The smallest trump coup

August 29th, 2009  ~  mark horton  ~  No Comments 

In the early stages of the Vanderbilt the boards are dealt at the table. That can sometimes mean that the precise layout of a particular deal is not accurate down to every spot card, but nevertheless this amusing deal that Nick Nickell reported to me deserves a wider audience.

I’ll present it as a play problem:

North
♠	A K
♥	A 10 5 3
♦	K 6
♣	A K 10 7 5
South
♠	Q J 10 9 7 3
♥	7
♦	A J 9 8 4
♣	J

West leads the queen of hearts.

This is a straightforward hand – as long as you don’t see one of your top tricks ruffed the contract must be cold.

Accordingly Nick won the opening lead in dummy, cashed the king of diamonds and played a diamond to the eight.

West discarded a club!

Nick cashed the ace of diamonds, ruffed a diamond, ruffed a heart, ruffed a diamond and cashed the ace of clubs.

His last five cards were sxQJ1097 and he could play any card from dummy, catching East’s sx86542.

As Nick pointed out it was not the first time he had executed a trump coup, but it was certainly the smallest!

Dealer: Vul:		North
		♠	A K
		♥	A 10 5 3
		♦	K 6
		♣	A K 10 7 5
West				East
♠	—			♠	8 6 5 4 2
♥	Q J 9 8 6 4			♥	K 2
♦	7			♦	Q 10 5 3 2
♣	Q 9 8 6 4 2			♣	3
		South
		♠	Q J 10 9 7 3
		♥	7
		♦	A J 9 8 4
		♣	J

The Rabbi goes Slamming

August 27th, 2009  ~  mark horton  ~  No Comments 

The Rabbi has his own way of approaching potential slam deals, generally preferring the bludgeon to the rapier.

It can work quite well, as witness these two deals from the Rockwell Mixed Pairs:

Dealer: West Vul: East/West		North
		♠	—
		♥	A 9 5 4 3
		♦	Q J 10 6 5 4
		♣	A 5
West				East
♠	8 3			♠	10 9 5 4
♥	—			♥	10 8 7 6 2
♦	A 9 8 7 2			♦	K
♣	K J 9 7 6 3			♣	Q 10 4
		South
		♠	A K Q J 7 6 2
		♥	K Q J
		♦	3
		♣	8 2

Conventional wisdom says that you should not use Blackwood with two losers in an unbid suit, but as Victor Mollo’s immortal Hideous Hog would say ‘If they don’t lead the suit it won’t matter.’

With little to go on West tried the ace of diamonds and another singleton king had fallen under the Rabbi’s spell, +980.

Dealer: South Vul: North/South		North
		♠	Q 7 5
		♥	A
		♦	A 8 6
		♣	A K Q 9 8 7
West				East
♠	K 9 8			♠	A 6 4
♥	9 7 4 3			♥	Q J 10 8 6 5 2
♦	—			♦	9 5
♣	J 6 5 4 3 2			♣	10
		South
		♠	J 10 3 2
		♥	K
		♦	K Q J 10 7 4 3 2
		♣	—

There is an old saying in bridge, ‘with 6-5 come alive’. The Rabbi’s version is ‘with 8-4 bid more.’

Full marks to East for her Four Heart bid, which put her side on course for a great result.

The Rabbi was not prepared to give in easily and when he found the imaginative Four Spades West carried on the good work by going on to Five Hearts. Kay Enfield did not expect to get rich from that contract, so she went on to the diamond slam, leaving West with a decision to make.

There is something to be said for bidding one more, as -500 will still be a good save against a vulnerable game, but West bravely decided to stand his ground.

It was now a question of finding the killing lead, but it was now that West fell from grace by leading a heart.

It is clear that North must have a source of tricks and that can only be in the club suit. There is no point in leading a heart, as North must have control of that suit. A club might be right, but with a void partner might have tried a Lightner double. So, by a process of elimination you are left with a spade. That line of reasoning might have been approved of by the world’s greatest consulting detective:

‘When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’

Sherlock Holmes – The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

The Rabbi to the Rescue

August 20th, 2009  ~  mark horton  ~  No Comments 

When the bridge gods are smiling an apparently hopeless situation may be saved in an unexpected way, as on this deal from the final of the Silodor Open Pairs:

Dealer: North Vul: East/West		North
		♠	A 9 2
		♥	K 10 9
		♦	A 6 5 4 3
		♣	8 5
West				East
♠	8 5 4 3			♠	K Q J
♥	A 7 5			♥	6 2
♦	J 2			♦	K Q
♣	J 9 6 4			♣	A K Q 7 3 2
		South
		♠	10 7 6
		♥	Q J 8 4 3
		♦	10 9 8 7
		♣	10

North’s wafer thin double concluded an auction that contained a number of debatable bids.

Declarer took the opening lead of the king of hearts with the ace and played a trump. North took the ace, cashed the ace of diamonds and with a silent prayer switched to the ten of hearts. The Rabbi overtook that with the jack and continued with the queen. When declarer decided to discard one of dummy’s clubs it was clear that the Rabbi’s modest assets included the all important ten of spades. A fourth round of hearts was ruffed in turn by the eight, nine and jack of spades, so declarer was -500, which did not trouble the scorers.

Spotlight on Defence

August 15th, 2009  ~  mark horton  ~  No Comments 

There is no doubt that defence is one of the more testing areas of the game.

Here are a few deals that caught my eye:

Dealer: South Vul: East/West		North
		♠	Q J 9
		♥	9 4 3 2
		♦	10 3 2
		♣	K 10 6
West				East
♠	10 8 6			♠	7 5
♥	Q 8 6			♥	A K 5
♦	A 9 8 6 4			♦	Q J 7 5
♣	9 3			♣	Q J 5 2
		South
		♠	A K 4 3 2
		♥	J 10 7
		♦	K
		♣	A 8 7 4

A typical matchpoint auction, with East/West doing well to push North/South up a level.

West led the ace of diamonds and continued the suit. Declarer ruffed and exited with the jack of hearts. East won with the king and played a diamond and declarer ruffed and played another heart. West won with the queen and found the only winning defence of exiting with a heart. East won and fell from grace by exiting with the queen of clubs.

Declarer won with dummy’s king, cashed three spade ending in dummy, then the established heart, after which the ten of clubs pinned West’s nine.

On my next deal declarer missed an opportunity for immortality:

Dealer: East Vul: East/West		North
		♠	6 2
		♥	J 8 7 5 4 2
		♦	K J 10 7
		♣	K
West				East
♠	7 5 3			♠	Q 10 4
♥	A K Q 10			♥	9 3
♦	Q			♦	A 5 4 2
♣	A 10 7 5 4			♣	Q J 9 6
		South
		♠	A K J 9 8
		♥	6
		♦	9 8 6 3
		♣	8 3 2

South led the three of diamonds and when the queen was covered by North’s king declarer won and advanced the queen of clubs.

When South followed with the two there was strong case for going up with the ace, not least because of who was sitting North.

As it was, the Rabbi won with the king, cashed a couple of diamonds and switched to a spade.

3NT made – but by the defence!

On my next deal the vast majority of the field missed a straightforward defence:

Dealer: East Vul: North/South		North
		♠	K Q 7 4
		♥	—
		♦	10 7
		♣	A K 10 7 6 5 2
West				East
♠	A 5 3 2			♠	J 10 9 6
♥	A Q 5 4			♥	8 2
♦	J 9 6 4			♦	K Q 8 5 2
♣	Q			♣	9 4
		South
		♠	8
		♥	K J 10 9 7 6 3
		♦	A 3
		♣	J 8 3

West led the six of diamonds and South took the queen with the ace and played the king of hearts (a spade or a diamond works best as the cards lie).

West won and the defenders continued with two more diamonds. It was easy enough now to arrange to draw trumps and come to nine tricks, +140.

If West leads, or switches to his singleton club then he will be able to get East in with a diamond to score a club ruff.

Its worth noting that the preempt prevented North/South from reaching the excellent club game.

If you find yourself coming under pressure on a deal as declarer runs a long suit or cashes winners it is important to show no sign of distress. Easier said than done, but the defender in the West chair was up to the task on my final deal:

Dealer: South Vul: East/West		North
		♠	10 8
		♥	A K 2
		♦	K Q J 7
		♣	A Q 9 7
West				East
♠	K J 6			♠	7 4 3 2
♥	6 5			♥	Q J 8 4 3
♦	A 9 6 3			♦	10 2
♣	K 6 5 3			♣	J 8
		South
		♠	A Q 9 5
		♥	10 9 7
		♦	8 5 4
		♣	10 4 2

Facing a passed partner these is nothing wrong with adopting a variation to your no trump range, but doing it with a healthy 19 count is taking things a little too far.

East led the four of hearts and declarer was pleased to win with dummy’s ten. A diamond to the jack was followed by the ten of spades, which lost to West’s jack. Declarer won the heart return and played the king of diamonds, West taking the ace and switching to a club. East won with the jack and returned the suit, dummy’s ten being covered by the king and ace. Declarer cashed his club tricks to reach this four card ending:

		North
		♠	8
		♥	A
		♦	J 7
		♣	—
West				East
♠	K 6			♠	7 4
♥	—			♥	Q J
♦	9 6			♦	—
♣	—			♣	—
		South
		♠	A Q
		♥	9
		♦	8
		♣	—

When declarer cashed the ace of hearts West was in trouble, but with no sign of discomfort he discarded the six of spades. Declarer cashed the jack of diamonds and played a spade.

I know you won’t believe me, but the Rabbi finessed!

Full marks to Baytown’s Mack Miegs who was brave enough to survive the Rabbi’s Rule!

It’s bridge, Jim, but not as we know it.

August 8th, 2009  ~  mark horton  ~  No Comments 

The first episode of ‘Star Trek’ was broadcast on 08 September 1966 on the American television channel, NBC. Since then it’s become an enormous franchise, spawning feature films, spin-off series, magazines, books, songs, toys and of course, many famous phrases.

One of the classic lines occurred when, on seeing new life on a strange planet, Dr ,McCoy turned to Captain Kirk and said in an ominous tone: ‘It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it.’

I have unashamedly adapted it to reveal some of the stranger happenings I have encountered.

Dealer: North Vul: Both		North
		♠	9 8
		♥	10 5 3
		♦	9 7 6 5 2
		♣	5 4 3
West				East
♠	Q J 10 4			♠	6 5 2
♥	A 4 2			♥	7 6
♦	J 10 5 3			♦	A Q 8
♣	A 7			♣	K Q 10 8 6
		South
		♠	10 5
		♥	A J 3
		♦	A 10 4 2
		♣	A J 10 6

In the modern game you will not find too many people passing on those East cards, and when the Rabbi elected to kick off with a somewhat eccentric opening bid he stole the pot.

West led the queen of spades and declarer won with the ace and played a heart to dummy’s ten. When that held the Rabbi boldly went where no Rabbi has gone before (You knew I was going to split that infinitive didn’t you?) and played a diamond. If East had risen with the ace the defenders would still be taking tricks, but he played low and the Rabbi won with the king and reverted to hearts. West won and continued with a spade and South won and cashed out. (I can’t help wondering…if declarer ducks the second spade would West have played another?)

+90 was by no means a top, as several East/West pairs attempted 3NT and oblivious to the rabbi’s rule, an early diamond finesse saw them go crashing off.

A sure way to end up with a poor result it to be uncertain about the strength of partner’s bid – as in this example:

Dealer: North Vul: Both		North
		♠	A J 10 2
		♥	7
		♦	A Q J 10 8
		♣	A 7 4
West				East
♠	K 8			♠	9 6 4
♥	8 5			♥	K J 10 9 6 4 3 2
♦	K 9 4 3 2			♦	—
♣	K Q J 3			♣	10 5
		South
		♠	Q 7 4 3
		♥	A Q
		♦	7 6 5
		♣	9 8 6 2

For some reason West thought Three Hearts was intermediate.

Declarer ruffed the diamond lead and tried a spade to the king. North won and switched to a heart, so South took the queen and ace, cashed the queen of spades and played a club. The ace followed by another spade trick completed the rout.

My next example is one of those annoying situations where good defence not only goes unrewarded, but also ends up earning a dreadful result:

Dealer: South Vul: Both		North
		♠	9 6 2
		♥	J 8 6 3
		♦	A 6 5 4
		♣	7 5
West				East
♠	A K 3			♠	Q 8 7 4
♥	10 7 2			♥	A K Q 9 5
♦	K Q 9 2			♦	10 3
♣	K 10 2			♣	8 6
		South
		♠	J 10 5
		♥	4
		♦	J 8 7
		♣	A Q J 9 4 3

North led the seven of clubs and when South put in the jack West ducked.

With so many points in dummy the realistic target for the defence is three tricks and it is clear that the most likely place to find one is in the diamond suit. If partner’s diamond is the ace it doesn’t matter what you do, but if it is the king it will be catastrophic if you cash the ace of clubs – declarer will then have four spades, five hearts, and a trick in each minor.

So the indicated defence is to switch to a diamond. Declarer put up the king, North took the ace and returned….a diamond.

Goodbye top, hello bottom.

Dealer: East Vul: Both		North
		♠	A Q 10 9 8 6 4
		♥	9 4 2
		♦	6
		♣	J 10
West				East
♠	K J 7			♠	3
♥	A J 5			♥	K Q 10 7
♦	A J 3 2			♦	K 7
♣	K 7 6			♣	Q 9 8 5 4 3
		South
		♠	5 2
		♥	8 6 3
		♦	Q 10 9 8 5 4
		♣	A 2

2♣ Single-suited hand

When North leads a spade – the queen was the card chosen at several tables – declarer won with the king, crossed to dummy with a heart and played a club. I hope you were ready with the ace, as the subsequent spade return gives your side the next six tricks.

Even if you didn’t, you may be consoled by the fact that -600 was comfortably above average, as some North’s bid too many spades and went for a number, while others decided a spade lead was far too likely to give up a vital trick.

Searching for IMPs

July 29th, 2009  ~  mark horton  ~  No Comments 

Searching for Bobby Fischer is an acclaimed 1993 film based on the life of prodigy chess player Josh Waitzkin. Adapted from the book of the same name by his father Fred, the film was written and directed by Steven Zaillian. In the United Kingdom the film was released under the title Innocent Moves.

In this film, Josh’s family discovers that he possesses a gift for chess and they seek to nurture it. They hire a strict coach, Bruce Pandolfini, who aims to teach the boy to be as aggressive as Bobby Fischer. The title of the film is a metaphor about the character’s quest to adopt the ideal of Fischer and his determination to win at any price. The main conflict in the film arises when Josh refuses to adopt Fischer’s misanthropic frame of reference. Josh then goes on to win on his own terms with the kind of gracious sportsmanship that Fischer rejects.

Much the same could be applied to many bridge players, don’t you think?

In any event, join me on a search for IMPs in the Lebhar IMP Pairs.

Dealer: South Vul: Both		North
		♠	A 10 4
		♥	9 3 2
		♦	A 10 8 3
		♣	10 7 3
West				East
♠	K Q 8 7			♠	J 9 3 2
♥	Q 7			♥	A K 10 8 5 4
♦	K Q 7 6 5			♦
♣	8 2			♣	6 5 4
		South
		♠	6 5
		♥	J 6
		♦	J 9 4 2
		♣	A K Q J 9

East/West took full advantage of the lack of bidding by North/South and even though North led a club declarer had an easy route to ten tricks – and 7.65 IMPs.

Dealer: North Vul: East/West		North
		♠	A Q
		♥	A K J 10 8 4 2
		♦	7 2
		♣	A K
West				East
♠	6 3 2			♠	8 4
♥	Q 5 3			♥	9 7 6
♦	10 9 6 4 3			♦	A 8 5
♣	9 5			♣	Q J 10 4 3
		South
		♠	K J 10 9 7 5
		♥	—
		♦	K Q J
		♣	8 7 6 2

The Rabbi’s first response promised one ace or two kings and he was right on the money when he converted to 6NT, earning 5.27 IMPs.

Dealer: North Vul: Both		North
		♠	J 9 8
		♥	A K J 9
		♦	K 8 4 3 2
		♣	6
West				East
♠	7			♠	A K 5 3
♥	8 7 5 4			♥	10 6 2
♦	A J			♦	10 9 7 5
♣	Q 8 5 4 3 2			♣	A 10
		South
		♠	Q 10 6 4 2
		♥	Q 3
		♦	Q 6
		♣	K J 9 7

Three Clubs strikes me as a very dubious move, especially at this vulnerability. There was no way to avoid the loss of 500, and that cost 8.41 IMPs.

Dealer: Vul:		North
		♠	A K 6 4
		♥	6
		♦	A Q J 9 3
		♣	A K 4
West				East
♠	Q 7			♠	9 2
♥	A 9 5			♥	K 10 7 4 3 2
♦	K 8 5 4 2			♦	10 6
♣	10 5 2			♣	J 9 6
		South
		♠	J 10 8 5 3
		♥	Q J 8
		♦	7
		♣	Q 8 7 3

Perhaps Four Hearts is a better technical bid than asking for key cards, but if partner has a pile of rubbish with only the queen of spades and the king of diamonds you will miss a good slam.

With trumps 2-2 the Rabbi wrapped up 12 tricks to earn 9.7 IMPs.

Dealer: East Vul: Both		North
		♠	A J 7 4 2
		♥	10 5
		♦	—
		♣	Q 9 7 5 3 2
West				East
♠	K Q 9 8 6 3			♠	—
♥	4			♥	K Q 9 8 7 6 2
♦	K Q 9 8			♦	J 7 6 5 3
♣	K 4			♣	8
		South
		♠	10 5
		♥	A J 3
		♦	A 10 4 2
		♣	A J 10 6

The Rabbi’s adventurous overcall struck gold when West was tempted to double. With two suits that might deliver tricks there was certainly no case for North to run.

West led the king of spades and declarer won with dummy’s ace and played a club to the ace and a club. West won and switched to the king of diamonds. When that held he continued with a low diamond to East’s jack. At this point all declarer has to do to swing around 16 IMPs is win and play a spade, but the Rabbi’s Guardian Angel was taking a nap and when he played low he was booked for one down and a loss of 5.4 IMPs.

Reversing the Rabbi’s Rule

July 22nd, 2009  ~  mark horton  ~  No Comments 

Is anyone out there who does not know about the Rabbi’s Rule? Here is an unusual example from the Silodor Pairs where it was a defender who took advantage of the situation:

Dealer:  North Vul: None		North
		♠	9 5 4
		♥	A Q 7 6 3
		♦	J 10 5 2
		♣	K
West				East
♠	A K Q 8			♠	7 2
♥	K J			♥	10 9 8 4 2
♦	7			♦	L Q 9 4
♣	A 9 8 6 5 3			♣	10 2
		South
		♠	J 10 6 3
		♥	5
		♦	A 6 4 3
		♣	Q J 7 4

The Rabbi led the five of hearts and declarer put up dummy’s king which lost to the ace. To the human eye it looks obvious to switch to a diamond (although my finessing friend tells me that a spade is the best defence). I have a sneaking suspicion that a low diamond is the best shot but just in case I tried the jack of diamonds, covered by the king and ace.

The Rabbi returned the three of diamonds and with some foreboding I contributed the ten which declarer won with the queen. He continued with a heart to the jack and I won with the queen.

Rather than play a diamond I decided to reverse the Rabbi’s Rule and tried the effect of playing the king of clubs.

When declarer ducked I exited with a spade. Seeing no danger declarer now played a low club and the Rabbi was able to win with the jack and exit with a spade, locking declarer in dummy and ensuring one more trick for the defence.

Not a spectacular number of matchpoints for N/S, but the sort of average plus board you need to keep your score ticking along.

Rough Justice

July 21st, 2009  ~  mark horton  ~  No Comments 

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

And by opposing end them.

Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1

One of the few things I dislike about this game is the way good bridge can sometimes go unrewarded. Take a look at this deal from the final of the Silodor Open Pairs:

Dealer: North Vul: North/South		North
		♠	A 5 4
		♥	A Q 8 6
		♦	A 9 4
		♣	A J 5
West				East
♠	Q 7 3			♠	K J 9 8
♥	J 10 7 5			♥	4
♦	8 5 3 2			♦	K Q J 10 7
♣	10 9			♣	8 6 3
		South
		♠	10 6 2
		♥	K 9 3 2
		♦	6
		♣	K Q 7 4 2

Obviously you would like to like to bid a slam on the North/South cards, and it is not impossible to construct an auction where North/South go All In, for example:

Of course, that will not happen very often, even in a star studded field, but you would expect a fair number of pairs to reach Six Hearts.

Alas, those heart slams appear to be doomed by the 4-1 heart break A quick glance at the recap sheets did not reveal a single +1430. (If anyone made the slam report it to the Bulletin!)

As a play problem Seven Hearts is easy, you have to assume trumps will divide 3-2, so all you need to do is ruff two diamonds.

You could adopt that line in Six Hearts, but it’s not clear to me how important that potential overtrick might be, as in a Pairs event a making slam is always a decent board.

On a diamond lead declarer can win with the ace, ruff a diamond and then play a trump, simply covering West’s card. Even if East wins with a singleton honour it will be easy enough to arrange one more diamond ruff and draw trumps.

That is certainly the indicated line at IMPs, where making the contract is all important.

If West finds a spade lead (a decent choice against Six Hearts) declarer does not have the luxury of the safety play in trumps.

Do you feel that the North/South pairs who reached a slam on this deal were hard done by – along with all the East/West pairs who saw their opponents stop in game?

Mission: Impossible

July 15th, 2009  ~  mark horton  ~  1 Comment 

Mission: Impossible began as an American television series that chronicles the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) – not to be confused with the International Monetary Fund. The leader of the team, other than in the first season, was Jim Phelps, most often played by Peter Graves. Each episode began with the classic line ‘Good morning Mr Phelps, your mission, should you decide to accept it…’

On this deal declarer’s mission looked truly impossible:

Dealer: North Vul: East/West		North
		♠	A K 9
		♥	K Q 8 6 3
		♦	—
		♣	A Q 9 7 6
West				East
♠	10 8 6 4 3			♠	Q J 2
♥	10 9 7			♥	A J 5 4
♦	10			♦	9 5 4
♣	K 5 4 3			♣	J 10 2
		South
		♠	7 5
		♥	2
		♦	A K Q J 8 7 6 3 2
		♣	8

* 4NT Blackwood

*5♥ 2 Aces

With no suit agreed it’s a sound idea to use a bid of 4NT as old fashioned Blackwood.

When North only turned up with two South took the risk that North would not be void in diamonds and went for the matchpoint top.

Unlucky or stupid?

While you are deciding perhaps I should mention that East decided to lead a ‘safe’ diamond.

Houston, we have a problem.

July 8th, 2009  ~  mark horton  ~  No Comments 

Originally a genuine report of a life-threatening fault. Now used humorously to report any kind of problem.

In 1971 John Swigert, Jr. and James Lovell who, with Fred Haise Jr., made up the crew of the US’s Apollo 13 moon flight used (almost) this phrase to report a major technical problem back to their Houston base.

Swigert: ‘Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.’

Duke: ‘This is Houston. Say again please.’

Lovell: ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem. We’ve had a main B bus undervolt.’

The tagline became famous following its use in the 1995 film Apollo 13, a movie based on what was to be the third lunar-landing mission. It shows the trials and tribulations of the Apollo 13 crew, mission control, and families after a near-fatal accident cripples the space vehicle. A mission that couldn’t get TV airtime because space flights had become routine to the American public suddenly grabbed the national spotlight. This is a tale of averted tragedy, heroism and shows a testament to the creativity of the scientists who ran the early space missions.

In the final of the Silodor Open Pairs there were a couple of deals that were problematical – let’s see if you can solve them.

Facing partner’s 15-17 no trump and transfer break I toyed with the idea of bidding Four Diamonds, but I found it difficult to construct a hand where slam would be a decent proposition even if partner held perfect cards, for example:

♠ A Q 7 3 ♥ A 8 4 ♦ K 8 3 ♣ A 6 4

leaves you with no way to avoid two losers. There is also the risk that partner will play you for more than you have, so eventually I bid a peaceful Four Spades. This was the full deal:

		North
		♠	K J 8 4 2
		♥	9 4
		♦	A Q 9 7
		♣	7 3
West				East
♠	10 7 6			♠	Q
♥	K Q 8 7 5			♥	J 10 6 3
♦	3			♦	J 10 2
♣	10 5 4 2			♣	K J 9 8 6
		South
		♠	A 9 5 3
		♥	A 2
		♦	K 8 6 5 4
		♣	A Q

Although I confess it would not have occurred to me to open 1NT, clearly partner would have driven to slam over Four Diamonds.

In 1936 (!) S J (Skid) Simon, published an article in the British Bridge World in which he advocated the bidding up of ‘bad hands’. Having so far shown nothing of any value (there is some case for having bid Four Spades on the previous round) it is now incumbent upon you to do something to inform partner that you actually have a couple of high cards. A bid of Five Diamonds will see partner jump to the laydown slam with this hand:

♠ A Q J 9 ♥ A 4 ♦ A K 6 ♣ A K 9 6

This was the layout:

Dealer: Vul:		North
		♠	A Q J 9
		♥	A 4
		♦	A K 6
		♣	A K 9 6
West				East
♠	3 2			♠	10 5
♥	K J 10 9 5 2			♥	8 7
♦	Q 10 4 2			♦	J 8 3
♣	7			♣	Q J 10 8 5 4
		South
		♠	K 8 7 6 4
		♥	Q 6 3
		♦	9 7 5
		♣	3 2

Okay, I confess I changed your hand to make my point. On the actual deal South bid a fourth and final spade.

lll