| ♠ A K J 4 ♥ K Q 9 8 7 3 ♦ A 7 ♣ J |
Partner passes, and RHO opens one club. I don't have a serious objection to bidding one heart, but I like double better. It gets spades into the picture right away, and it may prove more economical than starting with one heart and doing something dramatic later on. One heart also runs some risk of getting passed out, but I don't worry about that too much at the one level.
Over my double, LHO bids one diamond, partner bids two spades, and RHO passes. This was one of the reasons to double. Partner has made only one bid, and already his hand is better defined that it would have been after an advance to a one heart overcall.
I don't need much for a slam. Queen fifth of spades and the heart ace is enough. Queen fifth of spades and the club ace, however, is probably not enough, at least not with the expected a diamond lead. The easiest way to find out if partner has the heart ace is to splinter with four clubs. In general, I don't believe cue-bids should be mandatory in forcing auctions. But partner's range for two spades is so narrow that he can hardly have a reason not to cue-bid the heart ace if he has it. I bid four clubs, partner bids four spades, and I pass.
| NORTH ♠ A K J 4 ♥ K Q 9 8 7 3 ♦ A 7 ♣ J | ||
| SOUTH ♠ 10 9 8 7 6 3 ♥ 5 ♦ Q J 10 6 ♣ K 3 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | |||
| 1 ♣ | Double | 1 ♦ | 2 ♠ |
| Pass | 4 ♣ | Pass | 4 ♠ |
| (All pass) |
West leads the four of diamonds. I rise with the ace, and East plays the nine. I cash the ace and king of spades, dropping the six and seven from my hand. (I can't imagine I'll actually be leading the three of spades to dummy's four later on. But it costs nothing to retain the option. Ever since reading Michael Rosenberg's book, I make it a point to hold on to my low trumps as a matter of routine whenever I can afford to do so.) East pitches the deuce of clubs on the second trump. If West began with a singleton diamond, I might manage to make five. I lead the king of hearts. East plays the deuce; West, the six. I seem to have made five more quickly than I expected to. Now let's see if I can manage six. I ruff a heart with the eight of spades, lead the nine of spades to dummy's jack, and ruff another heart with the spade ten. West's ace falls. I have three pitches for my diamonds if I can get to dummy. My carefully preserved three of spades does me no good, since I need to use dummy's last trump to ruff a club. I lead the king of clubs. If West began with 2-3-1-7 and the club ace, I'll make six. Unfortunately, he has another diamond to lead to his partner's king. Making five.
| NORTH ♠ A K J 4 ♥ K Q 9 8 7 3 ♦ A 7 ♣ J | ||
| WEST ♠ Q 2 ♥ A J 6 ♦ 4 3 ♣ A 10 8 7 6 4 | EAST ♠ 5 ♥ 10 4 2 ♦ K 9 8 5 2 ♣ Q 9 5 2 | |
| SOUTH ♠ 10 9 8 7 6 3 ♥ 5 ♦ Q J 10 6 ♣ K 3 |
At the other table, the auction begins the same way, but North bids four diamonds over two spades. This is apparently supposed to be an out-of-the-blue cue-bid. I would expect it to be natural, despite East's one diamond response. If North doubled planning on jumping in diamonds at his next turn, why should a one diamond bid by his opponent be allowed to scuttle his plan?
In general, if a bid could be interpreted either as natural or as a cue-bid, I believe in treating it as natural, particularly if, as here, you have a cue-bid available in a different suit. When you hold a hand where you would like some bid to be a cue-bid but it's defined as natural in your partnership, there is usually something else you can bid instead. When you hold a hand where you would like a bid to be natural but it's defined as a cue-bid, you're probably completely at a loss for a sensible action.
By way of illustration, after the auction
| RHO | Me | LHO | Partner |
| 1 ♣ | Pass | 1 ♦ | 1 ♠ |
| Pass | ? |
I play that two diamonds is a cue-bid but two clubs is natural, since I had a chance to bid diamonds naturally on the previous round but no opportunity to bid clubs naturally (except as a pre-empt).
Over four diamonds, South bids four spades, which North passes. This auction elicits the ace of clubs lead instead of a diamond. West can shift to a diamond at trick two to hold declarer to four, but he shifts to ace and a heart instead, presumably trying to give his partner a ruff. Declarer takes the rest. Making five for a push.
Me: +650
Jack: +650
Score on Board 53: 0 IMPs
Total: +134 IMPs
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