A slam which at first sight
might seem problematic can sometimes look much better in the light of the
opposition bidding. Such a deal came along last Thursday, in the Diamond
Jubilee Teams…
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Pleasant Surprise
31st May – Board 6: East/West Vul. Dealer East.
South can treat his hand as a virtual 20 points with the queen of spades almost certainly pulling its weight, and the standard way to deal with such big balanced hands which are too good for an immediate 1NT overcall is to double first and then bid no-trumps over partner’s probable minimum response. So it would no doubt come as a pleasant surprise when partner leaps to game and a check-up on key cards should propel South towards the no-trump slam. Although declarer only has eleven tricks after the club suit has furnished three it would be wrong to take a heart finesse for the twelfth. Why? Because East has opened at the one-level and would need to have the queen of hearts to make up his full complement of points. So declarer should play off the top two hearts with enjoyable results. Of course 6♦ is a much better slam because you don’t need that luck in hearts but difficult to get to once so much bidding space is taken away at an early stage.
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I find the 4H bid over the top. 3H is more appropriate. Then doubler would bid 3NT (or 4C), and responder would respond 4D...
ReplyDeleteNick M
I do welcome the comment but I cannot agree with it! If South had dealt and opened 1H I cannot believe there is anyone who would not bid game on that North hand, either 4H or a splinter of 3S. And that's how you should approach these hands more or less. Suppose South had something like: Sxx HQxxx DAJxx CKQx. Game is cold and South could hardly raise to game with such a minimum double. And if North did bid 3H there is no way that South could bid anything other than 3NT, certainly not 4C on a four card suit. The only reason North might now consider bidding more is because he doesn't think he bid enough in the first place. So he is double crossing himself.
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