Slam Agreement #10-11

IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

It’s an understatement to say that it’s important to have sound bidding agreements when searching for a slam. Take a look at a hand that demonstrates that point.

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

Hand#11
Dlr	E
Vul	E/W

	8763
	A2
	K86
	AKJ6

	J5
	10863
	10753
	Q72

	AKQ942

	94
	108543

	10
	KQJ9754
	AQJ2
	9

West	North	East	South
		2	3
Pass	3	Pass	4
Pass	5	Pass	6

End

BIDDING: After East’s weak-two bid, South had a very good hand for his overcall. North’s hand was far too good to simply raise spades. His cue bid of the opponent’s suit showed a heart raise with extras. South cooperated by cue bidding diamonds and North followed by a jump to the five-level. This asked South to bid slam if he had second round control of spades and South complied. Holding first round control (ace or void), South would have cue bid spades in case the grand slam was possible.

PLAY: West won the jack of spades and declarer quickly wrapped up the rest of the tricks. For those who would use 4NT with the North hand, just imagine South holding two small spades instead of only one. Blackwood is not the answer with this hand.