Slam Auction by David Bird

A: 4♦. 2♦ would be a natural (reverse) rebid, forcing for one round. 3♦ would be a mini-splinter bid, showing a singleton diamond and a raise to at least 3♠. Your hand is worth 4♦, which shows a void diamond, and a raise to 4♠.

Your result so far:

A: 4NT. You are firmly in slam territory and should advance by bidding 4NT (Roman Keycard Blackwood). You know that there are no losers in diamonds. You are keen to discover whether partner holds the ♠K and the ♥A.

Your result so far:

A: 5♥. This shows two keycards. If you also held the ♠Q, you would bid 5♠ instead. (You have already shown the diamond void with your previous leap to 4♦, so that will not affect your response here.)

Your result so far:

A: 5NT. You should ask for side-suit kings. The very fact that you are doing this (when the bidding is already forced to 6♠ at least) also tells partner that all the keycards are present - this excludes the diamond suit, where your partner has shown a void.

Your result so far:

A: 7♠. You could simply show your ♣K. However, the fact that partner has bid 5NT also tells you that he holds the ♠A Q and the ♣A. Your club holding suggests that there will be a source of several extra tricks there. You are therefore justified in leaping to 7♠.

This was the full deal:

____________________♠ 7 6 4
____________________♥ K Q 4 2
____________________♦ J 7 6 5 2
____________________♣ 4

♠ K J 5 3_______________________♠ A Q 10 9 8 2
♥ A J 7 6_______________________♥ 3
♦ ______________________________♦ K 9 8
♣ K Q 10 9 5__________________♣ A 6 3

____________________♠
____________________♥ 10 9 8 5
____________________♦ A Q 10 4 3
____________________♣ J 8 7 2

As you see, 13 tricks are easy and the grand slam is made. Well bid!

Your result so far:

A: As we saw before, this was the full deal:

____________________♠ 7 6 4
____________________♥ K Q 4 2
____________________♦ J 7 6 5 2
____________________♣ 4

♠ K J 5 3_______________________♠ A Q 10 9 8 2
♥ A J 7 6_______________________♥ 3
♦ _____________________________♦ K 9 8
♣ K Q 10 9 5__________________♣ A 6 3

____________________♠
____________________♥ 10 9 8 5
____________________♦ A Q 10 4 3
____________________♣ J 8 7 2

East opens 1♠ and West should then employ the Jacoby 2NT convention, showing 4-card support and the values for a raise to 4♠, at least. In the basic form of this convention, the opener will rebid 3♥, to show a heart shortage. West can then use another valuable convention, 5♦ (Exclusion Blackwood). This asks East how many keycards he holds, excluding the diamond suit. East responds 6♣, the 4th step, to show the ♠A Q and the ♣A.

West can then count at least five trump tricks, a possible five club tricks (maybe only four), the ♥A and some diamond ruffs. The odds are enormous that 7♠ will succeed. As so it will!

1♠, 2NT - 3♥, 5♦ - 6♣, 7♠

(If you are unfamiliar with the Jacoby 2NT or Exclusion Blackwood, you can look them up on the internet for the moment. We will explain them both later in the series.)

Your result so far: