Slams from STAC week

There were some difficult slams presented in the hands from STAC week. This is one we got right.

Love all, dlr S (hands rotated)

♠ A J 4 2
♥ A 3
♦ Q 6
♣ A Q 10 9 5

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♠ K 9 7 6 3
♥ 6
♦ A J 8 4 3
♣ K 7

1♠    2♥    3♥   Pass
4♠    Pass  4NT  Pass
5♥    Pass  6♠   All pass

K♥ led.

3♥ was the usual limit raise or better, and 5♥ was 2 keycards without the Q♠. The play presented no difficulty when East produced the singleton Q♠ at trick 2. The South hand is clearly an opener, but North expressed surprise that I had accepted the game invitation with only 11 HCP. I pointed out that I only had 6 losers, and in fact I didn’t hesitate to go to game. Only about a quarter of the field bid this slam though, so perhaps people don’t follow the LTC well enough.

This one was tough, fortunately for the opponents, not us.

Game all, dlr W

♠ A K Q J 10 7 5 2
♥ 4 2
♦ 10 8
♣ J

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♠ 4
♥ A K 7 5 3
♦ A K 5
♣ 9 7 6 3

North opened 4♠ and played there. I have to admit that this is difficult. To make bidding the slam accurate, you need for North to show South both that he has an 8-card solid suit, and a singleton club. The opponents mentioned Namyats, but I doubt even that would do. Even if Namyats shows a solid suit, I don’t think you promise 8 cards. What is needed is something like a Gambling 3NT, but with a major suit instead of a minor. I don’t know if there is an opening scheme that includes such a weapon.

The opponents also had this one.

EW vul, dlr E

♠ A K 8 4
♥ A Q 3 2
♦ 8 7
♣ A 5 2

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♠ Q
♥ K 10 8 7 6
♦ K J 5
♣ K 9 8 6

South opened 1♥, North responded 2NT (strong ♥ support) and drove to 6♥. On the face of it, this isn’t a bad slam, really. If trumps are no worse than 3-1, you need to find the A♦ onside, or some other favorable diamond position combined with a good guess. In practice, you are pretty much bound to simply play to the K♦, but there is also the chance of an opening diamond lead. So it isn’t a great slam, but it’s by no means awful. And since the opening lead was a spade, and the A♦ is onside, they seemed destined to make it. However, declarer drew only one round of trumps before playing a diamond off dummy. East had passed as dealer holding seven diamonds to the ace, so he rose, and quickly played another for me to ruff. Down one: severe punishment, since the only other pair to bid the slam did make it.

Declarer didn’t anticipate the ruff, but he only needed one trump in dummy, to ruff the third round of diamonds for his 12th trick. So there was no reason not to draw trumps, and that was a plain error. Partner didn’t open 3♦ vulnerable because he felt he was too weak. We were trying to maintain some standards, even on pre-empts, so that was correct. I didn’t lead my singleton Q♦, because I feared I might be wasting its honor power. And North had bid spades at one point, so I hoped the J♠ opening might push through a tenace of some sort. That could be considered an error, though, because the Q♦ lead might win a couple of ways. Partner might have the A♦, and give me a ruff, or partner might have the K♦ and another trick. But I don’t see it as a serious error, because I could have been correct.