Portland Bowl

Slam Bidding?

Playing in the Portland Bowl semifinal, 16 IMPs down with one stanza to go, I picked up the following cards:

Axx — AQJxxxxx Ax

Partner dealt and opened 1NT. RHO hesitated, then passed. I began by bidding 3

(natural, slam interest). Partner rebid 3

showing heart values (might be a three-card suit). I bid 3

(spade values), partner bid 3NT. I bid 4

(cuebid, agreeing diamonds, indicating that 3

was an advance cuebid). Partner cued 4

and I had nothing more to cuebid, so I bid 6

A club was led, and partner tabled x x, A x x x, K x x, K Q x x. Sadly, the opening lead wasn't ruffed and we'd missed a chance to pull back 13 IMPs. See the next article to find out the result of the match...