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Later we had a delightful dinner at the Blue Moon with Ellen Luchette and Swedish pro Castor Mann and we asked Castor how we could have bid the grand.
Castor felt Susan was a bit strong for her 3H jump rebid, she has 18 and a 6 card suit and with undisclosed extra values she could bid 6S over my attempt to sign off in 6H. Remember, my 5N guarantees all 5 keycards and the trump queen and shows interest in a grand slam. Also when playing 5N as a specific king ask, asker always asks, teller always tells – so Susan’s 6D bid promised the diamond king and her 6S bid over 6H would show the spade king. Castor went on to say I could sign off in 6N if I could not count 13 tricks – but of course at that point I can count 6 hearts, 3 spades, 2 diamonds and 2 clubs and can bid 7N.
Castor also said I could bid 6S over Susan’s 6D, saying “bid the grand if you hold the spade king”. Asker always asks, teller always tells. Without the spade king, Susan could sign off in 6N. But realistically I had already shown my values by jumping to keycard and then bidding 5N – if Susan has only a 16 count 12 tricks is likely our limit against my balanced 17 count.
So basically you can play in the mid flight, bid a small slam and feel brilliant with your 61% score, or play in the top flight, get a 21%, be humbled, and learn how to improve your game.
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