Slam via J2NT

[Miksa]

Thanks to the BIL teachers and in this case Susan Doty specifically, our partnership (my wife and me) had adopted the suggestion to play Jacoby 2NT major response after her teaching session on January 21st. After 30 days, this Thursday, we had the opportunity to check how good students we are .

In the local bridge club we were lucky to get this hands:

IMP Pairs, All vul

North (Dealer)
S: J 5
H: A K J T 8 6 2
D: 7 4
C: A 9

South
S: A 6
H: 7 5 4 3
D: A K T
C: K Q 5 4

Our bidding was:

North .......... East ...... South .......... West
-------------------------------------------
1H (a) ......... Pass ...... 2NT! (b) ...... Pass
3NT! (c) ...... Pass ...... 4C (d) ......... Pass
4H (e) ......... Pass ...... 4NT (f) ........ Pass
5C (g) ......... Pass ....... 5NT (h) ...... Pass
6H (i) .......... Pass ....... Pass (j) ...... Pass

(a): 5+ in hearts, 12+ total points
(b): 4+ in hearts, 13+ support points (alerted)
(c): no singleton or void, 16-18 support points (alerted)
(d): first or second control in clubs, slam interest
(e): no first/second control in diamonds or spades
(f): ask for number of keycards, assuming hearts as trumps
(g): 0 or 3 keycards
(h): confirms the possesion of all keycards, ask partner to bid grand slam if has some useful feature or to bid a King aside
(i): nothing useful for grand slam, no King aside
(j): chicken

After the play we had the feeling that we made something wrong in our bidding, but are not sure what it might be:

1) North has more than 18 tp (extra length in hearts)?
2) South didn't valued his Q in clubs as "extra feature"?

We assume that in the situations (i) and (j) there are no "exact" guidelines so one has to "visualize" partner hand according to the bidding sequence and make the decision. Alas, playing bridge 15-16 months only we don't have that experience (yet).

Please give us your opinions:

1. Do you agree with the bidding sequence (up to the very end)?

2. How could we reach 7H?

Thanks for your time.
P.S. On the other seven tables (yes, our local club is small) only one pair bid 7H. We will ask them how they did it next Thursday.

[sdoty]

	Quote:	Miksa
	North (Dealer) S: J 5 H: A K J T 8 6 2 D: 7 4 C: A 9 South S: A 6 H: 7 5 4 3 D: A K T C: K Q 5 4

I only have time for a quick response, but...

a) I'm glad you got to try J2NT out, and I'm even more glad that it was a successful attempt. Congrats on a very nice, cooperative slam auction.

b) I see two extremely useful extras in the North hand... namely the sixth and seventh hearts. They are two additional winners which p doesn't know about --- in terms of trick taking potential, you can think of them as being like two extra aces. (They aren't going to help you make 7H if you're missing an ace, but you had that part well under control.)

Susan

[Miksa]

	Quote:	sdoty
	a) I'm glad you got to try J2NT out, and I'm even more glad that it was a successful attempt. Congrats on a very nice, cooperative slam auction.

Thanks, you are so kind. Of course, bidding could be better: 3H by North would tell South that the hand is unbalanced and 5D (Queen asking) by South could help North calculating where South's points are. But we are glad that we haven't disgraced our BIL teachers and this is a big "push on" for us to keep on learning at BIL .

	Quote:	sdoty
	b) I see two extremely useful extras in the North hand... namely the sixth and seventh hearts. They are two additional winners which p doesn't know about --- in terms of trick taking potential, you can think of them as being like two extra aces. (They aren't going to help you make 7H if you're missing an ace, but you had that part well under control.)

You made a very good point: at least, those two extra hearts ensured not only that QH is not the problem but that at least they are as useful as a King aside.
Thank you very much for the reply.

[hoki]

I think both the miksa student partnership and the teacher Susan Doty can be proud of this effort. Clearly the grand needs both the seventh heart and the club queen to be successful, a combination that I doubt many expert pairs would find. Evaluating the North hand as a medium rebid to Jacoby 2NT is already a fine achievement and the decision that carried the partnership to slam. The ensuing cue-bid and ace-ask sequence is almost unbelievable from a pair that has only been playing for 15 months.

Great stuff, keep it up. I'm sure we'll here more from you if you're already starting like this.

Oliver [hoki]

[Miksa]

	Quote:	hoki
	I think both the miksa student partnership and the teacher Susan Doty can be proud of this effort.

Thanks. It's easy to be good student with good teachers as you in BIL are.

	Quote:	hoki
	Clearly the grand needs both the seventh heart and the club queen to be successful, a combination that I doubt many expert pairs would find.

I promised I'll ask our friends in club how they bid 7H. Here it is:

North ..... East ...... South ...... West
1H ......... Pass ..... 2NT ......... Pass
3H (1) .... Pass ..... 4NT ......... Pass
5C (2) .... Pass ..... 5D (3) ...... Pass
5H (4) .... Pass ..... 6H (5) ...... Pass
7H (6) .... Pass ..... Pass ........ Pass

(1): no single/void, slam interest
(2): 0 or 3 key cards
(3): "Do you have HQ?"
(4): "No" (!?!)
(5): "OK, then I don't want to be in grand slam"
(6): "Well, I do :-)"

They told me that their decision to bid 7H was based on the "feeling". They are much more experienced than we are (playing over 8 years).

	Quote:	hoki
	Great stuff, keep it up. I'm sure we'll here more from you if you're already starting like this.

We hope so, at least as long as it remains to be pleasure. Thanks again.