diamond slam

[david_c]

[hv=d=e&v=n&n=sa53h842dkj2cq976&s=shkjtdaqt8743cakj]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv]

When we played this hand last night, East opened 3♠, South bid 5♦ and North raised to 6♦, which was passed out. What do you think of N/S's three calls here?

[whereagles]

I think you should concentrate on the play :)

 

Well, ok. I think North made a slight overbid, but slam is decent.

[JohnnyH7]

I would double with the south hand to be followed with diamonds to show a more flexible hand type, but south's bid is certainly OK especially with a pard who likes to sit for the takeout Xs with marginal holdings. 6D was a good bid.

[JohnnyH7]

Well, ok. I think North made a slight overbid, but slam is decent.

Decent is an understatement. If diamonds are 2-1 slam is cold barring a ruff at trick 1, if diamonds go 3-0 slam is still extremely good.

[cherdano]

The auction is fine in my opinion. Must be a play problem. :)

[joshs]

Great auction, great slam.

[david_c]

The auction is fine in my opinion. Must be a play problem. :)

:) OK, if you fancy it, you can plan the play on a small spade lead. West turns up with all three trumps.

 

But no, I thought the bidding was more interesting. Does South have better option than 5♦? Is North really good enough to raise? And should South consider bidding a grand slam?

 

I was South, and I was fully expecting to claim thirteen tricks as soon as dummy went down. I'm glad I didn't bid one more though!

[pclayton]

I think the auction is great.

 

Getting to this nice slam seems problematic after a double, but I suppose if North tries 3N, South tries 4♦ and North cues 4♠....

[mikeh]

I have no problem with the auction, subject to the comment that I think that N should cue 5♠. That would fetch 6♣ which leads to 6♦. While grand is unlikely, it cannot cost anything for north to show his ♠ control, if South can be trusted. To me, bidding 6♦ directly virtually denies a 1st round ♠ control.

[pclayton]

I have no problem with the auction, subject to the comment that I think that N should cue 5♠. That would fetch 6♣ which leads to 6♦. While grand is unlikely, it cannot cost anything for north to show his ♠ control, if South can be trusted. To me, bidding 6♦ directly virtually denies a 1st round ♠ control.

Interesting.

 

I would have thought that 6♦ is just 'bidding what I think we can make' with or without 1st round ♠ control, while 5♠ is a definite try for 7.

[awm]

I like south's 5♦ bid; may as well show our hand instead of doubling and then scrambling to catch up later.

 

I agree that north could have cuebid 5♠ on the way; wouldn't south also bid 5♦ holding the ♥Axx instead of ♥KJT? This hand would give pretty good chances at the grand.

 

Anyways the contract is good.

[joshs]

The auction is fine in my opinion. Must be a play problem. :)

:) OK, if you fancy it, you can plan the play on a small spade lead. West turns up with all three trumps.

 

But no, I thought the bidding was more interesting. Does South have better option than 5♦? Is North really good enough to raise? And should South consider bidding a grand slam?

 

I was South, and I was fully expecting to claim thirteen tricks as soon as dummy went down. I'm glad I didn't bid one more though!

SA pitching a heart. Trump to Q getting the bad news. Trump to dummy. spade ruff high (just for the general count). Pull trumps. ruff last spade. Run all the trumps squeezing LHO in H and Clubs without the count. You will have to read the end position to know how many clubs and hearts LHO kept if LHO didn't start with the heart Q.

[awm]

I prefer this line:

 

Win the lead (pitching heart). Cash two rounds of trump (getting the 3-0 break). Now simply play top clubs from hand unless the ten falls. Return to dummy with the last trump and pitch a heart on the club.

 

This line will work if LHO has at least three clubs, or if he has doubleton ten. While it's certainly possible that RHO might be 7-2-0-4 shape or the like, in this case the squeeze lines don't seem to work either (RHO is guarding clubs and spades, with the spade guard behind the threat; LHO guards only hearts).

[luis]

I disagree with most of the posters here

 

I will start with the 6♦ bid.

Pd bids 5♦ over 3♠ this can be based on many things but he does have a long diamond suit, having a long diamond suit and bypassing 3NT usually means that the hand is distributional and unsuitable for 3NT. So your spade ace is probably wasted, pd usually expects some moderate values in pd's hand when bidding over a preempt so I don't think north should bid 6♦. When pd bids under pressure taking your plus result is usually better than trying for a magical contract. Can pd bid 5♦ with 8 diamonds and nothing on the side? Of course he can. Can pd bid 6♦ with a 7-5 hand with diamonds? Pd can have just too many hands where 5♦ can be made and 6♦ is down 1 so passing the north hand is clear.

 

This leads me to the idea that the 5♦ bid based on a strong hand with a long suit is wrong, pd will pass with many holdings over 5♦ and you can be cold for 6 or 7, a double followed by 4♦ or 5♦ is more clear to show you are bidding a long diamond suit in the context of a powerful hand.

 

But that is just my opinion.

 

Luis

[joshs]

I prefer this line:

 

Win the lead (pitching heart). Cash two rounds of trump (getting the 3-0 break). Now simply play top clubs from hand unless the ten falls. Return to dummy with the last trump and pitch a heart on the club.

 

This line will work if LHO has at least three clubs, or if he has doubleton ten. While it's certainly possible that RHO might be 7-2-0-4 shape or the like, in this case the squeeze lines don't seem to work either (RHO is guarding clubs and spades, with the spade guard behind the threat; LHO guards only hearts).

Good point. I am burning my Reese on Squeeze book.

[rbforster]

I thought the bidding was more interesting. Does South have better option than 5♦?

I suppose there are a couple of alternative possible auctions besides bidding 4 or 5♦s to show diamonds.

 

3♠-X-P-(not P)-P-5♦

3♠-4♠

 

I'm not sure how these sequences are usually treated, but I would guess the first shows a bigger ♦ hand than 5♦ directly, and I'd guess 4♠ is a strong 2-suiter with ♥s (since 4NT is available for minors).