be able to place points in their partner's hand. It also illustrates how much better it is not to jump-shift with a strong responding hand. If Sam (East) had to call 3 in response to the opening bid, the positive effect of the splinter would be lost. Remember, a splinter is almost always a jump bid, maybe a double jump. Thanks, Sam, for highlighting a simple and very effective sequence. Richard Solomon.
If you have a favourite bidding sequence, or a problem of what to bid, please send to "Interesting Bidding" at richard.solomon@nzbridge.co.nz
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