Board 15
East Deals |
| ♠ | A K Q 10 8 6 5 |
| ♥ | 9 5 |
| ♦ | A |
| ♣ | Q 7 3 |
|
| ♠ | 9 4 3 2 |
| ♥ | Q 4 |
| ♦ | 10 6 5 |
| ♣ | 10 6 4 2 |
| |
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| ♠ | 7 |
| ♥ | K J 8 7 6 2 |
| ♦ | J 4 3 |
| ♣ | J 9 8 |
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| ♠ | J |
| ♥ | A 10 3 |
| ♦ | K Q 9 8 7 2 |
| ♣ | A K 5 |
|
NS 7N; NS 7♠; NS 7♦; NS 6♣; NS 3♥; Par +1520
| West | North | East | South |
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| | 2 ♦ | 3 ♦ |
| Pass | 3 ♥ | Pass | 3 NT |
| Pass | 5 ♠ | Pass | 5 NT |
| Pass | 6 ♣ | Pass | 6 ♦ |
| Pass | 7 ♠ | All pass | |
This is a problem hand for the methods. After a three of a minor overcall most often north will want to aim towards 3 NT. To this end it makes sense to use three of a major in response to ask for a stopper. This means we will sometimes have a problem when we have a long major and want to explore for a major suit game.
Some of that ambiguity is overcome by using a jump to four of a major to show a good six card suit and game values.
Here we have an even stronger hand. In this case we can "cue" 3 ♥ and then bid our spades. Since 3 ♦ shows 16-18 this hand can force to slam by jumping to 5 ♠. There is room for other subtleties. For example a repeat cue of 4 ♥ could show a heart control and therefore the jump to 5 ♠ deny a heart control. This would show our hand precisely. The 4 ♥ bid would have to be spades as with a diamond fit (or clubs) after 3 NT we can pull to 4 ♦ (or 4 ♣).
Illustrated here is the use of 5 NT (one-level above 4 NT RKCB) when the auction has progressed to the five-level in a slam try auction without asking for key cards. Under those conditions we can use 5 NT to ask for key-cards in order to investigate a grand slam. So long as you have the clear agreement then the subsequent 6 ♦ and ask for the trump queen. This method works best if you use kickback so the key card ask is one step above five of the trump suit.
