IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

Some players like to keep the bidding simple while others are real "scientists" who have many conventions and agreements on their convention cards.  Here is a hand that took the scientists several rounds of bidding before the ultimate contract was found.

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)
Hand #42
Dlr   E
Vul N/S
S QJ7
H K64
D A863
C QJ3
S 10964
H 83
D Q742
C 852
    
S
H J109752
D KJ105
C 974

S AK8532
H AQ
D 9
C AK106
West North
 East
 South


Pass
 1S
   Pass
   2NT    Pass
     3S
   Pass
     4D    Pass
    4NT
   Pass
     5C    Pass
     5D
   Pass
     5H    Pass
     6C 
   Pass
     6D    Pass
    7NT
   Pass
    Pass
   Pass
                                                                                                                                                       
BIDDING:  North's 2NT response was natural showing 13-15 high card points and a balanced hand that might contain three spades.  South rebid his suit to show six and North cooperated by cue bidding diamonds to agree spades and show his cheapest ace.  Holding a huge hand, South next used Roman Keycard Blackwood to discover how many keycards (4 aces + king of trump suit) his partner held.  North acknowledged holding one and South next asked about the queen of trumps.  South's heart bid showed the queen of spades along with the king of hearts.  South was not done yet; his club bid asked about that suit.  North bid the next step, 6D, which showed third around control, either a doubleton or the queen.  South decided his partner would not have jumped to 2NT with a small doubleton club so he expected the queen.  With all of this information, South could count thirteen tricks and bid the grand slam in notrump.

PLAY:  West led a heart and South quickly claimed.  Several pairs reached seven spades but few had the tools to reach the grand slam in notrump.

Copyright ©2009 Larry Matheny