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Do we have enough?

A Tricky Number.

 

Well, today’s deal is tricky but only because our second suit is clubs. Were it spades and our partner had shown a strong hand with hearts and spades, it would simply be a matter of asking for key-cards and counting the response, well nearly that simple. Today, we have to deal with a good club fit. Does partner have AKQ and two major aces or something a little less satisfactory?

 

 

 

 

Teams. Where to from here?

We have saved you the first problem on this deal, the question of North’s opening bid. More of that later. They chose 1 and then have chosen to show us a club suit and a strong hand. There is no issue for Pam:

Pam Livingston “4: Minorwood (key card ask).  That's all I want to know!

That is not the case for others:

Michael Cornell “4: which unfortunately is no longer Minorwood for us (this is the perfect hand for it) I will cue 4 over either 4 or 4 from partner and hopefully he has 3 KeyCards and is able to bid 4NT.

If he bids 5 I suspect we are off 2 keys and I will pass.”

Can you bid minorwood directly over 3 or do you have to agree the suit first? Something about which partnerships need to be clear.

 

Which is the boss hand here? Who should be doing the asking? Surely it is our hand but Peter identifies some dangers:

Peter Newell “4: how good partner's clubs are, and the major suit aces are key to evaluating whether we belong in 5,6 or 7.  Bidding 4 makes it easier to establish this, but yes there are risks of going above 5 depending on key-card responses missing 2 aces.

A 4 splinter is second choice, but it is a hand that it is better that we take control as there is less we need to know about partner’s hand than he will about ours to figure out what level we belong at. We haven’t got across our solid diamonds….or 6/5 shape.”

The splinter has support:

Bruce Anderson “4: a splinter showing a fit in clubs with a singleton or void in spades, and slam interest.

 Simply supporting partner’s suit by bidding 4 would be forcing but partner may then have difficulty envisaging the strength of my support for clubs. Partner has shown a good hand which is likely to have top cards in hearts and clubs. He (sorry Pam) has heard the constructive bid of 2 and should take the view I have a strong suit for the splinter. The spade shortage may be all that partner needs to bid the small slam, or consider greater things if very strong.”

 

Two differing views on the splinter. I do think our partner can conclude that we are 1264 shape or similar if we splinter but were they to have only two key-cards, we could be in trouble as the natural (and with clubs as trumps the most common response to 4NT with one key card) is 5. 

  Another difficulty of key-card is raised by:

Kris Wooles “3: if I bid a rather blunt 4NT RCKB, how would I tell the difference between 1/4 if clubs are our agreed suit? I expect it will go 3NT after 3 in which case I can bid 4 hopefully conveying slam interest in that suit. After all it’s possible even 5 could go down and NT might end up being a better game bet.

 

It seems in that case you will be no better off since you are not and should not pass 3NT.

So, it is back to 4, whatever it means. It is certainly a forcing bid.  

 

Andy Braithwaite “4: Minorwood preferably or just setting suit asking for cues if that is the agreement- 3 key cards would have you asking forQ and then bidding 6 with it.”

Nigel Kearney “4: I am not seriously considering anything else. I have too few key cards to use Blackwood myself, but I have club support, slam interest, and enough shape to bypass 3NT.”

So, the above is what might have happened had the bidding started with 1. That is probably the right action with the North hand below. I have never seen a definite rule but I would presume that a 2 opener should hold more than one ace. That would be a drawback to this alternative opening after which it was just impossible for most to stop short of the ill-fated slam.

Even stopping short after 1 was hard.

 

or try this sequence where South tried to emphasize their diamonds:

     or try this sequence where South tried to emphasize their diamonds:

 

North            South

  2               3

  3               4

 5               ?

If only the defence could find a minor suit lead to slam. Unfortunately, the lead of one major should lead to an immediate switch to the other no matter whether North or South was dummy.

An easy deal for those whose 4 after 3 in our first sequence is key-card or ace-asking but not so easy for others. Only 19 out of the 60 partnerships stayed out of slam.

However, happy days for 12 of the rest whose slam made.

Richard Solomon

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