[han]

hrothgar, on Apr 7 2006, 06:59 AM, said:

2. Its unclear to me whether this slam is necessarily biddable. If you reach slam, will you be able to stop shirt if East holds

♠ 98
♥ K875
♦ 876
♣ AQJ3

An unlikely hand for partner Richard...

[hrothgar]

Hannie, on Apr 7 2006, 06:56 PM, said:

hrothgar, on Apr 7 2006, 06:59 AM, said:

2.  Its unclear to me whether this slam is necessarily biddable.  If you reach slam, will you be able to stop shirt if East holds

♠ 98
♥ K875
♦ 876
♣ AQJ3

An unlikely hand for partner Richard...

corrected...

[luis]

I admit that going beyond 3NT is not completely clear but with the black suit tenaces over opener I think I would never bid 3NT at the table so 4NT RKCB is just a way to go. When pd shows 2 I would just probably bid 6♦ offering a choice of slams planning to correct 6♥ to 6NT and hope for the best.
Maybe this is more a "feeling" problem than a rational one.

Luis

[mikeh]

If we want to construct an auction to slam, my suggestion would be:

(1♠)  x  (P)  3♥
(P)  3N  (P)  4N
(P)  5♣  (P)  5♦
(P)  6♦


4N is a mild stretch, but responder has a near max and the ♦ suit rates to be very useful. As most have noted, any hooks outside of ♦ will be onside. 30 point slams, if not off cashing tricks, are relatively easy to play AFTER an opp has made a natural one-level opening bid: you know, as declarer, where the cards are and you can often subject opener to considerable pressure.

If responder advances with 4N, doubler may decide to move, and if so, should do so by bidding 4 card suits up the line: any slam will probably play better in a 4-4 minor than in notrump. This approach reaches ♦, and 6♦ is not a bad spot at all: with the black suits working, as they rate to do, we can count 3♠, 1♥, 5♦ and 3♣, and in fact, due to the internal texture of the trump suit, we are not really troubled by a 4-1 trump break unless ♠ are 7-1.

Would I get there? There is no way to answer that honestly, having seen the hands. Is the suggested auction pure result-driven? I don't think so but I do think that both partners would have to be in aggressive moods to reach slam.

[whereagles]

mikeh, on Apr 7 2006, 05:02 PM, said:

I do think that both partners would have to be in aggressive moods to reach slam.

Yes. I think that's the only way to bid it.

[luis]

whereagles, on Apr 8 2006, 11:49 AM, said:

mikeh, on Apr 7 2006, 05:02 PM, said:

I do think that both partners would have to be in aggressive moods to reach slam.

Yes. I think that's the only way to bid it.

That is my default mode, I only switch to "Rock" when I'm over 60% at MPs or 30imps ahead in team events. I have the rule of never going for the "fatality" hit :-) It usually backfires and a big win becomes a close match or session.