Once In A Lifetime

11th September – Board 9: East/West Game. Dealer North.

Hands with 28 points come along once in a lifetime and it’s dispiriting when such an accumulation of wealth goes to waste. 

	North: S A K Q J H A K D K J C A K 5 4 3
West: S 7 4 H 9 7 3 D A 9 5 4 2 C 9 8 6		East: S 10 9 8 6 3 H J 6 5 D 7 6 3 C J 10
	South: S 5 2 H Q 10 8 4 2 D Q 10 8 C Q 7 2

West	North	East	South
	2C/2D	No	2D/2H
No	4NT	No	6NT
End

In truth Acol does not cope well with rock crushers and any strong 1C system is much better placed. The Blue Club system – not used so much now but one which I played for many years – would have the North hand open 1C  - showing 17+ points - and the South hand respond 1H, not showing hearts as it happens but at least six points without an ace and a king or three kings. The point is of course that North would know immediately at the one-level that the values for slam existed. Playing traditional Acol if one cared to think of that North hand as balanced then an opening 2C followed by a rebid of 4NT over a 2D denial shows 27/28 points. Easy then for South to bid the slam on general values. There is a clever convention called Kokish – after its inventor – which allows the bidding to proceed at a lower level but you cannot play that if you play Benji Acol when 2D is the big bid.