Above is the West hand opposite our 1NT opening.
| 1NT | 12-15 balanced-ish, no 4cM | |
| 2C | 3C | 3-3-4-3 |
| 3D | 4C | 10 SPs (A=3, K=2, Q=1) |
| ? |
3D risked hearing 4C. Otherwise West would play 3NT.
Is 10 SPs enough? The opponents have 4 SPs, so K-K or A-Q.
The CQ will be crucial. Hope we can stop somewhere (5NT) if partner lacks that card.
| 4D | 4H | D = 0 or 2 including Ace, so A-K or A-Q |
| 4S | 5C | S = yes, H = no |
That was a bit lucky. No heart honour means partner must have
Axx, xxx, AKQx, Qxx
Therefore 6NT. Nice DJ we had!
Note that’s a 15-count. Some of the strong notrumpers got to slam over that minimum. We needed to work harder because that is a maximum.
Say partner had bid 4NT = 0 or 2 spades honours. If zero, then
xxx, KQx, AKQx, Qxx.
Then West bids 6C to protect the spade king. What if partner has S-AQx?
That’s not so good. 8 or 9 SPs in those suits means 1 or 2 in the other two, maybe no CQ.
AQx, Qxx, AKxx, xxx. Or maybe AQx, Kxx, AQxx, xxx
Now slam is odds against opposite those 15-counts. Partner could have the CQ:
AQx, xxx, AKxx, Qxx, when slam is quite good.
All in all, still worth it. Can we stop in 5NT opposite that wrong hand? Let’s see
| 4S | 4NT | S = 0 or 2 |
| 5C | 5H | H = yes, C =no |
| 5NT |
Never fun to play 5NT. Opposite AQx, Kxx, AQxx, xxx, it looks to be about 70% while 6C is about 35%. Who has time to work that out?
