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 Slam auctions 7 by David Bird

Once again, we will be looking at slam bidding. In previous quizzes, we have seen the two great cornerstones of accuracy in this area: Roman Keycard Blackwood and control-bidding (sometimes still called cue-bidding). These will be needed in the problems that follow.

Question 1

  Your Hand
 A K Q J 10 6
 A
 A K Q
 A Q 2
 
Q: 1 - You are South and the bidding starts like this:
SouthWestNorthEast
2Pass2Pass
2Pass4Pass
4NTPass5Pass
?


Partner's 5 response to 4NT shows no keycards (in other words, no aces and no king of trumps). What will you bid next?

 Your choice:
A: 5NT. This bid, after an RKCB 4NT, asks if partner holds any side-suit king(s). The best set of responses is to sign off with no such kings, and to bid the suit of your side-suit king when you have one (the lower king with two).

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 2

  Your Hand
 A K Q J 10 6
 A
 A K Q
 A Q 2
 
Q: 2 - You are South and the bidding starts like this:
SouthWestNorthEast
2Pass2Pass
2Pass4Pass
4NTPass5Pass
5NTPass6Pass
?


What will you bid next?

 Your choice:
A: 7NT. Partner's 6 response to the 5NT king-ask tells you that he holds the K. You can therefore count 13 tricks. It is safest to bid 7NT rather than 7, just in case the defenders could otherwise take a ruff at trick one. If instead partner responded 6 or 6, you would sign off in 6.

(As I mentioned in a previous quiz, you may find such bidding rather complicated and not wish to play these methods at the moment. That is absolutely fine. You will still benefit from looking at this quiz, since it will help you to understand opponents' slam bidding at the table.)

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
 K 10 7 3
 K Q 8 4
 5
 K Q 8 6
 
Q: 3 - Again, you are South. What will you bid next?
SouthWestNorthEast
--1Pass
1Pass4Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4NT. Partner's rebid of 4 is a very strong move, since you might only hold around 6 points for a one-level response. He will hold around 19 HCP, or slightly fewer with compensating distribution. You are easily worth an RKCB bid of 4NT.

If partner responds 5, showing two keycards and not the HQ, you will pass. If instead he responds 5, showing three keycards, you will bid 6.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
 A K 6 5
 3
 A K 5
 A 9 7 5 4
 
Q: 4 - What will you bid next on this hand?
SouthWestNorthEast
---2
DblePass4Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 6. Your hand is excellent in support of spades. You can expect partner to hold at least 5 spades, otherwise he would have responded 3 to show a good hand and to investigate the best trump suit.

You could go through the motions of bidding RKCB, but there is little point in it. You do not necessarily need the A to make a slam. You should bid 6 on your general values. It is not particularly important on this deal, but sometimes you can give away important information by bidding Blackwood unnecessarily.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
 A K Q J 8 3
 
 10 9 8 6
 A J 6
 
Q: 5 - What will you bid next?
SouthWestNorthEast
--12
23PassPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 6. Again, there is no point in bidding RKCB. For one thing, it would not be clear which suit you were agreeing.

You can expect the opponents to hold most of the high cards in the heart suit. Partner has opened 1, so you would be very unlucky to have two losers in the minor suits. Simply jump to 6, giving no further information away.

In particular, it would not be a good idea to bid 4, telling the opponents of your heart control. A heart lead might allow the slam to be made.

If partner's diamonds are solid, a grand slam could be there. Some players would bid 4, hoping to investigate a grand. If the diamonds are not solid, you will want to play in spades.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 6

  Your Hand
 K Q J 6
 Q 8 7 5
 A 6
 K 6 2
 
Q: 6 - What will you bid next on this hand?
SouthWestNorthEast
1NTPass2Pass
2Pass4Pass
4Pass4NTPass
?


Partner's 4 is a control-bid, agreeing hearts as trumps. (It is NOT Gerber. Few good players use Gerber, since control-bidding is so important for accurate slam bidding.)

You have the A, so you continue with 4, another control-bid. What will you bid over partner's 4NT?

 Your choice:
A: 5. 4NT is Roman Keycard Blackwood. Since you have one keycard, your response is 5.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 7

  Your Hand
 A K J 10 9 2
 7 4
 K 7 4
 A 5
 
Q: 7 - What will you bid next on this hand?
SouthWestNorthEast
1Pass2Pass
3Pass4NTPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 5. Partner's 4NT is RKCB, with spades agreed. You should respond 5 to show 0 or 3 keycards. After your 3 rebid, it will be obvious to partner that you have 3 keycards, rather than 0.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

Overall Results

Your results:   out of    Average: 

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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