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Personally, I don't understand East's 2 or South's 4. That South hand is massive in support of s. At equal vulnerability I take on board that it's less likely that the opponents will sacrifice (though it works well here). Did South expect anything other than 4 from North?

 

Though to be honest, it's going to take an imaginative bidding sequence to reach slam. Splintering with a South hand that has a distributional total point count in the region of 22 with top trumps is unimaginative in my opinion.

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I'm not crazy about splinters when I have a long suit that might be a source of tricks if partner has a bit of help. If possible I would bid 4C, which should get something besides a sign-off from partner. 4H last train would be ideal, and the lack of wasted diamond values may be enough for South to push for the slam.
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The 4 bid, self pre-empting staring at those trumps plus the A PLUS the diamond void is very ill considered. Is north really going to cue 5 over that? (with just about anything that makes 6 let alone 7)

 

A simple 2 cue to set spades and a further cue (of hearts probably) would do the job against anything but a fast 5 bid by them.

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The 4d bid is spot on here since any (non dia values) hands responder might have put us in the slam zone. Wank was spot on as well noting that N instead of counting HCP should trust their p to know what they are doing and give a simple 5c raise. Followed by 5d 5s 6c (if your partnership cannot cue the club Q here u are missing out on much) 7s shows how easy this game can get sometimes. FWIW i would give the simple 5c bid with only 4 spades in hand much less 6 of them:)
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[hv=pc=n&s=sakq7hat6dckj8753&w=sjt5hkj5dkj754c42&n=s986432h832dt2caq&e=shq974daq9863ct96&d=w&v=b&b=4&a=ppp1c1d1s2c4dp4sppp]399|300|

2/1 IMP pairs[/hv]

Agree with Blackshoe, that it's hard. IMO

  • South 20%. Naturally, South is worried about his losers. On reflection, however, I go along with ggwizz's argument that South has a 3-4 loser hand with no trump loser. Thus, perhaps, he is too good for a 4 splinter. Hence, maybe, South should take it more slowly. For slam purposes, North's holding is likely to be crucial. Slam is reasonable opposite a fitting 2-count e.g. x x x x x x x x x x x Q x
  • North 30%. North lacks tops but South is likely to have good trumps when he shows 4+ card support for a 6-card suit. With such good s, North might bid 4 (Last-train). Perhaps North worries that South might have a more typical splinter. e.g. K J x x A K Q x x K J x x.

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The 4 bid, self pre-empting staring at those trumps plus the A PLUS the diamond void is very ill considered. Is north really going to cue 5 over that? (with just about anything that makes 6 let alone 7)

 

A simple 2 cue to set spades and a further cue (of hearts probably) would do the job against anything but a fast 5 bid by them.

 

Agree, especially when holding a potential trick source in clubs.

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Blame S, 4 is clearcut voidwood for me, 3 would be a splinter, xxxxx, xxx, xxx, Ax is a decent slam

 

Playing 3 splinter and 4 exclusion is like purchasing an F-16 for a fist fight in case you may need it one day! . You will not need it when 4 people are bidding and particularly when one of them cued? Come on Cyber, you know better than that! http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

 

I see you thinking but where do you draw the line on the splinter bid? AQxx, AKx, x, Kxxxx?

 

This is not a splinter hand if you have only one splinter available.(perhaps borderline) If you play both 3 and 4 as different range splinters then you know pd can not hold this hand for his 4.

 

I think Wank and Arend hit the nail on this one, but I may as well be biased because I was the one who bid 4. It is easy when seeing pd has 5th and 6th . It is totally another story when he holds only 4 card and short clubs and I can easily construct hands where making 4 either needs a perfect tempo or has no play at all. 5 level can be nightmare and this is assuming you can stop at 5 level after 1 more move.

 

Txxx QJx Qxxx xx Do not expect more than this (value wise) when one of them bids and other one cues)

 

Thanks to all for the replies. I was expecting more people to blame me (South) than the replies here but I am sort of relieved by the replies http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

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I stand corrected. However, there are bidding sequences that show voids, and bidding sequences that show singletons. As quite a few commentators have said, there are plenty of South hands where slam would be a no-go.

 

Blaming North entirely is (to me) unfair. If you're going to use splinters, use splinters to show a singleton specifically (which come up more times statistically than a void as everybody knows).

 

The suggestion I was going to write but thought better of it is that South bids 2 followed by 4 to show this rockcrusher with a void. The reason I didn't is that East/West's bidding is at best lacklustre, and at worse amateurish.

 

In a normal competitive auction, if South bids 2 will he be allowed to bid 4 if East/West bid properly? We shall never know.

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The suggestion I was going to write but thought better of it is that South bids 2 followed by 4 to show this rockcrusher with a void. The reason I didn't is that East/West's bidding is at best lacklustre, and at worse amateurish.

 

 

I have sympathy to starting 2 suhhestion but I do not see south hand as "rockcrusher" as you see. What makes NS hands so strong is

  • 5th and 6th spade
  • AQ support
  • Void

For example

 

Axxx

AKx

--

Kxxxxx

 

is still a very decent slam. I like the idea of 3 showing single and 4 void BUT NOT void wood.

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I like the idea of 3 showing single and 4 void BUT NOT void wood.

We play mini-splinters, both in competition, and when opponents are silent. For us, 3 shows a raise to at least the 3-level, with a shortage (singleton or a void). Thus, in the 1st instance, the mini-splinter acts as a game-try but, later, might turn out to have been a slam try. . The mini-splinter opens up space for exploration. For.example, 3N by either of us is a serious slam try. If strong enough, we can repeat the cue-bid with 4, to show a void, rather than a singleon. This frees up a direct 4, which you might define as a void-spinter with a specific range. I confess that we use it as voidwood :)

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