Bridge Venue

• Question 1
  
  West opens 3C, your partner North bids 3H. What should you bid with such a strong hand ?

• Answer 1
  
  West opens 3C, your partner North bids 3H. What should you bid with such a strong hand ?
  
  Answer
  
  Since your partner overcalled a preemptive bid with 3H, then he probably has 6 of them, and an opening hand. Your opposition has long clubs, but is weak (LHO has only 6-10 points).
  
  Well, 32 points seems to be the minimum you have. To make the best possible 7NT (or second best: 7 Hearts) you'd need to know about the King of trumps (Hearts) and the Ace of diamonds and 2nd round Club controls.
  
  But on the other hand given partner's unbalanced hand, there should be plenty of opportunities for discarding your losers.
  
  Clearly, game in Hearts is certain. But what about Slam ? With the losers in Clubs and one in Diamonds, it would be nice to find out about 1st round controls. Cue bid ? Splinter ? Or Blackwood (or Roman Keycard, since we prefer that, my partner and I) ? mmm.
  
  Cue bidding 3S should not be misinterpreted as your own pre-empt..and if it's not misunderstood, then that would be a good way of showing your Ace and asking about the Diamond Ace. If you were to get a good answer (i.e. 4D), which you will, you could then go on to second round controls bidding 4S to show the King. If you then get 5C back, showing King or singleton, it's worth a grand slam try, as you have everything covered, assuming your partner has the king of trumps.
  
  Your partner might also bid 4C after your 3S cue bid, which would be great for a Heart Slam (signifying a void in this case, as South has the Ace), because I'm a bit worried about the long Clubs.
  
  With Roman Key card, you ask about Aces and King of trumps. Bidding 4NT, you hope to hear back 5H, to show one Ace plus King of trumps. (In that case you could ask about which Kings by bidding 5NT. If you hear 6 Hearts, you could think about Grand Slam, otherwise pass ?). If you hear 5D, then you are missing either the Ace of Diamonds or the King of trumps... so then it all depends on 2nd round controls in Clubs. All too hard without cue bidding? Maybe have to sign off in 5, or just hope and bid 6 based on probabilities and reward.
  What actually happened?

• Question 2
  
  What does South's bid of 5S mean ? Why not bid 4NT asking for Aces ?

• Answer 2
  
  What does South's bid of 5S mean ? Why not bid 4NT asking for Aces ?
  
  Answer
  
  Cue bid, I've got the King of Spades, tell me about your second round controls

• Question 3
  
  When North replies 6C, meaning singleton or King-x in Clubs, how many tricks can now be assumed ?

• Answer 3
  
  When North replies 6C, meaning singleton or King-x in Clubs, how many tricks can now be assumed ?
  
  Answer
  
  The only uncertainty seems to be the King of trumps. Since North pre-empted in Hearts, and South has AQ, it seems very likely that North has the King. Grand Slam seems a good shot, even with an apparent maximum of only 30HCP.

• Some subjects to follow up on

  90 Slam, Spotting the chance 100 Overcalls, the basic idea 168 Cue bidding for controls 90 Slam, Spotting the chance