Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - January 17, 2022 - The road to bidding slam

 

Question: This hand went to slam for W/E.  How does West prolong the bidding to get to slam?

Vic:

Comment: The 4H call by West is definitely a "drop dead” bid which East was correct to Pass. 

Answer to Question: If West has prematurely made the decision they should be in slam, then West should just go ahead & bid 6H. That would be a rash, reckless, reasonably poor decision. 

It would, however, be proper for West to think that slam is quite probable. In order to be sure, however, they need to gather more information by making forcing bids that East must respond to. 

The best forcing bid West could make would be 2S (a “cue bid” of South spade suit). A common partnership agreement would be that a 2S cue bid promises heart support (at least 3) & at least a Limit Raise point count.  

Knowing they have a golden fit, I would now expect East to reevaluate their hand. Counting 3 points for their singleton spade gives them a 15 point hand (12 HCPs + 3 shortness points). Note: If they count shortness points for the spade singleton, they cannot also count HCP because it is the Queen.  

Subsequent to reevaluation, I would expect East to aggressively bid 4H (in bridge aggressive - but NOT reckless - is good). 

I would expect West to follow with 4NT (Blackwood). If the partners are playing Standard Blackwood, West will learn they have all 4 Aces. If the partners are playing Roman Key Card Blackwood, West will learn they have all 5 Key Cards. Holding the trump Queen & Jack in their hand, I would expect West to end the auction at 6H. 

Note: An alternative forcing bid West could make on their first call would be 2D (that is assuming the partners have made the very good agreement that a new suit at the two level is forcing). This would promise 5 diamonds (they have only 4) & would not show heart support. How the auction would proceed from there is hard to guess. 

Note: Looks to me like 6H will be down one vs good defense. The defense deserves two club tricks. If all the NS pairs that defend this auction get the tricks they deserve, the EW pairs who underbid their hand & fail to get to slam get the high boards. Who said bridge was fair? But ain’t it a great game?