Zia's Slams by David Bird

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:

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:

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:

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:

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

Your result so far:

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: