Do you get to this grand slam?

[James Dow Allen]

IMP scoring. No vulnerability. East passes;
so it is the 5-6-0-2 hand's turn to bid.
Opponents will remain silent.

♠ A32
♥ 8
♦ A542
♣ AKQJ9


♠ KQJT6
♥ AQ7642
♦ -
♣ 86

How do you bid these hands with your favorite partner?

[Sandy Barnes]

Post by James Dow Allen
IMP scoring. No vulnerability. East passes;
so it is the 5-6-0-2 hand's turn to bid.
Opponents will remain silent.
♠ A32
♥ 8
♦ A542
♣ AKQJ9
♠ KQJT6
♥ AQ7642
♦ -
♣ 86
How do you bid these hands with your favorite partner?

1S - 4NT
5S* - 7S

*: 2 key cards and the trump queen.

[James Dow Allen]

Both the pairs that got to 7S opened 1S.
Our S opened 1H -- is that so wrong?

Please criticize our bidding:
1H - 2C
2S - 3D
3S - 4NT
5D - 5NT
6D - 6S
With solid spades I wonder if South should
have bid 7S over 6S.

(PlayOKer's do like their Gerber! One
South opened 1H, showed Aces and Kings
and then bid 7S over 6NT -- the first natural
bid in the auction since 1H! Unfortunately
North corrected 7S to 7NT which fails.
King of Hearts is offside.)

[Lorne Anderson]

Post by James Dow Allen
Both the pairs that got to 7S opened 1S.
Our S opened 1H -- is that so wrong?
1H - 2C
2S - 3D
3S - 4NT
5D - 5NT
6D - 6S
With solid spades I wonder if South should
have bid 7S over 6S.

Why on earth should he raise when partner took control of the auction
with 4N and then said we do not have enough for 7S ?

Post by James Dow Allen
(PlayOKer's do like their Gerber! One
South opened 1H, showed Aces and Kings
and then bid 7S over 6NT -- the first natural
bid in the auction since 1H! Unfortunately
North corrected 7S to 7NT which fails.
King of Hearts is offside.)

I do not understand how somebody facing a reverse with 18 points and a
fit and knowing via blackwood that all first round controls + trump
control are held can decide not to bid 7S.

[Travis Crump]

Post by Lorne Anderson

Post by James Dow Allen
Both the pairs that got to 7S opened 1S.
Our S opened 1H -- is that so wrong?
1H - 2C
2S - 3D
3S - 4NT
5D - 5NT
6D - 6S
With solid spades I wonder if South should
have bid 7S over 6S.

Why on earth should he raise when partner took control of the auction
with 4N and then said we do not have enough for 7S ?

Post by James Dow Allen
(PlayOKer's do like their Gerber! One
South opened 1H, showed Aces and Kings
and then bid 7S over 6NT -- the first natural
bid in the auction since 1H! Unfortunately
North corrected 7S to 7NT which fails.
King of Hearts is offside.)

I do not understand how somebody facing a reverse with 18 points and a
fit and knowing via blackwood that all first round controls + trump
control are held can decide not to bid 7S.

I doubt the 4N bidder knew they had all first round controls + trump
control. Is it just old-fashioned blackwood so opener is showing 1 ace
and 1 king?

[Fred.]

Post by Lorne Anderson

Post by James Dow Allen
Both the pairs that got to 7S opened 1S.
Our S opened 1H -- is that so wrong?
1H - 2C
2S - 3D
3S - 4NT
5D - 5NT
6D - 6S
With solid spades I wonder if South should
have bid 7S over 6S.

Why on earth should he raise when partner took control of the auction
with 4N and then said we do not have enough for 7S ?

Post by James Dow Allen
(PlayOKer's do like their Gerber! One
South opened 1H, showed Aces and Kings
and then bid 7S over 6NT -- the first natural
bid in the auction since 1H! Unfortunately
North corrected 7S to 7NT which fails.
King of Hearts is offside.)

I do not understand how somebody facing a reverse with 18 points and a
fit and knowing via blackwood that all first round controls + trump
control are held can decide not to bid 7S.

My assumption is that they are not playing RKC Blackwood and that
South has shown an ace and a king, but not necessarily trump
controls. South can see the four aces and the solid spades, but
not the club tricks and heart ruff. North can see the club tricks
and heart ruff, but I don't think the view of trump control is
clear enough to go for the grand slam at IMP's. On the RKC auction

1H 2C
2S 3D
3S 4NT
5S 7S

North can see 13 tricks, 5 in each black suit, 2 red aces and
a heart ruff, provided the black suits break or South comes
up with the needed minor honors. Quite a different picture.

If they are playing regular Blackwood, then perhaps they are
also still playing grand slam force and the auction should go

1H 2C
2S 3D
3S 5NT
7S

With South holding 2 of the top 3 trump honors. I think it
reasonable for North to assume that South has the HA for the
reverse.

Fred.

[p***@infi.net]

Post by James Dow Allen
Both the pairs that got to 7S opened 1S.
Our S opened 1H -- is that so wrong?
1H - 2C
2S - 3D
3S - 4NT
5D - 5NT
6D - 6S
With solid spades I wonder if South should
have bid 7S over 6S.

...

You have to decide whether a given 5-6 looks more like 5-5 or 4-6 or is strong enough to reverse. Reversing should lead to game opposite a random 8 count; that will probably be fine if you have a fit, and partner likely has 3+ spades or 2+ hearts, but if not 3NT or a major suit game may be too high. Here, I elected to open 1S because spades rate to play well even opposite a doubleton, while hearts don't look so great opposite a small singleton.

Bidding the grand is easy for North if playing Roman Key Card or the equivalent, where he can learn about the strong trumps. South does not know about the solid clubs and cannot easily count 13 tricks.

[p***@gmail.com]

Post by James Dow Allen
IMP scoring. No vulnerability. East passes;
so it is the 5-6-0-2 hand's turn to bid.
Opponents will remain silent.
♠ A32
♥ 8
♦ A542
♣ AKQJ9
♠ KQJT6
♥ AQ7642
♦ -
♣ 86
How do you bid these hands with your favorite partner?

1H 2C
2S 2D(1) (1)Game force
3S 4NT(2) (2) RKCB in spades
5S(3) 7S (3) 2 keys and the queen

I would worry about the trump jack, but even if the split is 4-1 it is 50% that we have it. So 7S.

[James Dow Allen]

Post by p***@gmail.com

Post by James Dow Allen
IMP scoring. No vulnerability. East passes;
so it is the 5-6-0-2 hand's turn to bid.
Opponents will remain silent.
♠ A32
♥ 8
♦ A542
♣ AKQJ9
♠ KQJT6
♥ AQ7642
♦ -
♣ 86
How do you bid these hands with your favorite partner?

1H 2C
2S 2D(1) (1)Game force
3S 4NT(2) (2) RKCB in spades
5S(3) 7S (3) 2 keys and the queen
I would worry about the trump jack, but even if the split is 4-1 it is 50% that we have it. So 7S.

Very similar to our auction(*).
Unfortunately we hadn't agreed to RCKB.

(*- similar even down to the 2D misprint for 3D, which I corrected
before clicking Post. :-)

[t***@att.net]

Post by James Dow Allen
IMP scoring. No vulnerability. East passes;
so it is the 5-6-0-2 hand's turn to bid.
Opponents will remain silent.
♠ A32
♥ 8
♦ A542
♣ AKQJ9
♠ KQJT6
♥ AQ7642
♦ -
♣ 86
How do you bid these hands with your favorite partner?

Amusingly, my canapé approach gets there essentially the same way as other do.

1S (shorter of long suits) 2D (shorter of long suits)
1H (longer than Spades) 3C (game force, longer than Diamonds)
3S (5+Spades) 4NT (RKCB in Spades)
5S (2 Keys & Spade Queen) 7S (Obvious Crossruff)

North knows that South has 11 Major suit cards including the Heart Ace.

[t***@att.net]

In my last post, make that 10 Major suit cards. Possible that South holds 5-5 in the Majors.

[p***@infi.net]

Post by James Dow Allen
IMP scoring. No vulnerability. East passes;
so it is the 5-6-0-2 hand's turn to bid.
Opponents will remain silent.
♠ A32
♥ 8
♦ A542
♣ AKQJ9
♠ KQJT6
♥ AQ7642
♦ -
♣ 86
How do you bid these hands with your favorite partner?

1S-2C (game force)
2H-3S
4H-4NT
5S-7S, or 5NT to check on 7NT, otherwise 7S

Seems easy enough for North to count 13 tricks: 5S, H+ruff, D, 5C .

[Sandy Barnes]

Post by James Dow Allen
IMP scoring. No vulnerability. East passes;
so it is the 5-6-0-2 hand's turn to bid.
Opponents will remain silent.
♠ A32
♥ 8
♦ A542
♣ AKQJ9
♠ KQJT6
♥ AQ7642
♦ -
♣ 86
How do you bid these hands with your favorite partner?

1S - 3C!(1)
4H!(2) - 4NT
5S!(3) - 7S

(1) Fit showing jump (game force)
(2) 5-6 (longer hearts)
(3) RKCB

Note: 1S-2C would deny 3+ card spade support. 3H would now show this hand.