Jimmy Sez # 21
I do not play 2/1 game forcing so I guess I am a dinosaur among the new bidding theorists. I do have certain rules that I expect from partners. One such is that if you go to the two range as an unpassed partner after my suit opener, you owe me a least one more bid. Let me show you a hand that gave me a problem. As you can see from the bidding we missed a cold slam because partner was more worried about what I had in my hand instead of trying to correctly evaluate the usefulness of his particular holding.
What would your final bid be as North and why?
S- K 3
H- A K 5 4 3
D- K 4 3
S- 4 2 C- 7 6 5 S- 9 8 6
H- 9 H- 10 8 6
D- J 10 6 5 D- A 9 7 2
C- K 10 9 8 4 2 C- Q J 3
S- A Q J 10 7 5
H- Q J 7 2
D- Q 8
C- A
Bidding
S W N E
1S Pass 2H Pass
3H! Pass 4H Pass
5C! Pass 5H? Pass
Pass Pass
To me 6 hearts stands out a mile. If I was North I would reason thusly: I have 2nd round control of partners 1st bid suit, and 2nd round control in the unbid suit. My partner’s bid of 3 hearts must have four pieces, most probably containing the queen. Lastly the cue bid says don’t worry about the club or spade ace because I have them. It is important to understand what partner is looking for when he cue bids. The North hand has all the cards that make the slam possible and he should bid it.