Discussing some hands of this event with my friend Ilai Baniri (ISR), we decided to consult some hands with friends. I for my side and he for his, combining experience with youth, and the results are as follows.
Problem 7: Scotland against Bostwana Category U26
Dealer West. Neither Vul
A J 10 9 6 A Q 10 9 J 9 A 9
West
North
East
South
1
5
Pass
?
Zia Mahmood (USA) WGM 6
Marcelo Castello Branco (BRZ) WGM: 6
6. Not sure, but trying to show my hand
Giovanni Donati (ITA) Pass
I pass, not enough values to bid 6after partner’s preempt.
David Bakhshi (ENG) WIM: 6
6 – Could be that we can make a grand slam or that we go down in 5, so could even be best to defend 5x.
However, I would hope we can make at least a small slam and try 6on the way to 6.
Krzysztof Martens (MON) WGM: Pass
Depend on style. with junior I pass. With senior I bid 6
Brian Senior (ENG) WM: Pass.
Pass, in tempo, and maybe opener will double??? It is a guess with 6possibly being cold and posibly being no play. I’m a pessimist when partner makes any pre-emptive call.
Benjamin Robles (CHI) WM Pass
Pass. it seems automatic in these colors. If there is slam it is impossible to know without space, I prefer 400 insurance and the possibility that they still reopen with double.
Mikael Rimstedt (SWE) WIM: 6
Liam Milne (AUS) WIM: 6
6At all nil, KQJ to eight clubs and 8221 shape with nothing special is just a 4bid, so I expect eight good clubs plus something extra. That extra could easily be a spade void, in which case even 5could be going down (e.g. – xxx Qx KQJTxxxx is possible to only make ten tricks).
On the other hand, something like 0238 shape, hopefully with another high card somewhere, is likely to make slam. I’ll go optimistic again and bid 6C. Not interested in seven here.
Pass – We might easily make slam. If p has a A/K of we have good chances, and if not opponents might miss the lead, but that’s not necessarily enough.
I can only see maybe 8 club tricks + 2 aces, so even if we can set up a spade trick or pd has an extra trick, we might still be a trick short.
Vassilis Virvidakis (GRE) Pass
Pass. We may have 6 but there is a danger for 2 quick losers in diamonds
Asaf Yekutieli (ISR) Pass
Pass. Partner appears to have his side suit cards, particularly honors, in the diamond suit. In order for slam to be good, even a nice diamond holding such as KTxx to complement KQJxxxx in clubs does not suffice: we lack the ruffing power. As even an 8-4 distribution does not nearly guarantee slam, it just can’t be good enough.
Answers:
6 = 5 experts
Pass = 7 experts