ATB, grand off an ace

[Fluffy]

[hv=pc=n&w=shq83dakq5ca97432&e=sak652hk7djt9732c&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=1cp1sp2cp3dp4dp4hp4sp5cp7dppp]266|200[/hv]

 

3♦ was 5-5 GF, rest no special agreement.

 

You are encouraged to find an alternative auction, but please try to keep the first 3 bids.

[awm]

Not sure why everyone is cue bidding void in partners long suit. I'd prefer something like:

 

1c - 1s

2c - 3d

4d - 4h

5c - 5d

5s - 6d

Pass

 

Or:

 

1c - 1d

3d - 3h

3s - 4d

5c - 5d

6d - pass

 

I'll give the blame to West on the actual auction.

[Zelandakh]

I'll give the blame to West on the actual auction.

Interesting, I put the larger blame on East. Upgrading this hand to a GF with a void in partner's twice-bid suit seems unsound. Surely better to begin 2♦ to see where we stand rather than cramping the auction with an unnecessary jump.

[manudude03]

I don't really object to any of the calls except 7D. If you play mixed cues, you can't jump to grand unless you know you hold the aces. If West bids 5♠, East can bid 5NT with first round heart control knowing West has denied the ♥A. If West bids 6♣, I guess you will end in 6♦ even if you changed the ♥K to the ♥A.

[Cyberyeti]

I don't know what happened to the first time I typed this.

 

Assuming you forced me to bid 1♠ rather than 1♦:

 

1♣-1♠

2♣-3♦

3♥(4SF extras when 3N pulled)-3N

4♦-5♣(voidwood, I have 5+/5+ ♠/♦ and a heart stop, so void club very likely, this confirms)

6♦(2+Q+void, spades presumably or might have voidwooded hearts over 3♦)-P

[WesleyC]

On the actual auction West must get a majority of the blame for jumping to grand-slam in a situation where the partnership could easily be missing the ♥A.

 

At least some blame goes to the method - the partnership reaching 4D so quickly took away a lot of West's good options. I'm assuming a simple 1D was unavailable over 1C?

 

A slightly more economical auction after a 1C - 1S - 2C start might be:

 

1C - 1S

2C - 2D* (semi-art g/f)

3D - 3H* (Asking for a heart stopper or advance cuebid)

3NT - 4D (confirming advanced cuebid)

5S(*exclusion kc) - 6C* (0 Keycards)

6D

[rmnka447]

+1 for manudude

 

I agree you can't bid the Grand not knowing if the 4 ♥ cue is the a 1st or a 2nd round control. So West should either just bid 6 ♦ or continue control bidding by bidding 5 ♠. 5 ♠ is better because it should focus East's attention on the ♥ suit. West must have high ♦ to bypass 5 ♦ without the ♥ A (else 5 ♥).

[gszes]

I don't know what happened to the first time I typed this.

 

Assuming you forced me to bid 1♠ rather than 1♦:

 

1♣-1♠

2♣-3♦

3♥(4SF extras when 3N pulled)-3N

4♦-5♣(voidwood, I have 5+/5+ ♠/♦ and a heart stop, so void club very likely, this confirms)

6♦(2+Q+void, spades presumably or might have voidwooded hearts over 3♦)-P

Beginning the same way up through 3n. I would have continued 4s voidwood. It is not possible to be to play since we had an easy 3s bid earlier. East must have the heart A and/or K

for their 3n bid so we know all suits are controlled.

4s voidwood

5c 0 or 3

6d bid with a huge amount of confidence since we are missing the heart ace east must have the heart K for 3n and thus have at most a singleton club

If east had shown 1 or 4 we could have tried 6c to ask for the club K (and show all the keys aside from the spade ace) as a great way to try for a grand or (expanding out a bit) 5n to ask for the "club" king and 6c to ask for the club Q

 

Another question: if west had started with void Qxx Axxx AKQxxx would your bidding be the same (through 4d at least) and if so can you stop safely in 5d after the 5c voidwood with your extended replies? I like very much the 3h bid which can have great utility under a huge variety of circumstances.

 

Oh 100% west for bidding a grand when they are conceivably (probably actually) missing a cashing ace

[Cyberyeti]

Beginning the same way up through 3n. I would have continued 4s voidwood. It is not possible to be to play since we had an easy 3s bid earlier. East must have the heart A and/or K

for their 3n bid so we know all suits are controlled.

4s voidwood

5c 0 or 3

6d bid with a huge amount of confidence since we are missing the heart ace east must have the heart K for 3n and thus have at most a singleton club

If east had shown 1 or 4 we could have tried 6c to ask for the club K (and show all the keys aside from the spade ace) as a great way to try for a grand.

 

Another question: if west had started with void Qxx Axxx AKQxxx would your bidding be the same (through 4d at least) and if so can you stop safely in 5d after the 5c voidwood with your extended replies? I like very much the 3h bid which can have great utility under a huge variety of circumstances.

 

Oh 100% west for bidding a grand when they are conceivably (probably actually) missing a cashing ace

 

Slightly disagree with this, in that 3♥-3N-4♠ could be a better hand with ♠Hx than bidding 3♠ directly, so you don't have a 3♠-4♠ auction and a feeling you've not bid your hand yet.

 

Auction would be different with the hand you give, would start 1♣-1♠-3♣ and responder would be warned of a lot in the club suit. 3♣ is limited btw by failure to rebid 2N, this is closer to max than min.

[dboxley]

I don't know what happened to the first time I typed this.

 

Assuming you forced me to bid 1♠ rather than 1♦:

 

1♣-1♠

2♣-3♦

3♥(4SF extras when 3N pulled)-3N

4♦-5♣(voidwood, I have 5+/5+ ♠/♦ and a heart stop, so void club very likely, this confirms)

6♦(2+Q+void, spades presumably or might have voidwooded hearts over 3♦)-P

 

There is no way I could be forced to bid 1♠ rather than 1♦.