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 Zia's Slams by David Bird

We are going to look at some more slam auctions.

Each one will involve one of the world's biggest bridge stars - Zia Mahmood!

Question 1

  Your Hand
♠ 8
♥ A J 7 4 3
♦ A 10 8 6
♣ A 4 2 		 
Q: 1 - Zia partners another megastar - Jeff Meckstroth. What will you bid next on Zia's hand?
SouthWestNorthEast
1♥Pass1♠Pass
2♦Pass3♣Pass
3NTPass4♦Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♥. Partner's 4♦ sets diamonds as trumps and the hunt is on for a possible slam. Zia now bid 4♥, a control-bid (also known as a cue-bid). This showed that he held the ace (or king) of hearts.

Bidding 4NT instead (Roman Keycard Blackwood) would not have been particularly helpful. Zia wanted his partner to bid 4NT, since he could then show his three aces.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 2

  Your Hand
♠ 8
♥ A J 7 4 3
♦ A 10 8 6
♣ A 4 2 		 
Q: 2 - We continue to bid the same hand. What should Zia bid next?

Assume that he is playing 1430 responses to Roman Keycard Blackwood.
SouthWestNorthEast
1♥Pass1♠Pass
2♦Pass3♣Pass
3NTPass4♦Pass
4♥Pass4NTPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 5♦. WIth 1430 responses (the most popular method), 5♣ would show 1 or 4 keycards. 5♦ shows 0 or 3. Zia duly bid 5♦. Meckstroth was then able to bid 7♦. These were the two hands:

____________________♠ A K Q 7 4
____________________♥ K 10
____________________♦ K Q 3 2
____________________♣ K 9


____________________♠ 8
____________________♥ A J 7 4 3
____________________♦ A 10 8 6
____________________♣ A 4 2

As you can see, North could not raise diamonds at his second turn. He had to bid 3♣ (Fourth-suit forcing) and then raise the diamonds (4♦). This allowed cue-bidding and RKCB.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
♠ 6 5 4 2
♥ 10 7 4 2
♦ A Q 8 4
♣ A 		 
Q: 3 - USA faces Denmark in the world seniors championship. You now hold Meckstroth's hand, sitting opposite Zia. What will you bid next?
SouthWestNorthEast
-Pass2♣Pass
2♦Pass2♠Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♣. Many would bid 3♠, agreeing the spade suit. Meckstroth found a more informative bid, 4♣; a splinter bid to show spade support and announce at most one card in clubs.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
♠ A K Q J 10 7
♥ A K
♦ K J
♣ 10 6 3 		 
Q: 4 - This was Zia's hand. What would you have bid next?
SouthWestNorthEast
--2♣Pass
2♦Pass2♠Pass
4♣Pass?


 Your choice:
A: 4NT. Expecting a singleton club opposite, after partner's splinter bid, Zia bid a Roman Keycard Blackwood 4NT. When partner responded 5♥, showing two key cards (two aces here), Zia bid 7♠. These were the hands:

____________________♠ A K Q J 10 7
____________________♥ A K
____________________♦ K J
____________________♣ 10 6 3


____________________♠ 6 5 4 2
____________________♥ 10 7 4 2
____________________♦ A Q 8 4
____________________♣ A

7♠ was easily made, while only 6♠ was bid at the other table. You can see how valuable the splinter bid of 4♣ was.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
♠ A 10 9 3
♥ J
♦ A K 6 4 2
♣ A 5 4 		 
Q: 5 - USA faces Iceland in the World Seniors Championship. What would you bid on Zia's South hand?
SouthWestNorthEast
-2NT4♠Pass
?


West's 2NT opening showed a weak hand with both minors.

 Your choice:
A: 4NT. Zia's first move was to bid Roman Keycard Blackwood.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 6

  Your Hand
♠ A 10 9 3
♥ J
♦ A K 6 4 2
♣ A 5 4 		 
Q: 6 - This is the same hand as on the previous problem. You recall that Zia bid 4NT. Partner responded 5♠, showing two key cards (♠K and ♥A) along with the ♠Q. What would you bid next?
SouthWestNorthEast
-2NT4♠Pass
4NTPass5♠Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 5NT. Zia decided to ask for side-suit kings. His partner (Meckstroth) then bid 6♣ to show specifically the ♣K. This was enough for Zia to jump to 7♠. These were the hands:

____________________♠ K Q J 8 6 4 2
____________________♥ A 9 8
____________________♦
____________________♣ K 7 3

♠ _________________________♠ 7 5
♥ K 4 2_____________________♥ Q 10 7 6 5 3
♦ J 10 9 5 3___________________♦ Q 8 7
♣ Q J 10 8 6___________________♣ 9 2

____________________♠ A 10 9 3
____________________♥ J
____________________♦ A K 6 4 2
____________________♣ A 5 4

The grand slam was bid and made at both tables.

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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