All Vul N Dealer	♠ 6 ♥ K Q 5 3 2 ♦ 10 ♣ A K 7 6 4 2
♠ 10 9 7 5 ♥ 8 7 ♦ A K 7 5 4 2 ♣ 8		♠ K 8 4 3 2 ♥ 10 9 4 ♦ Q J 8 6 ♣ 10
	♠ A Q J ♥ A J 6 ♦ 9 3 ♣ Q J 9 5 3

Hi Andy

This is a hand I played as North at our local club (Pairs scoring) in Newcastle last week. We play a modified Acol system when 1♥ opening shows 4+. I think most people will agree with 1♥ opening even with 5–6 in Hearts and Clubs. The problem arose with the 2♦ intervention by West.

My thoughts were:
3♣ – that would be just a competitive minimum with 4 clubs.
4♣ – may be taken as limit raise and partner may pass.

I bid 4♦ as minorwood agreeing Clubs and my partners 5♣ response showed 2 Keycards and Q♣. I signed off in 6♣ while 6♥ (best score) is cold. Can you suggest how it might be possible to reach 6♥ after the 2♦ bid by West?

Hi Pravin,

Given the agreements, I think the best rebid by North would be a 3♠ Splinter (if possible) showing a singleton or void in spades with strong club support. The reason being is that South may be as weak as 10-12 points or so, and at least it now opens up the possibility that South may be able to bid 4♥ over the 3S splinter and play there (i.e. imagine South’s ♠A was a small spade, now 4♥ is the best game to play in, better than being in 5♣).

In any case, I would say it is perfectly fine to be in 6♣ on this deal. Whilst it’s true that 6♥ would score better, but it’s easy to visualise that 6♥ could be a cold off slam – imagine South’s ♥J was a small heart and hearts broke 4-1, now you want to be in 6♣ instead of 6♥. The problem is, how does N/S find out if their partner has the ♥J? The answer is they can’t, so in these slam decisions, I would say it is always better (and safer) to play in the better and stronger trump fit. Besides, not every table would get to slam so I would say getting to 6♣ should yield an average-plus board.

Hope that helps,
Andy