Difficult Decision



25th September – Board 23. Game All. Dealer South.
If a small slam depends upon a finesse and nothing more then it should certainly be bid at teams where you stand to gain more than you stand to lose. Playing pairs however the decision is much more arbitrary for half the time you will get a good result and half the time you won’t, depending upon the location of one card.

North:
S 9 6 4 2
H A 9 6 3
D 10 5 2
C 9 4

West:
S A Q 8
H 10 8 5
D A Q J 6
C A K 7

East:
S 10 7 3
H K Q 7
D K 9
C Q J 10 5 2

South:
S K J 5
H J 4 2
D 8 7 4 3
C 8 6 3


  West
 North
  East
  South
    
   
    
    No
     2C
    No
     2D
    No
    2NT
    No
     4S
    No
    4NT
   End
    
   

Once West has shown a balanced 19/20 points I think East should make a move whatever form of the game you are playing and the only question is ‘How do I do that?’ I like to reserve a bid of 4NT as old-fashioned Blackwood with a 4S bid as quantitative (as I have mentioned before I dare say) because 4S is a redundant bid. With such a balanced hand West has a difficult decision but certainly if he had another diamond (say) then he would be worth 6NT, which would be an easy make. As it happens 6NT would make on the actual layout because both the king of spades and the ace of hearts are well placed for declarer. 

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