[dcvetkov]

---

Questions is, here how to bid to very cold grand slam in spades, ( barring a 5-0 trumps split). West opened the bidding with 1♦, there was some preemptive interefence in hearts, some people discovered spades, some did not, so there were a lot of different contracts, 5D, defending 5H doubled, 5S, very rare 6 spades.

Would you be happy reaching just 6♠? Would you find 7 with no interference?Would Splinter in hearts from opener helped or responder will deevalute his Ax opposite void?

Any improvement from Strong Club lovers?

[pbleighton]

"Reaching 6S with heavy preempting in your face is fine."

Agree.

I think reaching 7 even without interference is tough using standard methods, unless you are very good or very aggressive. After 1D-1S-4H, does East's hand look like slam to you? I don't think 1D-1S-4S does any better.

Strong clubbers would have a better shot: 1C-1NT-2C(Stayman)-2S- WOW!
Pd has at least 8 points and at least 2 diamonds. A simple 4NT would tell you what you need to know, or you can use whatever more sophisticated methods you have available.

Peter

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

I am not sure, 7S can be reached in
a fairly confident manner, at least playing
a simple natural system.
Just assume responder holds only the single
Ace of hearts and a 5 card club suit.

Reaching 6S, if they compete to 5H, will
be hard enough, because you will need to
get the decision (defend 5H, play 5S or bid 6S)
right.

And there are other hands possible, i.e.
every decison could be the right one.

Marlowe

[kenrexford]

The precise nature of the interference determines the acceptability of a 6S contract. To explain.

An uncontested auction to 7S is simple.

1D-P-1S-P-4D as a Walsh Fragment (solid diamonds, good spade support), followed by RKCB shows the entire hand, for all relevant purposes.

Different heart interference enables different solutions. For instance, is 1D-1H-X-P-4D, same start. 1D-1H-X-2H-4D should also be same start, as should 1D-2H-X-P-4D.

So, what WAS the heart level of preemption???

[akhare]

dcvetkov, on Jan 1 2006, 11:28 AM, said:

Would you be happy reaching just 6♠? Would you find 7 with no interference?Would Splinter in hearts from opener helped or responder will deevalute his Ax opposite void?

Any improvement from Strong Club lovers?

Yes -- reaching 6♠ w/ interference seems very satisfactory indeed. Here's an auction in our methods playing strong club (forcing pass actually, but let's pretend we play strong ♣ since it doesn't really change the auction):

1♣ ;strong forcing
1♦ ;11+; GF, 4+ controls
1♥ ;relay
1♠ ;balanced hand
1N ;relay
2♦ ;4 or 5♠
2♥ ;relay
2N ;4♣
3♣ ;relay
3♦ ;4-2-3-4 exactly
3♥ ;control ask
3♠ ;exactly 4 controls
4♣ ;Denial cue bid ask (DCB)
4♦ ;either AK of ♠ or nothing
4♥ ;DCB
4N ;♣ control, either AK of ♦ or nothing
5♣ ;DCB
5♠ ;♥ control, Q♠, no Q♣
7♠ ;Opener knows responder must have two Aces (because AK of ♥ OR AK of ♣ and another K is impossible)

[hrothgar]

Playing strong club, its trivial to reach 7♠ sans interference
With interference, I suspect that we'd rest in 6

[Kalvan14]

With interference, 6♠ is a more than acceptable contract

[Fluffy]

I would probably end in just 4♠.


Without interference however, reaching 7 is not that hard

1♦-1♠
4♥-4NT
5♦-5NT
7♠

[kenrexford]

I am still trying to figure out what interference makes 7S not imminently biddable. Can someone suggest this? Worst case scenario seems to be where Opener must make a 6H call to invite the grand, which would be accepted.

[FrancesHinden]

I think you are being very harsh. Heavy pre-empting of the form
1D - 2/3/4H - x - 5/6H seems to make a grand slam difficult to bid.

[nielsfoged]

Fluffy, on Jan 2 2006, 05:12 AM, said:

I would probably end in just 4♠.


Without interference however, reaching 7 is not that hard

1♦-1♠
4♥-4NT
5♦-5NT
7♠

[QUOTE]
Playing Voidwood-0314, I would also* be tempted to bid 4♥ in 2nd round.
* I guess that Fluffy's 4NT shows 1 Ace outside ♥? - If it is "just" RKC: please forget the "also".

However, as easy life gets, when partner as here fortunately holds the A outside the ♥-suit, as uncertain it becomes, when partner does not hold ♣A. Passing 4♠ seems quite pessimistic, since ♣K (or a ♣-singleton) together with ♠Q would suffice for slam.
But Voidwood-experts: how do you check for a ♣-stopper after:
1♦-1♠,
4♥-4♠(no aces outside ♥),
?
Would 5♦ be a cuebid denying a ♣-stopper? (and then what about ♠Q?)

The Walsh-4♦ bid admittedly works much better on the actual hands.

[Free]

Depends on how heavy the preempting is actually.

Without interference, it's easy with relay systems, and with natural methods it's still pretty easy if opener splinters to 4♥ imo.

[kenrexford]

Assuming the worst...

1D-4H-X-5H-
6H-P-7S-PPP

...seems reasonable.

I am not saying that this is clear. What I am saying is that I am not "happy" with 6S. 6S "should" score below average in a field I'd like to have paid an entry for.

[hrothgar]

kenrexford, on Jan 3 2006, 03:11 AM, said:

Assuming the worst...

1D-4H-X-5H-
6H-P-7S-PPP

...seems reasonable.

What the hell are you smoking?

I will readily admit that responder's double in the auction

1♦ - (4♥) - ???

typically is not used as a penalty double. With this said and done, it also is rarely used as classic negative double. In my experience, this double normally shows "cards". Opener is not guarunteed a 4-4 Spade fit.

Bidding 6♥ seems a bit questionable unless your looking at both hands...

[hrothgar]

For what its worth, playing MOSCITO

1♣ - 1♦ Strong Club / artifical game forcing
1♥ - 1N Relay / Balanced or 4441
2♣ - 2♥ Relay / 4+ Spades, 2-3 Hearts
2♠ - 3[♦] Relay / 4=2=3=4
3♠ - 4♥ RKCB for Spades / 2 Keycards and the Queen of trumps

Hard to miss 7♠ if the opponents give you a free run
(As I said, I don't expect a free run and I don't expect to find 7♠ in the real world)

[kenrexford]

This is worst case scenario, I remind you.

Assume you face this in real life. Opener has a four-loser hand, with every indication that life is good for us. Partner's double showed extreme values, contextually, as you need little. 6H advertises a void in hearts, with obviously 6-4 or so in diamonds and spades, a "maxi-Walsh" perhaps. In such a tight auction, would you consider 6S? If so, then why not 6H, a cheaper call? You might play in a Moysian at 6S, and you might have to try hard for 7D or even 6NT, but the 4H...5H was probably not faced elsewhere.

by "reasonable," I mean just that. It has a reasoning.

If 100 people all face 4H...5H, and if a few bid 6H to get to 7S, then 6S will score below average. Sure, on 100 hands, 6S might fare better with that opening and that auction. But, I am not happy with 6S. On this hand.

With lesser intervention, I am far less impressed and would hope to find 7S.

[Fluffy]

[quote name='nielsfoged' date='Jan 2 2006, 08:48 PM'] [quote name='Fluffy' date='Jan 2 2006, 05:12 AM']I would probably end in just 4[sp].


Without interference however, reaching 7 is not that hard

1[di]-1[sp]
4[he]-4NT
5[di]-5NT
7[sp][/quote]
[QUOTE]
Playing Voidwood-0314, I would also* be tempted to bid 4[he] in 2nd round.
* I guess that Fluffy's 4NT shows 1 Ace outside [he]? - If it is "just" RKC: please forget the "also".

However, as easy life gets, when partner as here fortunately holds the A outside the [he]-suit, as uncertain it becomes, when partner does not hold [cl]A. Passing 4[sp] seems quite pessimistic, since [cl]K (or a [cl]-singleton) together with [sp]Q would suffice for slam.
But Voidwood-experts: how do you check for a [cl]-stopper after:
1[di]-1[sp],
4[he]-4[sp](no aces outside [he]),
?
Would 5[di] be a cuebid denying a [cl]-stopper? (and then what about [sp]Q?)

The Walsh-4[di] bid admittedly works much better on the actual hands. [/quote]
No not really, 4[he] is jsut classic splinter, 4NT is blackwood, and 5NT shows all key cards.