Here's a hand where another rarely used convention solved a bidding
problem.
Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs Game)
Hand #31
Dlr
E
Vul
N/S
A
A843
AK73
AKQJ
J86
Q105
Q1085
864
3
KJ72
J642
10952
KQ1097542
96
9
73
West
North
East
South
Pass
3
Pass
5NT*
Pass
7
All Pass
*Grand Slam Force
BIDDING: North was
still counting his points when he saw his partner make a preempt in
spades. Since they were vulnerable against non-vulnerable
opponents, North was confident his partner would have a good spade
suit, but to make sure, he employed the Grand Slam Force
convention. This leap to 5NT asked South to bid seven with two of
the top three spade honors. South complied and the grand slam was
quickly reached.
PLAY: It didn't matter
what West led as there was no way to defeat the slam. Another
good method of bidding the grand slam would be to use Roman Keycard
Blackwood. This convention allows you to uncover both the king
and queen of the trump suit. Lacking such tools, can you be
confident your partner didn't open with this spade suit:
KJ1098754? Or perhaps QJ10987542? It's usually bad practice
to preempt vul against non-vul with a weak suit, but have you discussed
this with your partner?