Slam bidding is not easy. Grand slam bidding is probably easier, maybe because we bid them less aggressively than slams. 5NT GSF(Grand Slam Force) convention was explained to me by SP on the first day of the tournament. The same evening a hand came up where we used it.
A
AKQT
AKJx
Jxxx
(S.P)
xx
xx
QTxx
AKQxxx
(Guthi)
I opened a light 1C and in the second seat.
Here is how the complicated bidding sequence was.
1C - 1H
2C - 5NT
7C - End Yes! We bid a grand slam in just 3 rounds. Now that's something!
Here is how the 5NT convention works. The suit that was bid and supported or the suit that was last bid is fixed as the trumps suit. A jump to 5NT asks partner to bid 7 holding two of the the top three honors, 6 with just two of them. With the partnership can reach quick slams or grand slams and keep the defenders in dark. Though in this case the defender lead a trump.
This was in the pairs tournament, sadly the result was not very influential in pushing our scores up.
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This time is the play offs, results didn't matter much but we did play with all seriousness.
AKJx
KQxxx
A
Axx
(Guthi)
QTxxx
A
Qxxx
Kxx
(s.p)
I was dealer and started the uncontested auction with 1H.
1H - 1S
3C*(1) - 3D*(2)
3S*(3) - 4S*(4)
4NT - 5C*(5)
5D - 6C*(6)
7S*(7) - End
(1) - Terrible rebid problem, the hand is a quarter point short of a 2C opening and the only gave forcing bid available at that point was 3C, I chose this though it dosent reveal the support for spades.
(2) - SP meant it as a waiting bid, I took it as 'showing diamonds' Bid 3NT from your side.
(3) Time to show support.
(4) I think I know what is going on.
(5) One key card.
(6) King of clubs and Queens of spade.
(7) Good Luck Partner. ;-)
The lead was trump. S.P's hands were shivering, but the play was smooth. Ruff a diamond and pull trumps; then claim all. All.
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Cheers
Guthi.
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4 comments:
In the first hand, if N knows that partner has a long suit, it then becomes easy to bid 7NT. Also, using GSF, regardless of whether the 'agreed' suit is clubs, the response to 5N should technically be 7C, so that you cover for a self-sufficient long suit with partner.
On the second hand, I would rather open the N hand 2C (I suppose that is your forcing bid). The route to 7S would probably be easier then. Anyways, good job reaching it. What were the final results/standings?
I can understand why splintering with a void can cause problems. Agreeing not to splinter with a singleton ace is silly, in my view. The keycarding will reveal the singleton ace anyway.
Second, if the hand falls short of a 2C opener, it can only be because of the singleton ace. You can't convince me not to open AKJx AKQxx x Axx 2C.
@ jp
Thanks for dropping by. I did not open 2C only because of the single ton Ace. It will be difficult to show it later in the bidding, I thought. The results, we lost the finals 99-64 (30 boards).
@ Ashok,
Splintering with a void can cause problems if partner has the Ace of that suit and thinks that the hands are fitting perfectly.
Splintering with a single ton Ace is not a good idea. Say partner holds KQx in the suit you show a single ton, he will devalue his hand. If the holding is xxx, it don't matter.
Agreed, with AKJx AKQxx x Axx - open 2C.
I think splintering agreements are just a matter of style. Guthi and I agreed to splinter with voids but not with singleton A/K. This helps us to quickly identify wasted honours on hands in which we do splinter. The void can be shown later during cue bidding or response to blackwood (we play 5NT = even number of keycards with a void, and 6 of the suit as odd number of keycards with a void)
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