Question 3

Hi Heidi,

We encountered a number of challenging hands (to us) in bidding lately. Please provide us some insight:

How can NS bid slam with this hand?

EW vulnerable, N is dealer:

	North ♠93 ♥AJ9852 ♦ ♣AKQT2
West ♠T62 ♥K4 ♦T983 ♣9764		East ♠K85 ♥T6 ♦KQ7652 ♣85
	South ♠AQJ74 ♥Q73 ♦AJ4 ♣J3

Heidi's Answer

With a bad suit and vulnerable I don't think East will come into the bidding. Therefore it will be a free run for N/S.

N	E	S	W
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
???

First question is WHAT will North rebid?

2♥ is WAY too weak. This is a VERY strong hand distributionally.

3♥ totally ignores that ♣ suit.

2♣ can be passed so again is WAY too weak a bid.

3♣ forces to game. Are they strong enough if they don't find a fit with Partner???

I'd rather be down 5 in a slam then at the 2 level making 4 overtricks so I would choose to rebid 3♣ and hope I have a fit somewhere. This puts a game force on the auction. Now Partner can support my ♥ suit.

N	E	S	W
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
3♣	Pass	3♥	Pass
???

Now what does North bid? No point in bidding Blackwood because you have a void AND a useless doubleton.

Does North just leap to 6♥ and hope their Partner has the ♠ controlled and a high trump?

Sure an optimistic (or crazy!) North would.

I can cuebid so I would bid 4♣. That says I have first round control of the ♣ suit and am interested in a slam.

Now my Partner (who has only shown six points in the auction and has MUCH more!) will cuebid their first round control in ♦.

This does not help me at all. I have potentially overbid my hand by quite a bit so will sign off in 4♥. Hopefully Partner will realize I need a ♠ control.

Now my Partner should cuebid their first round control in ♠. They have MUCH more than they said they did so they should continue on.

If I know my Partner has the two pointy suit Aces all I need from them is the King and Queen of trump.

I ask for them by bidding 5NT.

To find out what this 5NT bid means check out this link:
Grand Slam Force

They bid 6♥ which denies having both. We have arrived.

6♥ is a good spot to be. You need the ♥ finesse to work to take all the tricks so I don't want to be any higher.

So knowing how to cuebid the auction could proceed as follows:

N	E	S	W
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
3♣	Pass	3♥	Pass
4♣	Pass	4♦	Pass
4♥	Pass	4♠	Pass
5NT	Pass	6♥	Pass
Pass	Pass

What if you don't know how to cuebid?

If North rebids 3♣ to show about a twenty point hand, South should now take the partnership to slam. They 15 HCP and a Partner who jump shifted!

How will they investigate slam without cuebidding?

Maybe they will ask for Aces? Maybe they will just leap there? Who knows. But IF North jump shifts South should drive them to a slam.

It won't be as scientific but you don't get any extra matchpoints for bidding well.

What if North only rebids 2♣ or 2♥? They only have 14 HCP!

Yes, North only has 14 HCP but you are confusing points with tricks. North has lots and lots of tricks.

That's like saying this hand:
♠AKQJT98765432
♥
♦
♣

only has 10 HCP and therefore shouldn't open the bidding. While this is true -- the hand does "only" have 10 HCP -- it totally underestimates the number of tricks this hand will take if ♠ are trump.

So because of the distributional stength in the North hand I think North has to be the one to take aggressive action. They have a VERY strong hand. South has a nice hand also but opposite a minimum opener they should not be thinking of slam.

However they can survive over a 2 level rebid by North. South has a fit for ♥ and an opening hand. South will now bid 4♥.

Now North needs to go further. Since South bid the ♠ suit, North can take a chance and bid 6♥. Even if they bid 4NT with the void and useless doubleton they will survive because South has both Aces. They can ask for Kings but the partnership is missing three Kings. They will stop in 6♥. All is good. (To be fair if they just leap to 7♥ they will make since the ♥ finesse does work. But I don't think you should be there.)