Better Bridge in Barry County March 20 2014

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

	North ♠  A 10 7 3  ♥  K Q 9 3 2   ♦  A 6   ♣  K 7
West ♠  Q 6 5 ♥  8 6 5 ♦  Q 9 7 2   ♣  Q 5 2		East ♠  4 2 ♥  7   ♦  J 8 4 3 ♣  10 9 8 6 4 3
	South ♠  K J 9 8 ♥  A J 10 4 ♦  K 10 5   ♣  A J

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West Both 4♠

 

North   1♥ 3NT 4NT (3) 5NT (5) 7♥ (7)	East   Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass	South   2NT (1) 4♣ (2) 5♥ (4) 6♦ (6) Pass	West Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass

 

(1)   2NT: Jacoby 2NT Convention

(2)   4♣: Cue bid

(3)   4NT: Roman Key Card Blackwood: Aces?

(4)   5♥: Two key cards, no Q♥

(5)   5NT: Roman Key Card Blackwood: Kings?

(6)   6♦: King of Diamonds

(7)   7♥: Signoff

After a long and involved bidding sequence, North and South found themselves in a 7♥ Grand Slam Contract in a recent online tournament. This was a huge tournament with 58 tables playing these exact cards. How many reached the ultimate prize in a Heart Grand Slam contract? Let’s take a look at the bidding first, the play of the hand second, and the scoring last of all.

With West as the dealer and passing and both sides vulnerable, North opened the bidding with 1♥, promising at least five hearts and HCP’s between 12-21. East passed, and South with a strong hand with 17 HCP’s opted to use the 2NT Jacoby Convention. This convention is used to show four-card support for the bid suit (hearts) and at least 13 HCP’s. It is forcing to game.

North bid 3NT promising a hand in the 16-17 HCP range and balanced. South used a 4♣ cue bid to let North know that she had the A♣ and a strong hand. Again, this was a forcing bid. North bid 4NT, the Roman Key Card Blackwood Convention where the king of trump becomes the fifth key card along with the four aces. South responded with the 5♥ bid, informing North that she had two key cards, the A♥ and the A♣.

North’s next bid was an assurance that they had all five key cards between them and now asked for the number of kings in South’s hand. South responded that she had the K♦ by bidding 6♦, the cheapest bid she could bid to inform North of that king. Hearing enough information, North placed the contract at 7♥, and all passed. North would be the declarer at a 7♥ contract.

The play of the hand was straightforward. West led the 4♠, and South tabled her hand and sat back to watch the proceedings. With a thanks to South, North called for a low card from the board, and West, in third seat, had to go up with the Q♠. That, of course, set up the entire spade suit. Drawing trumps was North’s next action, and in three rounds, all trumps were accounted for.

With trumps drawn, North played the spades, the top two diamonds, and trumped the losing diamond with the Q♥. The A♣ and the K♣ were the eleventh and twelfth tricks, and the 10♥ was the thirteenth and final trick for the North/South team.

While most grand slams need 37 high card points to make a thirteen-trick contract, here it is evident that the North/South team was considerably under that amount with only 33 HCP’s. The big difference, of course, is that the North and South team together controlled all of the aces and all of the kings. They had balanced hands, and the lead of the small spade certainly helped the North/South contract by locating the Q♠ on the first trick. While East/West had seven HCP’s, the points were in three queens and one jack, hardly enough to do damage on this hand.

For their strong bidding and play of the hand, North/South were duly rewarded a top board on this hand with a fine score of 94.3%. In all, eight tables reached the 7♥ contract, while the other 50 tables ranged widely in other contracts, including 6♥ making an overtrick, and some tables even played the hand in 6♠. All in all, it was a fine performance by the North/South team to bid, play, and score a Grand Slam contract on today’s hand.

 

Gerald Stein

March 16, 2014

Number of words: 827

Bridge Notes: This Saturday at the Hastings Community Education and Recreation Center, there will be a mini-bridge class offered for those who wish to learn the Stayman Convention or who wish to review the Stayman Convention. Register at the CERC by calling their number at 948-4414. The fee is $5.00 for the two-hour class with handouts and plenty of practice time. Set aside two hours from 10:00 AM until noon and walk away with the Stayman Convention for your improved bridge-playing.