| The amusing hand of the GNT qualifier follows. I've placed it here because
of the similarities to .0
Hands
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North South
Mark Stiles Dave Miller
S J 9 x x S A K Q 2
H A x H 7
D 9 8 x x D A K J T x
C A K x C Q x x
Bidding
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South North Comments
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1D (S) 5-loser hand, 2-suited. Don't like 2C
1S (N) One obligatory spade. Sigh...
3H (S) Jump reverse as splinter by agreement
(N) Strong jump shift! Have I got a hand for you!
4D (N) Sets trump, awaiting further instructions
(S) No CA and diamond void. My hand now sucks
4S (S) Put on the brakes
(N) SA!!!!! Alright, I can safely use Blackwood
4N (N) Keycard for diamonds
(S) Keycard for spades? OK - pard must have HA+CK
5D (S) 3 keycards (2 Aces plus SK)
(N) 3 keycards (2 Aces plus DK)
5H (N) Do you have trump Queen? (DQ)
(S) Do you have trump Queen? (SQ)
6D (S) Yes, I have spade Queen, and Diamond King, too
But we can't have grand since we're missing CA
(N) No diamond queen
Pass (N) We'd better not bid grand off the trump queen
(S) WTFO????? (What the F***, over?)
Thank God this is IMPs...
Partner starts to tell the opponents that we've had unusual control asking
sequence, and I also inform them there's been a failure to alert. After
getting the auction straightened out, diamonds are 3-1 onside, and I played
for the drop, making six. The other table got to 6S, also making 6 on the
same line of play. We lost 2 IMPs, but at least we got to a slam!
Later that day, I held Kxxxx-x-Kx-AQJxx. For reasons unknown to most, I
decided to open it 1C instead of 1S. Partner responded 1S, and after getting
up off the floor, I bid 3H. Partner alerts (Yea!) and we find 6S, after:
1C-1S-3H*-4N-5S-6S
Partner has AJT9x-xxx-AQJT-x, and decided to bid slam knowing we were off the
trump Queen and another keycard. I might have a heart void, or he might be able
to guess which way to play for the trump queen. Trumps were 2-1, which was
fortunate since partner played Ace out of hand and Qx was in RHO's hand.
Note that had I opened 1S, partner is likely to splinter in clubs, and I
may try to apply the brakes. The other table only got to 4S for an 11 IMP gain.
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