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Deal of the Week
by Bucky Sydnor
(sydnoriv@yahoo.com)
A Session of Slams
There was a surprising number of slams in The Common Game the first Monday morning in June. As all but one were a laydown, there was little to the play, so let’s focus on how three of them were bid.
Board 16
Dealer: W Vul: E-W
♠Q83 ♥96 ♦Q87 ♣J9652
♠642 ♥A1043 ♦K3 ♣K1074--------♠AK105 ♥KQJ85 ♦A6 ♣AQ
♠J97 ♥72 ♦J109542 ♣83
The auction, uncontested, went
P – 2♣
2♦1– 2NT
3♣2 – 3♥3
4♠4 – 4NT5
5♣6 – 5♠7
6♥
Notes:
1. 2♦ is waiting
2. 3♣ is Puppet Stayman
3. 3♥ shows 5 hearts
4. 4♠ is RKC for hearts
5. 4NT is 1 or 4 key cards
6. 5♣ asks for the ♥Q.
7. 5♠ shows the ♥Q and the ♠K
As you can see, proper defense holds both 6♥ and 6NT to 12 tricks.
At our table, Responder took control of the auction with the 4♠ bid. They played a convention that used 4♠ in this auction as RKC, keeping the control inquiry one bid lower than 4NT (regular RKC) would have. Responder taking control, however, is generally less than ideal, as W does not know what makes up E’s strength for his 2NT bid.
On this deal it doesn’t really matter that W was in control. Rather, they were hurt when W, having enough information to bid 6NT, simply placed the contract in 6♥. W had learned that they had all the aces and the ♠K and ♥Q. That information only placed E with 20 HCP, so he should have at least two jacks or a queen more for his 2NT bid, making 6NT an easy bid.
The issue of which slam to bid is an important one in matchpoints. In IMPs, the difference between 6♥ and 6NT is only 10 points, which is considered identical scores or a “push”. But in matchpoints the difference of 10 points is the whole ballgame. Therefore, it is important not to miss those occasions when, though your partnership has a trump fit, it belongs in 6NT rather than a suit contact. That advice is easier said than done, which this deal illustrates. With the slight change of E’s hand from a 4=5=2=2 and to a 3=5=3=2 hand, 6♥ becomes the contract to be in as it delivers 13 tricks while 6NT only delivers 12. The postmortem, below, discusses this issue.
Board 20
Dealer: W Vul: Both
♠98754 ♥K74 ♦5 ♣KJ84
♠103 ♥AQ10 ♦KQJ10972 ♣9-------♠AQ ♥J852 ♦A3 ♣AQ1062
♠KJ62 ♥963 ♦864 ♣753
The uncontested auction went
1♦ – 2♣
3♦ – 4NT
5♠ – 6♦
6NT is cold from E’s side, but E raced to the 6♦ contract. The 6♦ slam makes, even against the actual lead of the ♠9, which pretty much places the ♠K offside, IF Declarer takes the club finesse and pitches his losing spade on the ♣A. If Declarer makes the more normal play of taking the heart finesse first, 6♦ will fail.
In this auction E took partner at his word, interpreting W’s voluntary 3♦ to show about 16-18 HCP and 6+ diamonds or the equivalent. His 5-loser hand, using Losing Trick Count, makes this hand far stronger than a run-of-the-mill 12 count. With E’s 17 HCP, they should certainly be in slam.
To find 6NT, E has to be a hand hog, or, better, do what is best for the partnership by protecting his black AQs. So, E must be the first to bid NT and his 4NT accomplishes that. With E holding the ♦A, W should have some of his 16-18 points in hearts to cover E’s weakness there. But E fell in love with a diamond contract, or maybe felt it was important to implement his hard-won ability to defer to his partner. (I know about both the hard work it is to learn to defer and the mistake it can be to defer on the wrong deal.) In the play, Declarer took the heart finesse, losing a trick to the ♥K and ♠K.
As I mentioned earlier, the issue of what slam to bid is an important one in matchpoints. However, one should not bid 6NT willy-nilly. The next slam is an excellent example of when not to be in 6NT.
Board 25
Dealer: N Vul: E-W
♠109832 ♥J862 ♦AQ87 ♣--
♠K64 ♥-- ♦J4 ♣K10765432-----------♠A ♥KQ75 ♦K93 ♣AQJ98
♠QJ75 ♥A10943 ♦10652 ♣--
The uncontested auction, after N’s opening pass, went
1♣
5♣ - 6♣
6♣ is cold with the ♦A onside—and is cold for 13 tricks if the ♥A is led—and a good place to be. Note that 6NT has no play at all, but this auction is not the way to get to the club slam. W’s 5♣ is pretty much a shut-out bid, saying, “Partner, please pass or continue at your own risk. I have no interest in slam.” However, while W only had 7 HCP when he picked up his hand, after his partner’s 1♣ opening, the value of his hand went through the roof! To go with his 7 HCP, with clubs as trumps, he now has the equivalent of the ♥AKQ. He most definitely does have interest in slam.
Luckily, his partner didn’t need much from him and bid on to 6♣. His partner might not have done so if his hand had been
♠A ♥7654 ♦KQx ♣AQJ98
but 6♣ would have been equally cold with this holding. Finding it would have required finding W’s first round control of hearts, which is quite easy if you play splinter bids over a minor suit (there are other, more convoluted ways of showing the void). I have learned some very experienced players do not play such splinters though, so if you do not want to play splinters over partner’s minor either, you are not alone.
In addition to these 3 slams, board 21 was a grand slam in hearts, though hard to find. In addition, boards 31 and 32 were small slams and 35 was another grand slam. Monday morning, June 3rd, was a big day for slams in The Common Game.
To sum up this look at 3 slams, lesson one is to go slowly. Another is to stop and consider whether you should be in 6NT or in a suit contract. A third lesson is that if you are considering 6NT, try to make sure it is played from the best side for the partnership. Finally, there are special tools to help with slam bidding, including splinter bids and Exclusion Blackwood (which John Dickenson wrote about in his DOTW for 2/19/2024). Another useful convention is Responder bidding the opposite major from Opener’s major in a Stayman sequence to show trump agreement and slam interest.
But, regarding those tools, remember that while they are very valuable in team events, where finding slams is so very important to winning, in pairs events it is so much more important that you play conventions to help your partnership find the right part-score, bid game, stay out of an unmakeable game, or double the opponents in their part-score.
Choose what you decide to add to your bidding toolkit wisely.
Postmortem:
In the first slam, with a slight modification to E’s hand the better contract should be 6♥ not 6NT. For example, giving E’s hand 3 spades and 3 diamonds, the layout becomes something like this:
♠642 ♥A1043 ♦K3 ♣K1074------♠AK5 ♥KQJ85 ♦A62 ♣AQ
Instead of:
♠642 ♥A1043 ♦K3 ♣K1074------.♠AK105 ♥KQJ85 ♦A6 ♣AQ
Now there would be 13 easy tricks in hearts but only 12 in NT. 6NT is the better spot for the original deal due to the matching diamond doubletons. A tough break for the 6♥ bidders!
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