Son of Priam

Hi all

Here are two slam disasters from the regional pairs in Santa Clara. It happened to be one of those days where we just should have stayed in bed, everything Drew and I tried just crumbled to a smelly pile of untouchable refuse.

West

North

East

South

 

 

 

1

pass

2

pass

21

pass

42

pass

43

pass

43

pass

64

pass

… 65

a.p.

 

1. Shows extras
2. Shows shortness with support
3. Cuebid
4. Suggesting a place to play
5. I’m not playing a minor in pairs when we have a Major suit fit

Of course West (surely a son of Priam!) led a , rose with trump Ace and gave his partner a ruff. Good for us! We found the single slam out of the four possible that had an Achilles heel. 6, 6 and 6NT are all spectacularly glacial.

West

North

East

South

 

 

 

1NT

pass

2

pass

2

pass

31

pass

42

pass

63

a.p.

 

1. Shows shortness with support
2. Cuebid, I still like my hand, even with those poor trumps
3. Let’s try it again

As you can see I was unsuccessful in piloting 6 to safety. The disgusting split in trumps led to down three. East surely must have felt sorry for us, I’m usually not that forgiving (in pairs) on the 6-level with five trumps to the King-Ten and an outside Ace. Both 6 and 6 are marvelous slams, but it’s far from easy to figure that out when you have established a Major suit fit already.

This weekend we’ll take a shot at qualifying for the GNT’s in Louisville. Let’s hope dark days are behind us.