Another deal from the
Higson Cup Final on 23rd April.
This shows the importance of having good trumps when playing in a slam.
When East opened one
spade, West preferred to show his good clubs rather than the motley
heart suit. When East rebid two hearts, West, already thinking of
a slam, made the key bid of two spades, showing a good hand and three
card support, to avoid playing in a heart slam with possible trump
losers. East now splintered with a bid of four clubs and West
jumped to five diamonds, intended as exclusion key card
Blackwood. East was unsure of the meaning of five diamonds and
hedged his bets with a bid of five notrump which should show two key
cards. When West bid six spades, East now decided that seven
would
be a good bet. On the lead of the diamond ace there were no
problems in the play.
Of course, with hearts breaking, the grand slam in hearts would also make on a non-spade lead but it is a poor contract. |