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We all Missed This Grand


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I expect 1D-1S-2NT-6NT (or 6D) was a very common auction.

 

With one partner, however, I could have had a nice cuebidding auction after agreeing diamonds at the 3-level. I would think most pairs that could agree diamonds and have room for West to ask for keys would be able to bid it. Easy for West to count to 13 after he knows that East's controls include the K.

 

 

Edited to add: most regular/good pairs, I mean. With an unknown partner in an individual I would be leaping to six too rather than investigating.

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After 1D-1S-2NT it is my preference, unless we have a lot of time and energy for discussion, that all bids over 2NT are natural and forcing. Thus 3D. If opener had three spades he would now show them, but he doesn't so he bids 3H. Diamonds are now trump.After 4C, I think I would tell partner about the king of spades with 4S.

 

West can now see that any losing clubs in the East hand are going away on the spades. Only the trump suit is an issue. If 5NT is a gsf, that should do it.

 

I suppose that the flaw in this is that perhaps East took this time to bid 3H on a K instead of an A.

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I thought we were having a fine auction, but my partner was not on the same wavelength as I was:

 

1 - 1

2NT - 3*

3** - 4NT***

5**** - 6NT

 

* I intended this as natural and forcing. In our first time partnership, he misread our convention card and believed that we were playing 2-way NMF over his 2NT rebid.

** - I thought he was cue bidding. He thought he was showing 4 hearts.

*** - I intended this as RKCB for diamonds. I have no idea what my partner thought it was.

**** - I thought he was showing 2 key cards without the Q of trump with diamonds as trump. I don't know what my partner thought this was.

 

Given that we were missing the Q (or so I thought), I did not consider a grand to be a great bet. So I settled for 6NT. Our +1020 was a top (lol).

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by the way, if the auction begins

 

1 1

2NT

 

I think responder should just bid the diamond grand if keycards are there... he has 15 HCP, three aces, a singleton and a 9-card fit. With 18-19 across, this surely this must be enough for 14 or 15 tricks, no?? Even if stuff goes wrong, you'll still have a trick or two to spare and come up with 13 :)

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Grand with Blackwood the only gadget

 

---------------1

1--------- 2NT

3---- 3 control

3 control-- 4control

4NT RKB----- 5 2+Q

 

At this stage west knows the east has A,KQ, K = 12 points. What could be the remaining 6 or 7 points? With the K+ K 13 tricks can be counted. So:

 

5NT (kings?) 7 (I have 3)

 

With 2 kings East would bid the lowest ranking major suit King. Admittedly this will put you above 6D so west can bail out into 6NT.

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1-2-2-3-3-4-4-5-5NT-6-7

 

1- 14+ DIAMOND or 1444 with Black single

2- GF Balance or CLUB suit

2- 4 card SPADE

3 - JOIN DIAMOND

3- SINGLETON

4-SLAMISH in DIAMOND with CLUB CUE

4-RKCB

5-2KC + Q

5NT- KINGS?

6-3 KINGS

7- THANK YOU P :)

 

 

But sorry for putting W dealer

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What about (almost all natural)

1 - 1

2NT - 4 (trump suit, slammish)

4 (cue and cant RKCB cuz 1 ace only) - 4NT (RKCB)

5 (2+Q) - 5NT (what else do you have just in case, you just showed 9pts out of your 18/19 ; if the answer is not top, we can always land in 6NT so bypassing 6 is not too risky)

7 (I can't be better with 3 Kings)

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by the way, if the auction begins

 

1 1

2NT

 

I guess I'm old fashioned or just never saw the need to catch up but still play that all game forces have to go through checkback stayman and 3 of something else is to play.

 

After 3 - 3 4shows serious ambitions and gets a mandatory cue of 4 followed by RKC and eventually the grand.

 

I would still raise 3nt to 4nt on the auction you had knowing that pard would evaluate their diamond holding towards at least a small slam.

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Using standard Acol, I believe, the grand is hard to bid as partner opens 1. Using SAYC or 2/1 it is made easier as partner opens 1, and as this shows, more usually than not, a 4 card or better suit in most variations, a simple jump bid will set the trump suit and indicate slam interest. The auction should just go 1 1 2NT 4 and after that it should be plain sailing cueing or keycarding.
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I guess I'm old fashioned or just never saw the need to catch up but still play that all game forces have to go through checkback stayman and 3 of something else is to play.

 

After 3 - 3 4shows serious ambitions and gets a mandatory cue of 4 followed by RKC and eventually the grand.

 

I would still raise 3nt to 4nt on the auction you had knowing that pard would evaluate their diamond holding towards at least a small slam.

 

This is kinda the opposite of what I play, where everything is GF, and I even used to play 2NT as forcing as well. Now some of my partners pass it.

 

Obviously this is because of different response styles, the way I play you quickly pass 1m with Kxxxx and out.

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1D 1S 2N and you have to guess what to do in an indy (eg might partner pass 3D?). Bidding grands is not gonna be easy in an individual.

 

This. I'm not too worried about missing the grand with a partner I've never played with before. It was a pickup Howell actually but same principle. Our auction (I was the 1D opener)

 

1D-1S-2N-4D-4H-5C-6D-AP

 

Oh well.

 

I think if p bids 4S instead of 5C we may well get there. I thought his 4D on the other hand was a good practical choice.

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I normally play Woolf, so all 3 level bids other than 3 are forward going after a jump rebid of 2 NT.

 

But here I think I prefer 1 - 1 - 2 NT - 4 sequence. This should be slammish with 5+ as 3 would still show a fit and be forward going. It should be easy to get to the slam from there.

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1D 1S 2N and you have to guess what to do in an indy (eg might partner pass 3D?). Bidding grands is not gonna be easy in an individual.

Technically, this was not an individual tournament - it was the BBO Forums pairs tournament held on Sunday afternoon. But most of the pairs were put together at the last minute, and I had never played with my partner previously. There were 8 pairs.

 

I have to admit, when I bid 3 over 2NT, and my partner took some time before bidding, I had a small fear that he would pass. After he bid 3 over 3, I bid 4NT, intending it as RKCB. Again, he took some time in responding, which really had me worried.

 

Getting to 6NT (which I could have bid over 2NT) was worth all of the matchpoints, even if it was only 3 out of 3.

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[hv=pc=n&w=saqj8h7da9832ca84&e=sk7hak83dkqt7ck75&d=e

&a=1C(ART.16+ HCP)P1H(ART. 8+ HCP, 4+!Ss. 0-3 !Hs.)P1N(REL. 0-3 !s)P3C(ART. Canapé 5+ !Ds)P3D(RKC.)P3H(KEY. 0/3)P3N(S/O.To play)P4H(CUE. Only 2nd round control. 3 keys)P4S(ASK, in !S)P5S(CUE 3rd + 4th round !S control, No other.)P7NPPP]266|200|

 

Jasmine

On a good day

:)[/hv]

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Gave the West hand to my wife (Adair Gellman). Will admit that having a regular partnership helps with hands like this. Systemically, our 1D shows 4+ (an advantage here), and although 3D (over 2N) would be forcing, who needs the headache of lots of cuebids when FOUR DIAMONDS over 2N is Keycard (far superior to the USP/kickback use of 4H):

 

---- 1D (4+)

1S 2N (18-19)

4D (RKC) 5C (2 + Q)

5H (K's) 5S (spade K)

5N (K's) 6C (club K)

7D (knowing only 15HCP in the East hand)

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Our auction: 1D 1S, 2NT - 3C ( New Minor Forcing), 3H (4 hearts), 4D ( 3014 Key Card in D), 5C (two with QD) - 5H ( specific Ks?); 6NT ( all missing Ks) 7NT

 

The use of 4D as RKC and the 6NT showing all missing kings makes this almost laydown

I've learned something today ( from above ) ...

.... that 6NT = all 3 outside Kings in reply to the specific K-ask .

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