IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

There are so many conventions out there it can sometimes be confusing.  But here is a hand where having the right agreements made the auction simple.

Scoring:  Matchpoints (Pairs Game)

Hand #29
Dlr   E
Vul None
S 5
H 1092
D A43
C KQ10874
S 10743
H 86
D J10862
C 52
    
S KJ982
H J43
D 97
C 963

S AQ6
H AKQ75
D KQ5
C AJ
West North
 East
 South


Pass 2C
    Pass    3C    Pass 
    3H
    Pass
    4S    Pass
    4NT
    Pass
    5C    Pass
    7NT
All Pass



BIDDING:   Holding a huge hand, South opened with an artificial forcing bid.  North's response showed a six-card club suit headed by two of the top three honors.  In response to South's heart bid, North jumped to the four level to show heart support along with spade shortness.  South then used Roman Keycard Blackwood to find the ace of diamonds and bid the grand slam.

PLAY:  West led the jack of diamonds and declarer quickly claimed all of the tricks.  Note the grand slam in notrump is better than in hearts not just because it scores better, but also because it still succeeds when the hearts break badly.  This was not a difficult slam to bid but it's easier with the right tools. 

Copyright ©2008 Larry Matheny.