Wishin’ and hopin’
Would you envisage a lie of the cards that enables you to play this suit for only one loser?:
| West
♠ ♥ ♦ A96 ♣ |
 |
East
♠ ♥ ♦ J75 ♣ |
Fortunately for me, Len Aberbach, my partner, conjured the winning lie of the cards at this morning’s club game:
| Dealer: 18-E
Vul: NS |
North
♠ KQ73 ♥ T94 ♦ QT ♣ T854 |
|
| West
♠ T ♥ AQJ76532 ♦ A96 ♣ Q |
|
East
♠ A952 ♥ K8 ♦ J754 ♣ A63 |
| South
♠ J864 ♥ — ♦ K832 ♣ KJ972 |
| West | North | East | South |
| — | — | 1NT (12-14) | P |
| 4♣ (tfr to ♥ ) | P | 4♥ | P |
| 4NT (keycard) | P | 5♦ (0 or 3) | P |
| 6♥ | All Pass |
Opposite a barren weak notrump, my bidding was a little rambunctious (so little as the ♣J or ♦T would have been welcomed). Len, however, was up to the task. In the end position, he played small toward the ♦J, the ♦Q rising to his right. Later the ♦J pinned North’s ten and finessed South out of her king. Of course, I would not have bid the slam without the ♦9. Yeh, sure.
Surprisingly to me, the risk of being in slam had some upside, even in a matchpoint event. (I was expecting the same top for +480 as for +980, meaning the slam bid was all risk and no reward). However, one other pair bid and made slam, one pair was +480 and three other pairs (one in 7♥!) went down a trick.
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In theory, I like to think that I’ve given up bidding this sort of slam, that’s to say a hand with a long suit opposite a balanced opening. It always seems to end in disappointment. Here you have 8 tricks and need partner to provide four more somehow. IMHO, that’s a lot to ask of a weak notrump. In fact, he had a magnificent hand for you. Life would not have been so much fun, nor would there have been a story to tell, if partner had been dealt this piece of garbage: Kxxx xx KQJx Kxx. You could be down 3, doubled 😉
Robin,
I hope I would not have been in slam after keycarding and finding, in your sample hand, that we are off at least 2 (and actually 3) of the 6 keys! But yes, even 5H down two tricks would have been highly disappointing.
OTOH, it does take very little in the right places to make slam pretty cold. I do know that partner, being balanced, does not totally misfit my hearts. Plus a big declarer advantage can occur when there is a long suit to run forcing all sorts of discards.
In retrospect, I think trying for slam is a bit too much, but if I have slightly more substance to my diamond suit — say if my my minors were AJT and x instead of A9x and Q — I still like trying for slam.