Stumbling into a grand

[zasanya]

[hv=pc=n&s=sh5dkjt9876caqt98&n=sjt92haj862da3ck4]133|200[/hv]

Playing Fantunes we had the following muddles bidding sequence.

1♥by North 3♠by south . In fantunes this means 10-15 GF with minors 5-5

I completely forgot about it and alerted as splinter. West doubled showing strength in ♠

Although I had only 13 hcp I figured I had no wasted values in spades and cued ♣ King in case P was slammish.

My P cued ♦ thinking I agree to clubs I signed off in 4♥ lol.

My P cued 4♠ I bid 4NT which to me was turbo showing 2 key cards with ♥ as trumps.

My P jumped to 6♣ which I took as choice of slams!

I picked 6♥and East Doubled. My P bid 7♣which raher confused me but since East a player I respect had doubled 6♥ I saw no reason to change now .

After the ♠lead ♣turned out to be 4-2 with J doubleton and ♦ were 2-2.

Question . Is it possible to bid 6♦if not 7 with natural and more scientific ;) methods?

[Cyberyeti]

It's a really poor grand, and not a cold small slam but one you want to be in. Playing Acol:

 

1♥-2♦

2♥-3♣

3N-4♣

4♦-4♠

5♣-5♥(singleton/void given you bypassed it last time)

5N(A♥, no spade control)-6♦

 

Not perfect, the N hand could be J10xx, Axxxx, AQ, Kx and the grand could be excellent just requiring clubs 4-2.

[gszes]

2/1

 

1h

2d

2n black suits stopped unlimited (though some play split range 12-14 or 18+)

3c

3h iffy spade stop QTx JTxx that sort of thing not extra length since we failed to bid 2h over 2c

3s asking for more info forcing to at least 4s or 5m

4h < 3 clubs, < 3d, heart ace given the bidding 4522 distribution (w/o heart A 4s would show this hand)

5n if you have 2 of the top 3 honors in either of my suits bid 7

6c POC

6d

 

not perfect since opener could have Jtxx AKQxx xx Kx but that is only 1 holding out of a huge number that make 6d a great contract and even then its not hopeless but

a great sequence to arrive in a grand.

[Jinksy]

Playing our version of Fantunes I think we'd stumble into it marginally more convincingly:

 

1N* 3S** /

3N 4D /

4H 4S /

5C*** 5D**** /

6D*****

 

*12-14, may contain this shape, obv

** GF with 5-5 in the minors

*** cue with Turbo, ie odd number of KCs

**** signing off (and praying to any sympathetic deities) if only one

***** Nothing else to say

 

Lots of ways this could lead to a bad slam (or bad 5m) on a different day, but I don't think S can give up on a minor game after 3N, and having bid 3N, N's about as good as he can be (even allowing for wasted jacks) when P bids 4♦, so he needs to give some encouragement IMO.

[PhantomSac]

I'm sure I would start 1H 2D 2S and have a pretty sad auction from there.

[aguahombre]

I am sure the opponents would get to 7♦, then congratulate themselves while we smile and await the next hand.

[gnasher]

I'm sure I would start 1H 2D 2S and have a pretty sad auction from there.

 

Would it be so sad? Either of these auctions seems OK:

 

1♥-2♦

2♠-3♣

3♦-4♠ (ERK)

5♦-6♦

 

1♥-2♦

2♠-3♣

3♦-4♣ (cue)

4♥-4♠ (cues)

5♣-6♦ (cue)