Paul Mendelson’s bridge column

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‘I haven’t bid a Grand Slam in thirty years’, the mother of one of my friends announced when she joined one of my classes recently. However, with a bit of prompting, she was soon declaring 7 ♥ on a prepared hand…

West S AJ105 H 94 D QJ109 C J42

North S Q8742 H 73 D AK63 C 105

South S - H AKQJ865 D 42 C AKQ7 East S K653 H 102 D 875 C 9863 ♥

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Dealer South E/W Game N E S W - - 2C NB 2D NB 3H NB 4D NB 5C NB 5D NB 7H

Holding ten almost certain tricks, South opened the strongest possible bid, 2♣. North responded with 2♦ which, in the old days, was a negative, but is now more often played as a relay, denying a high quality 5-card suit. The key bid in the auction is the opener’s re-bid. If a 2♣ opener jumps in her suit, it says that this will be the trump suit whether partner likes it or not! 3 ♥ set the suit as hearts.

All partner must do is to cue-bid any ace she holds in her hand. Hence, North’s 4 ♦ bid showed A♦ and South’s 5♣ bid showed A♣. North felt that her K♦ must be useful, so she cue-bid diamonds again, indicating K♦. That was enough to persuade South to bid the Grand Slam.

Not expecting it to hold the trick, West led A ♠. Sure enough, South trumped this and then made the crucial play. Realising that the fourth round of clubs was a loser, she laid down the A♣ and K♣ and trumped 7♣ in dummy with 10 ♥ . Then, and only then, did she pull trumps and make the best contract of all.