[whereagles]

Hi all, here's another team trials hand.

---

3♥ = 14-16, good 6 card suit.
3♠ = heart slam try.
4♥ = no cue available below 4♥.
5♠ = trump Q + spade king.

You know that only about 1/3 of field will bid a grand (if that much). It's half-way up a 10 board imp pairs match and you feel like you're winning by a small margin so far.

So, grand or no grand?

[aguahombre]

Do I have to decide? Or can I ask more questions? 5N for other kings? How about a seventh trump bidding seven over 5NT?

[Fluffy]

I have 12 sure tricks and at least a finese in spades for a 13th unless partner is void in diamonds. I go for it.

[whereagles]

aguahombre, on 2011-September-25, 13:12, said:

Do I have to decide? Or can I ask more questions? 5N for other kings? How about a seventh trump bidding seven over 5NT?

You can bid 5NT as a general GST but pard will put it back in 6♥, meaning he has nothing special to say.

[aguahombre]

whereagles, on 2011-September-25, 14:36, said:

You can bid 5NT as a general GST but pard will put it back in 6♥, meaning he has nothing special to say.

So, with the obvious club out, we won't have entrys to set up a 13th trick in diamonds. He doesn't have the club king or a seventh heart. Will go low with 6. If I am wrong, and it makes seven, I will at least have tried for seven and not accepted my own invite

[ggwhiz]

I'm going for the grand mainly because I think they will at the other table.

Partner will not look at the J♦ as the key card and we have the ♠ finesse or a squeeze to fall back on. I've been wrong before though and often.

[Zelandakh]

whereagles, on 2011-September-25, 14:36, said:

You can bid 5NT as a general GST but pard will put it back in 6♥, meaning he has nothing special to say.

5NT should fairly specifically ask for the SQ here should it not? We have 6m available as SSAs and partner already denied an outside king. That said, there is something wrong with this auction. 3S appears to demand cue bids but partner could not find a spade cue bid of 3NT with the ace and king. Anyway, partner has AK/AKQxxx/xx/xx plus one further card. If it is a club then the grand is poor, otherwise it is decent enough. At teams I think it is worth it.

[TWO4BRIDGE]

Zelandakh, on 2011-September-26, 06:31, said:

5NT should fairly specifically ask for the SQ here should it not? We have 6m available as SSAs and partner already denied an outside king. That said, there is something wrong with this auction. 3S appears to demand cue bids but partner could not find a spade cue bid of 3NT with the ace and king. Anyway, partner has AK/AKQxxx/xx/xx plus one further card. If it is a club then the grand is poor, otherwise it is decent enough. At teams I think it is worth it.

Since Opener has denied a minor Control, I too think 5NT would also be a ♠Q-ask, whereas 6C or 6D would be specific 3rd-round Ctrl-asks .
For example bidding 6C, the replies are:
6H = no 3rd Rnd Ctrl in Cl
7H = x x in Cl
6NT = ♣ Q
7C = ♣ Q J

You would like to hear the 7H reply ( as you noted x x in Cl and the grand is on )

And, eventho the 6NT reply won't help as far as the grand is concerned, it won't hurt you either.... you still have 12 tricks in 6NT .

However, with the 7C reply you would have to rely on the ♣-finesse for 13 or a fortuitous 3-3 ♦ split.

EDIT: but from the 14-16 constraint of the 3H-jump rebid,
Opener can't have the Cl Q .... so you are essentially safely asking for x x in Cl....
But you may still have to rely on the Sp hook if :
A K x, A K Q x x x, x x, x x .

This post has been edited by TWO4BRIDGE: 2011-September-26, 12:26

[Phil]

Whereagles, how did you do in these trials?

[whereagles]

I came 1 VP short for next stage Overall I'm proud of my performance, having made very few mistakes. We had quite a bit of bad luck, though. The stage before we came 2nd on a field of 40, so next year I definitely expect us to reach the final round.

As for the hand, Zelandakh got it right. Pard had indeed

AKx
AKQxxx
xx
xx

So what happened? Well, RHO had an obvious club lead from KQ. Diamonds didn't break and the spade finesse was off, so pard went 1 down. The bad news was that only 3 out of 12 tables bid grand. Some didn't even reach a slam at all (lol).

Still, I think the grand should be bid. It's virtually a lay-down without a club lead, which is by no means automatic, and still about a 2/3 favorite with such a lead. Being on a wimpish field is just about the only excuse I can come up with for not bidding it. That ♥J really is a huge card here.

[kenrexford]

The auction and agreements up to a certain point horrify my sensibilities. That said, at the point of the 5♠ call, this gets interesting.

By definition, Opener has 14-16 HCP, and he has shown the A-K-Q in trumps, a side A, and the spade K, which totals 16 HCP. Hence, Opener cannot have another honor in his hand. If Opener has also denied shortness (not sure), then what would 5NT ask? For that matter, what would any other call ask?

The only variables possible are exact trump length and exact side-suit pattern. If Opener is known to have exactly six hearts, then he only has three possible shapes -- 2623, 2632, and 3622. Note the moving three-card suit. For that matter, if he cannot have shortness anywhere, then the only possible other pattern is 2722.

5NT would seem, therefore, to ask for shape, a sort of "natural" call. If Opener has 2623, he shows his club "suit," bidding 6♣. With three diamonds, 6♦. With three spades, Opener does not bypass 6♥ and therefore bids 6♥ (IMO). With a seventh heart (2722), Opener bids above 6♥, presumably bidding 6NT (as that is the most "natural" way to bid this).

An alternative is to simply ask questions. 6♣ invites the grand if Opener has 2623 (or 2722), 6♦ invites if 2632 (or 2722), and 5NT, therefore, seeks 3622 (or 2722).

If Opener had ♠AK ♥AKQxxx ♦xxx ♣xx, a spade ruffing finesse can still be taken after trying for a 3-2 (more likely) in diamonds. Hence, a late action pattern ask would be useful.

[whereagles]

> The auction and agreements up to a certain point horrify my sensibilities.

A very sensible human being. No wonder you're married... lol.



> (...) Opener cannot have another honor in his hand. If Opener has also denied shortness
> (not sure), then what would 5NT ask?

By agreement 5NT means "have you got anything to spare?", in which case I'd say a 7th heart is probably a good excuse to bid 7.

[kenrexford]

whereagles, on 2011-September-26, 16:53, said:

> The auction and agreements up to a certain point horrify my sensibilities.

A very sensible human being. No wonder you're married... lol.



> (...) Opener cannot have another honor in his hand. If Opener has also denied shortness
> (not sure), then what would 5NT ask?

By agreement 5NT means "have you got anything to spare?", in which case I'd say a 7th heart is probably a good excuse to bid 7.

If 5NT asks "do you have anythign to spare," that is workable. With the seventh heart, clearly that is a good excuse to bid 7♥.

But, a third diamond also is a huge holding and probably merits a 6♦ call (natural) regardless. The third diamond (♠AK ♥AKQxxx ♦xxx ♣xx) allows winning the club Ace, play heart Jack, spade to hand, pull trumps (pitch two clubs and a diamond), cash second top spade, try two rounds of diamonds. If diamonds split 3-2 (higher chance by far than 3-3), claim 13 tricks. If diamonds split 4-1, you have the option of a ruffing finesse in spades (which is better for starters because you catch Qx offside with the ruffing finesse) and a re-entry in diamonds OR ruffing a spade (trying to catch Qxx) before playing the last heart to possibly catch LHO in a spade-diamond squeeze and/or RHO in a club/diamond squeeze (remote).

If 5NT asks for 7♥ with seven hearts, or 6♦ with three diamonds, you are getting immediately to where I mentioned in the first place, IF 6♣ mentions a "I have three clubs" gee whiz and hence 6♥ by default "none of the above."

[Fluffy]

partner could also have played for the squeeze, wich I presume didn't work either, Squeeze picks up ♠Qx behind, but does not pick ♠Qxx on your right with 4 diamonds (unless partner small spade is high enough). Both lines seem pretty close.

[JLOGIC]

Of course bid the grand. If they have a natural club lead that sucks, we are not dead. Usually they won't lead a club.

[whereagles]

Fluffy, on 2011-September-26, 21:53, said:

partner could also have played for the squeeze, wich I presume didn't work either, Squeeze picks up ♠Qx behind, but does not pick ♠Qxx on your right with 4 diamonds (unless partner small spade is high enough). Both lines seem pretty close.

Pard did give the squeeze a thought, but ultimately decided that the finesse was better odds. In practice both lines would fail

[whereagles]

JLOGIC, on 2011-September-27, 04:55, said:

Of course bid the grand. If they have a natural club lead that sucks, we are not dead. Usually they won't lead a club.

That's just what I thought. If pard had what he had, it would be good odds. In addition, he might come up with 3 diamonds or a 7th heart, which would make it a pretty hot favorite to make.

@ken: see above