Slam Bidding Part I

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Slam Bidding Part I BETTER BIDDING by BERNARD MAGEE leaps in value because you have a fit. You have 17 high-card points, can add two for your excellent long suit and also two for your singleton (with the long trumps); that makes a total of 21. Your partner’s bid shows 10-12 points so that puts the Slam partnership in the range of 31-33, which certainly has slam potential, and there- fore you should try for slam. A 4♥ bid would finish the auction, so West must Bidding do something else to try to find a slam. We will discuss the conventions availa- Part I ble in the forthcoming two articles. Layout B ♠ A 10 4 2 ♠ K Q J 6 ♥ 9 6 4 N ♥ A K 5 3 W E idding slams is not easy, but of the approach followed in this article, ♦ A 9 7 2 S ♦ K 4 there is no doubt that bidding readers who use this method of evalua- ♣ A8 ♣ K 5 3 B and making a slam is one of the tion should stick with it, and when it sug- great joys of bridge. The first important gests that a slam might be on, they should element in slam bidding is trying to explore its possibility. identify when a slam might be on. Note that although you may have 30 Layout C points between you (or the Losing Trick ♠ A10 ♠ K Q J 6 Count might suggest that a slam is on), ♥ 9 6 4 N ♥ A K 5 3 Basic identification W E but without the necessary controls (aces, ♦ A 9 7 2 S ♦ K 4 Slams are a lot easier to make if you kings, singletons and voids), you may ♣ A 8 4 2 ♣ K 5 3 have a big trump fit, because you can still not be able to make a slam – there make extra tricks by trumping and so do is plenty of checking to be done! not have to rely on high cards alone. Let us look at some examples of To see how things differ between suit However, no-trump slams are rather dif- identification: contracts and no-trump contracts, take a ferent: you almost always need to rely look at Layouts B and C, where the East on a high number of points between you. hand is the same. The Wests in both lay- The points needed for a 6NT contract Layout A outs have the same point-count and are about 33 between the partnership, ♠ A K 5 2 ♠ 4 3 shape, the only difference being the club whilst for a suit contract, when you have ♥ A K 6 5 4 2 N ♥ Q J 10 3 and spade suits. W E a good fit, you are basically looking for ♦ K 6 S ♦ A Q J 3 This changes their potential alongside no more than a combined 30 and that ♣ 4 ♣ 9 7 6 the East hand in a big way: East-West in includes length and distribution. Layout B can play in 6♠ with a reaso- Adding on for length and shortage nable chance of making the contract by can be difficult when you are getting to Opener Responder ruffing two diamonds. But in Layout C the slam level and thus the Losing Trick 1♥ 3♥ East-West do not have a fit and there- Count is a great help when you have a ? fore have to play in no-trumps; with no big fit: it evaluates the whole shape of ruffing to supply extra tricks, there are your hand. Although the LTC is not part When your partner bids 3♥, your hand just ten tricks off the top with chances to make an eleventh if hearts or clubs break 3-3. Notice that East-West hold all the aces and kings in Layout C, but in no- DUPLICATE BRIDGE BOARDS trump contracts you need more than just aces and kings: you need the queens and Stickers included. Cards not included jacks too, to make the extra tricks. In 1-8 set. £22.50 the layout above the jack of spades is just as valuable as the ace – they will 1-16 set. £37.50 both make a trick. Once you have identified that a slam BIDDING BUDDY might be on, how do you decide whether Packs into a compact space. Ideal for use at home. to go for it? The answer is: by using the various £7.50 each. 4 for £28.95 conventions that are available, which Available from the Mail Order Service 01672 519219 should include an ace-asking bid. Continued on page 10 Page 9 BETTER BIDDING continued from page 9 East opens 1♥ and after his partner’s 3♥ response he re-evaluates his hand: 18 high-card points, a strong five-card Conventions for The only change is that the 5♦ response suit (worth one extra point) and a finding slams is used to show five key cards as well as singleton (with the long trumps, worth the normal one; the five option will not two points). That makes 21 points; I recommend the following: come up very often and, rather like the adding this total to his partner’s 10-12 difference between 0 and 4, there should means East is definitely excited about Key-card Blackwood never be a problem differentiating be- the prospects of a slam. Cue-bidding tween the two possibilities. Splinters You will see that this addition to the Quantitative Bids Blackwood convention is invaluable for When contemplating the use of Grand Slam Force accurate slam bidding and yet, at the Blackwood, you need to make sure same time, there is nothing new to learn that you will know what to do after The Gerber (4♣) convention is omitted other than to remember to count the king any response. because to employ cue-bidding and of trumps in the responses! splinter bids you need to use the 4♣ bid There are two common fears with for other purposes. Over the next two taking on this new convention: Here East is basically missing four articles I will be covering these aspects important cards: the ace of spades, the of slam bidding. If after seeing them 1. How do you know which suit is king of hearts, the ace of diamonds, and you don’t fancy employing them, then trumps? the ace of clubs. He can find out about you could stick to Gerber, but otherwise 2. How do you know whether partner all these cards by using Key-card you should steer clear of using Gerber. has the aces or the king of trumps? Blackwood. If partner has two, he will sign off in 5♥; if partner has three, he Key-card Blackwood The trump suit should be obvious; in will go for 6♥, and if West has four, fact, you should never use Blackwood East would go for a Grand Slam (this Blackwood is the best method for slam unless you have agreed a suit, or you are last option is not really likely as West exploration. It is no coincidence that happy to play in the last-bid suit. has limited himself to 10-12 points). almost all bridge players use some form For example, in the auction 1♥ – Responding to 4NT, West must rem- of this convention: it is simply one of 4NT, hearts would be trumps, but more ember to include the king of trumps the best ideas in bridge – without the usually there will be explicit agreement (here hearts) in his response. He has aces, slams cannot be made. when both sides have bid the same suit: three key-cards: the ace of clubs, the ace I recommend using Key-card Black- in the sequence 1♠ – 3♠ – 4NT, spades of diamonds and the king of hearts, and wood – it works exactly like normal are trumps. So, if there is doubt about the so he responds 5♠. Now East carries Blackwood except that you count the trump suit, then the last-bid suit should be out his plan and bids 6♥. He bids it with king of trumps as an ace. The idea is the one you use. Remember that if you great confidence because he knows about that the king of trumps is a very impor- are aiming for a no-trump slam, then aces the king of trumps as well as the number tant card (as important as any ace) so and kings are not so important and you of aces. that it should be included in your Black- very rarely need to ask about them. More Compare this with the auction below wood calculations, e.g. with spades as important is the number of points you on Layout E, where West holds the king trumps the key-cards are: ♣A, ♦A, ♥A, hold and, as you will see, we will of spades instead of the king of hearts as ♠A and ♠K. consider quantitative bidding later. in Layout D: The beauty of this convention is that The answer to question 2 is that it the responses are almost exactly the same doesn’t matter! The king of trumps is as normal Blackwood: just as valuable as an ace so if you are Layout E missing any two of the five key-cards, ♠ K 3 2 ♠ 4 5♣ 0 or 4 key-cards you would not want to be in a slam. ♥ 10 9 5 3 N ♥ A Q J 7 2 W E 5♦ 1 (or 5) key-cards It is time to look at some examples: ♦ A 7 6 4 S ♦ K Q J 5 5♥ 2 key-cards ♣ A6 ♣ K Q 4 5♠ 3 key-cards Layout D ♠ 10 3 2 ♠ 4 West East HALF CUBE JOTTING PAD ♥ K 9 5 3 N ♥ A Q J 7 2 1♥ W E ♦ A 7 6 4 S ♦ K Q J 5 3♥ 4NT ♣ A6 ♣ K Q 4 5♥ End £450 CODE AF01 Once again East starts a Blackwood West East sequence, but this time West only shows 1♥ two key-cards (5♥): the king of spades 3♥ 4NT does not come in to the reckoning, it is from the Mail Order Service 5 6 01672 519219 ♠ ♥ only the king of trumps that is included.
Recommended publications
  • Slam Bidding Lesson
    Slam Bidding and Modified Scroll Bids By Neil H. Timm In this Bridge Bit, I explore more fully Slam bidding techniques, some old and some perhaps new. To reach a small slam, the partnership should have roughly thirty-three Bergen points. In addition to a trump fit and count, slams require controls (aces, kings, voids, and singletons). The more controls between the partners, the easier the slam. To evaluate whether or not the partnership has the required controls, one uses cuebids with perhaps the 5NT trump ask bid (Grand Slam Force), and Blackwood Conventions. Blackwood Conventions reveal how many aces and kings, while cuebidding or control showing bids reveal where they reside. To make a slam, one usually requires first-round control in three suits and second round control in the fourth suit. It is possible to make a slam missing two aces, provided the missing ace is opposite a void, and the second missing ace is replaced by or is opposite a second-round control (a king or a singleton). When looking for a possible slam, one often asks the following questions. 1. What cards should my partner have to be able to make a slam? 2. How may I obtain the required information? 3. Are there any bidding techniques or conventions that I can use to obtain the required information? 4. If my partner does not have the required cards for a slam, can I stop short of slam, and if not is the risk of going down worth it? We shall review techniques to help the partnership find the required information for making a slam! However, with some hands one needs only to count points to reach a slam.
    [Show full text]
  • Acol Bidding Notes
    SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION The following notes are designed to help your understanding of the Acol system of bidding and should be used in conjunction with Crib Sheets 1 to 5 and the Glossary of Terms The crib sheets summarise the bidding in tabular form, whereas these notes provide a fuller explanation of the reasons for making particular bids and bidding strategy. These notes consist of a number of short chapters that have been structured in a logical order to build on the things learnt in the earlier chapters. However, each chapter can be viewed as a mini-lesson on a specific area which can be read in isolation rather than trying to absorb too much information in one go. It should be noted that there is not a single set of definitive Acol ‘rules’. The modern Acol bidding style has developed over the years and different bridge experts recommend slightly different variations based on their personal preferences and playing experience. These notes are based on the methods described in the book The Right Way to Play Bridge by Paul Mendelson, which is available at all good bookshops (and some rubbish ones as well). They feature a ‘Weak No Trump’ throughout and ‘Strong Two’ openings. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INDEX Section 1 Introduction Chapter 1 Bidding objectives & scoring Chapter 2 Evaluating the strength of your hand Chapter 3 Evaluating the shape of your hand . Section 2 Balanced Hands Chapter 21 1NT opening bid & No Trumps responses Chapter 22 1NT opening bid & suit responses Chapter 23 Opening bids with stronger balanced hands Chapter 24 Supporting responder’s major suit Chapter 25 2NT opening bid & responses Chapter 26 2 Clubs opening bid & responses Chapter 27 No Trumps responses after an opening suit bid Chapter 28 Summary of bidding with Balanced Hands .
    [Show full text]
  • Tt Fall 12 Web.Pub
    VOL. 53 No. 3 FALL 2012 Meet Michigan’s winning mini-Spingold squad Editor’s note: A team of five 20-something Ann Arbor players won the 0-1500 mini- Spingold KO, a multi- day limited national championship, at the summer North Ameri- can Bridge Champion- ships in Philadelphia. A month earlier, they also won the Sunday Winners of the mini-Spingold 0-1500 Swiss Teams at the KO Teams: (front) Jin Hu and Jonathan Fleischmann; (back) Max Glick, Zach- Toledo Regional. ary Scherr and Zachary Wasserman. Here are their stories: Jonathan Fleischmann ter. I'm an attorney less than a year out of law school. I'm 24 years old and live in I started playing in 1999 Bloomfield Hills with my fa- (Continued on page 22) ther, two brothers, and a sis- DON’T FORGET TO VOTE The annual election for MBA Board of Directors will be held during the last four days of the October regional. If you cannot be there on one of those days, you can still vote by complet- ing and sending in an absentee ballot. See page 5. Candi- dates’ pictures and statements appear on pages 6 and 7. Michigan Bridge Association Unit #137 2012 VINCE & JOAN REMEY MOTOR CITY REGIONAL October 8-14, 2012 Site: William Costick Center, 28600 Eleven Mile Road, Farmington Hills MI 48336 (between Inkster and Middlebelt roads) 248-473-1816 Intermediate/Newcomers Schedule (0-299 MP) Single-session Stratified Open Pairs: Tue. through Fri., 1 p.m. & 7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.
    [Show full text]
  • Hall of Fame Takes Five
    Friday, July 24, 2009 Volume 81, Number 1 Daily Bulletin Washington, DC 81st Summer North American Bridge Championships Editors: Brent Manley and Paul Linxwiler Hall of Fame takes five Hall of Fame inductee Mark Lair, center, with Mike Passell, left, and Eddie Wold. Sportsman of the Year Peter Boyd with longtime (right) Aileen Osofsky and her son, Alan. partner Steve Robinson. If standing ovations could be converted to masterpoints, three of the five inductees at the Defenders out in top GNT flight Bridge Hall of Fame dinner on Thursday evening The District 14 team captained by Bob sixth, Bill Kent, is from Iowa. would be instant contenders for the Barry Crane Top Balderson, holding a 1-IMP lead against the They knocked out the District 9 squad 500. defending champions with 16 deals to play, won captained by Warren Spector (David Berkowitz, Time after time, members of the audience were the fourth quarter 50-9 to advance to the round of Larry Cohen, Mike Becker, Jeff Meckstroth and on their feet, applauding a sterling new class for the eight in the Grand National Teams Championship Eric Rodwell). The team was seeking a third ACBL Hall of Fame. Enjoying the accolades were: Flight. straight win in the event. • Mark Lair, many-time North American champion Five of the six team members are from All four flights of the GNT – including Flights and one of ACBL’s top players. Minnesota – Bob and Cynthia Balderson, Peggy A, B and C – will play the round of eight today. • Aileen Osofsky, ACBL Goodwill chair for nearly Kaplan, Carol Miner and Paul Meerschaert.
    [Show full text]
  • Chance, Luck and Statistics : the Science of Chance
    University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Alberta Gambling Research Institute Alberta Gambling Research Institute 1963 Chance, luck and statistics : the science of chance Levinson, Horace C. Dover Publications, Inc. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/41334 book Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca Chance, Luck and Statistics THE SCIENCE OF CHANCE (formerly titled: The Science of Chance) BY Horace C. Levinson, Ph. D. Dover Publications, Inc., New York Copyright @ 1939, 1950, 1963 by Horace C. Levinson All rights reserved under Pan American and International Copyright Conventions. Published in Canada by General Publishing Company, Ltd., 30 Lesmill Road, Don Mills, Toronto, Ontario. Published in the United Kingdom by Constable and Company, Ltd., 10 Orange Street, London, W.C. 2. This new Dover edition, first published in 1963. is a revised and enlarged version ot the work pub- lished by Rinehart & Company in 1950 under the former title: The Science of Chance. The first edi- tion of this work, published in 1939, was called Your Chance to Win. International Standard Rook Number: 0-486-21007-3 Libraiy of Congress Catalog Card Number: 63-3453 Manufactured in the United States of America Dover Publications, Inc. 180 Varick Street New York, N.Y. 10014 PREFACE TO DOVER EDITION THE present edition is essentially unchanged from that of 1950. There are only a few revisions that call for comment. On the other hand, the edition of 1950 contained far more extensive revisions of the first edition, which appeared in 1939 under the title Your Chance to Win. One major revision was required by the appearance in 1953 of a very important work, a life of Cardan,* a brief account of whom is given in Chapter 11.
    [Show full text]
  • SEVERANCE © Mr Bridge ( 01483 489961
    Number: 212 August 2020 BRIDGEJulian Pottage’s Double Dummy Problem VER ANCE SE ♠ A 8 ♥ K Q 10 ♦ 6 5 4 3 2 ♣ J 10 2 ♠ K 10 7 ♠ J ♥ N ♥ 2 W E J 8 7 6 ♦ 9 8 7 S ♦ A Q J 10 ♣ A Q 9 5 4 3 ♣ K 8 7 6 ♠ Q 9 6 5 4 3 2 ♥ A 9 5 4 3 ♦ K ♣ Void Contract 5♠ by South Lead: ♥2 This Double Dummy problem can also be found on page 5 of this issue. The answer will be published on page 4 next month. of the audiences shown in immediately to keep my Bernard’s DVDs would put account safe. Of course that READERS’ their composition at 70% leads straight away to the female. When Bernard puts question: if I change my another bidding quiz up on Mr Bridge password now, the screen in his YouTube what is to stop whoever session, the storm of answers originally hacked into LETTERS which suddenly hits the chat the website from doing stream comes mostly from so again and stealing DOUBLE DOSE: Part One gives the impression that women. There is nothing my new password? In recent weeks, some fans of subscriptions are expected wrong in having a retinue. More importantly, why Bernard Magee have taken to be as much charitable The number of occasions haven’t users been an enormous leap of faith. as they are commercial. in these sessions when warned of this data They have signed up for a By comparison, Andrew Bernard has resorted to his breach by Mr Bridge? website with very little idea Robson’s website charges expression “Partner, I’m I should add that I have of what it will look like, at £7.99 plus VAT per month — excited” has been thankfully 160 passwords according a ‘founder member’s’ rate that’s £9.59 in total — once small.
    [Show full text]
  • Roman Keycard Blackwood (Part 1) by Fred Gitelman
    Roman Keycard Blackwood (Part 1) By Fred Gitelman The Blackwood convention was developed about 60 years ago by Easley Blackwood of Indianapolis, one of the great Bridge players and theorists of his time. The purpose of the Blackwood convention is to find out how many Aces and Kings your partner holds in order to make slam bidding more accurate. Here's how it works: In most auctions a bid of 4NT is the Blackwood convention and carries the message, “I am interested in slam, partner, how many Aces do you have?” The responses are: 5 Clubs = I have either zero Aces or all four Aces 5 Diamonds = I have one Ace 5 Hearts = I have two Aces 5 Spades = I have three Aces Subsequently the 4NT bidder can bid 5NT to give this message, “We have all four Aces between our two hands, partner. I think we might have a grand slam, however, so please tell me how many Kings you have!” The responses are similar: 6 Clubs = I have either zero Kings or all four Kings 6 Diamonds = I have one King 6 Hearts = I have two Kings 6 Spades = I have three Kings Over the years, Blackwood has gradually become accepted as part of “standard” bidding. Experts eventually developed ways for showing voids (which can be just as important as Aces) in response to Blackwood, and for responding to Blackwood when the opponents interfere over the 4NT inquiry. Several variations of Blackwood were also developed in which the responder was able to show the specific Aces that he held.
    [Show full text]
  • Practical Slam Bidding Ebook
    Practical Slam Bidding ebook RON KLINGER MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR BIG HANDS INTRODUCTION Slam bidding brings an excitement all of its own. The pulse quickens, adrenalin is pumping, it’s all systems go. The culmination can be euphoria when you are successful, misery when the slam fails. The aim of this book is to increase your euphoria-to-misery ratio. Of all the skills in bridge, experts perform worst in the slam area. You do not need to go far to find the reason: Lack of experience. Slams occur on about 10% of all deals. Compare that with 50% for partscores and 40% for games. No wonder players are less familiar with the big hands. Half of the slam hands will be yours, half will go to your opponents. You can thus expect a slam your way about 5% of the time. That is roughly one deal per session. If you play twice a week, you can hope for about a hundred slams a year. Practise on the 120 deals in this book and study them, and you will have the equivalent of an extra year’s training under your belt. Your euphoria ratio is then bound to rise. How to use this ebook This is not so much an ebook for reading pleasure as a workbook. It is ideal for partnership practice but you can also use it on your own. For each set of hands, the dealer is given, followed by the vulnerability. You and partner are the East and West. If the dealer is North, East comes next; if the dealer is South, West is next.
    [Show full text]
  • Bernard Magee's Acol Bidding Quiz
    Number One Hundred and Fifty June 2015 Bernard Magee’s Acol Bidding Quiz BRIDGEYou are West in the auctions below, playing ‘Standard Acol’ with a weak no-trump (12-14 points) and 4-card majors. 1. Dealer West. Love All. 4. Dealer East. Game All. 7. Dealer North. E/W Game. 10. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ A K 7 6 4 3 2 ♠ 7 6 ♠ A 8 7 ♠ K Q 10 4 3 ♥ 6 N ♥ K 10 3 N ♥ 7 6 5 4 N ♥ 7 6 N W E ♦ K 2 W E ♦ J 5 4 ♦ Q 10 8 6 W E ♦ 5 4 W E S ♣ 7 6 5 S ♣ A Q 7 6 3 ♣ 4 2 S ♣ Q J 10 7 S West North East South West North East South West North East South West North East South ? 1♠ 1NT 1NT Dbl 2♦ 1♥ Pass ? ? 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass ? 2. Dealer East. E/W Game. 5. Dealer East. Game All. 8. Dealer West. E/W Game. 11. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ Q J 3 ♠ 7 6 ♠ A 8 5 3 ♠ 9 8 2 ♥ 7 N ♥ K 10 3 N ♥ A 9 8 7 N ♥ Q J 10 N W E W E W E W E ♦ A K 8 7 6 5 4 ♦ 5 4 ♦ K 6 4 ♦ 8 3 S S S S ♣ A 8 ♣ Q J 7 6 4 3 ♣ A 2 ♣ A 9 6 4 3 West North East South West North East South West North East South West North East South 3♠ Pass 1♠ 1NT 1♥ 1♠ Pass Pass 1♣ Pass ? ? ? 2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass ? 3.
    [Show full text]
  • VI. Slam-Bidding Methods
    this page intentionally left blank We-Bad System Document January 16, 2011 “We-Bad”: Contents IV. Competitive-Bidding Methods page numbers apply to PDF only A. Competition After Our Preempt 32 B. Competition After Our Two-Club Opening 32 Introduction 4 C. Competition After Our One-Notrump Opening 33 I. Definitions 5 D. Competition After Our Major-Suit Opening 34 II. General Understandings and E. Competition After Our Minor-Suit Opening 35 Defaults 6 F. Competition After Any Suit One-Bid 36 III. Partnership-Bidding Methods V. Defensive-Bidding Methods A. Opening-Bid A. Initial Defensive-Action Requirements 39 Requirements 10 A2. All-Context Actions 46 B. Choice of Suit 11 B. After Our Double of a One-Bid 46 C. After Our Preempt 12 C. After Our Suit Overcall of a One-Bid 47 D. After Our Two Clubs 13 D. After Our One-Notrump Overcall 48 E. After Our Two-Notrump- E. After We Reopen a One-Bid 48 Family Opening 14 F. When the Opener has Preempted 48 F. After Our One-Notrump G. After Our Sandwich-Position Action 50 Opening 16 G. Delayed Auction Entry 50 G. After Our Major-Suit VI. Slam-Bidding Methods 51 Opening 20 VII. Defensive Carding 59 H. After Our Minor-Suit VIII. Related Tournament-Ready Systems 65 Opening 25 IX. Other Resources 65 I. After Any Suit One-Bid 26 Bridge World Standard following 65 3 of 65 1/16/2011 9:52 AM 3 of 65 We-Bad System Document Introduction (click for BWS) We-Bad is a scientific 5-card major system very distantly descended from Bridge World Standard.
    [Show full text]
  • Bridge for Dummies‰
    01_924261 ffirs.qxp 8/17/06 2:49 PM Page i Bridge FOR DUMmIES‰ 2ND EDITION by Eddie Kantar 01_924261 ffirs.qxp 8/17/06 2:49 PM Page iv 01_924261 ffirs.qxp 8/17/06 2:49 PM Page i Bridge FOR DUMmIES‰ 2ND EDITION by Eddie Kantar 01_924261 ffirs.qxp 8/17/06 2:49 PM Page ii Bridge For Dummies®, 2nd Edition Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permis- sion of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax 317-572-4355, or online at http://www. wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission.
    [Show full text]
  • Control-Showing Cuebids and Grand Slam Force © Aib Robert S
    Adventures in Bridge Leaders in Bridge Entertainment and Education www.advinbridge.com This Week in Bridge (175) Control-Showing Cuebids and Grand Slam Force © AiB Robert S. Todd Level: 2, 3, 4 [email protected] General When choosing to explore slam by making a Control-Showing Cuebid we discover (or share) detailed information about holdings in suits outside the trump suit. After using this tool to exchange some outside information below 4NT, we have to make a decision about how to proceed – stop in game, bid 4NT Keycard, or continue cuebidding beyond game. Here we discuss these options in detail. Keycarding After Cuebidding Level: 2, 3 When we have used a Control-Showing Cuebid and have nothing else to say (no extra values to show to partner) then we usually stop in game by bidding 4-Major or passing partner’s 4-Major bid. But when we have further slam interest, then we can continue exploring slam. One way we do this is with 4NT Keycard. Examples With hands like these we may choose to continue the auction with 4NT and ask partner about their Keycards. 1. ♠ AK984 2. ♠ QT764 ♥ 4 ♥ A ♦ 32 ♦ 76 ♣ AKJ76 ♣ AKQJ3 1♠ 3♠ 4♣ 4♦ 4NT Once partner cuebids 4♦, showing control in the diamond suit, we know that we have control of all the suits and can use 4NT to check if partner has what we need for slam (ex 1 – ♠K ♦AK, ex 2 – ♠AK, ♦A). [email protected] PO Box 14915 ♠ Tallahassee, FL 32317 850 570 6459 Adventures in Bridge, Inc. www.advinbridge.com 4NT Keycard is useful to ensure that we are not bidding a slam missing two Aces (or Keycards) and that our combined trump holding is not too weak (missing a Keycard and the trump Queen usually makes for a bad slam.) Cuebidding Beyond 4NT Level: 2, 3 Sometimes after our first cuebid (and partner’s response) we still do not know about having control in the vital suit.
    [Show full text]