Just Remember

14th January – Board 7. Game All. Dealer South.

In the excitement of dealing with strong hands it is sometimes easy to forget some of the basics….

	North: S A 4 3 H 10 9 5 2 D J C 10 9 8 5 4
West: S 10 7 H Q 8 7 6 3 D 10 9 8 6 4 2 C none		East: S 9 8 6 5 2 H A J 4 D 5 3 C J 6 2
	South: S K Q J H K D A K Q 7 C A K Q 7 3

West	North	East	South
			2C/2D
No	2D/2H	No	3C
No	4C	No	4D
No	4S	No	6C
End

After South has opened with his strongest bid and shown his suit, his side are in a game-forcing situation which means the emphasis should be on going as slowly as possible. Which in turn means that North can simply raise clubs, leaving his partner to cue-bid the ace of diamonds whereupon he can show first round spade control whilst denying first round heart control. (In fact South could simply invoke Blackwood after 4C as the response will never take him too high although I suppose North could be void in spades when the slam would still be reasonable.) At any rate the slow approach allows more information to pass whereas a leap to 5C by North would simply leave South guessing.