23rd September – Board 19: E/W Vul. Dealer South.
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North:
S 10 3
H K Q 10 5 2
D 9
C A Q J 7 3
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West:
S J 7 6 5 2
H 9 8 6
D K 10 4
C K 9
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East:
S K 9 4
H 7 3
D J 8 7 6 5 3
C 6 5
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South:
S A Q 8
H A J 4
D A Q 2
C 10 8 4 2
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The hand shown above should not be too difficult to bid to the optimal spot – 6C by South – and most people did bid to a slam, although there were one or two oddities. 6H by South was certainly the strangest and I think a veil should be drawn over the auction that got there…. Maybe muddled thinking got in the way but a straightforward auction would be:-
West
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North
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East
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South
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1C
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No
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1H
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No
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2NT
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No
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4C
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No
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4D
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No
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4NT
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No
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5C
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6C
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End
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The first three bids should be routine – it is essential to know what opener’s rebid is going to be, so forget about supporting clubs immediately – and although a 3C rebid by responder would be forcing, 4C is better in that it sets the suit. South would cue-bid in diamonds for starters and now North can wheel out the Old Black. (I know it is not usual to do this with two small in a suit but the chances of the opposition having the ace and king of spades are remote.) Can you see why clubs had to be agreed? Because if South had four key-cards then 7C would be odds-on. As it happens one star player is absent and North should just settle for the small slam.
Is 3H a reasonable second bid for North to show he has 5 of them? If it is, then what would South do to avoid a sign off in 4H?
ReplyDeleteI think North should support clubs because he knows there will be at least two discards on the hearts and maybe none on the clubs. (South might have five clubs.) if North did rebid 3H then South should cue with 3S. After all South has denied holding a spade suit so it would/should be interpreted as an advanced cue-bid. But as I say I think North should really get enthusiastic about the club suit.
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