If diamonds are trumps, a monkey could play this hand. Nevertheless, it is interesting because finding this slam requires some pretty good bidding agreements. Sometimes so much space is used up looking for a fit in a major suit that easy slams in a minor are missed.
Board #16
West dealer
East-West vulnerable
| | North
♠ 7 6 5
♥ 8 7 6 4
♦ 3
♣ A K Q 5 4
| | West
♠ A K 8 4
♥ 5
♦ Q 10 6 4
♣ J 9 3 2
| | East
♠ Q 10
♥ A K J 9 3
♦ A K J 8 5 2
♣ ——
| | | South
♠ J 9 3 2
♥ Q 10 2
♦ 9 7
♣ 10 8 7 6
| |
|
| | | | |
| South | West | North | East |
| 1♦ | 2♣ | 3♥ |
| P | P | P | |
West opened an extremely weak hand. It certainly doesn't meet the rule of 20.* In fact, I am not sure whether the ACBL's new rules even allow a system that opens hands that are this weak. It doesn't even meet the rule of 19.
I, sitting North, squeezed out a 2♣ overcall. I would not ordinarily overcall at the two level with only nine points, but the quality of my suit and the favorable vulnerability was too tempting. It also used up a lot of bidding space.
East bid 3♥, which was surely intended as forcing. Unfortunately, West could find no suitable bid and therefore passed.
A player in a position such as the one that East faced must make sure that West cannot pass short of game. Agreements must be in place so that East has at least one forcing bid in every situation. In this case most tournament players accept that any new suit by East would be forcing. This is just an application of the generally accepted rule that a new suit by an unpassed responder is normally forcing.
I am not sure what their agreement was about a jump shift by responder, but perhaps West thought that it showed a weak hand with long hearts, the opposite of what East really had.
Let's say that East only bid 2♥, and West considered it forcing. West would presumably bid 2♠ while trying to remember why she opened in the first place. If East-West's convention card included fourth suit forcing to game, East could now bid 3♣, which would extend West's torture indefinitely. West would probably keep bidding spades until East bid 3NT or 5♦, the two lowest passable bids. If West had held three hearts, she would have bid hearts before repeating spades. So, after the second spade bid, East would learn that their side had no heart fit, and West's points were in spades. So, East should confirm diamonds as trump by bidding 4♦. West cannot pass because they were still short of game, and East had not limited his hand. After West bid spades for the third time, East should probably just bid 6♦. At that point the fit would look magical.
At the table East explained that he was worried that West might have bid a "short diamond." I am unfamiliar with that concept, but if their agreements allow 1♦ openings containing three diamonds (other than the 4=4=3=2 hand — a 5% chance), and they allow opening ten-counts that are 4-4-4-1, they should probably reconsider.
Could East just use Blackwood? In theory, no, because if West showed one ace/key card, East would not know whether West had the ♠A or ♣A. In this case, however, since I had overcalled clubs, it might have worked, especially after East started cue bidding spades. If West had one ace, it was very likely to be in spades.
A third approach would be to abandon the heart suit by immediately bidding 4♣, a game-forcing splinter. However, if West then bid her singleton heart, East might think that hearts was West's second suit. They might end up in a heart contract that cannot be made.
Finally, what if West decided to pass in the first round? I would never have opened North's hand. So, East would have a clear field with three choices:
2♣: The hand meets the criterion of four quick tricks and four losers. This approach has the advantage of forcing to one level short of game immediately. However, both single-suited minors and two-suiters are notoriously difficult holdings to bid after 2♣ openers. I would not use it with East's hand unless I had advanced tools.
1♥ followed by 3♦. This sequence establishes the game force, but it also uses a lot of room that can be precious when searching for a slam.
I like the plan of 1♦ followed by a forcing 2♥ reverse after West bids 1♠. This bid shows at least seventeen points. It also shows a diamond suit that is longer than the heart suit. Then West can set trump by bidding 3♦, and the control-showing cue bidding can begin. This method may actually help East determine that thirteen tricks are available.
I would advise East-West, who played splendidly on the other seventeen hands, to develop a firm agreement about which hands should be opened in the first and second seats. Nobody asked me, but I don't think that West's on this board should be included on that list. They should also develop clear principles about which bids are forcing in a competitive auction.
Incidentally, this was one of the few hands on which my partner and I made no mistakes at all.
* Rule of 20: Add the number of high-card points to the number of cards in your two longest suits. If the total is 20 or more, the hand is eligible for opening at the one level. In this case that would result in 10+4+4=18.