October 2020 - 39

Weinstein bids 3♠. "Let partner
choose which game we play. Hoping to
play a 4-3 heart fit."
Rigal offers a raise to 4♣. "Trying to
land in 3NT is too tough, even though
the third-in-hand opener makes that
more plausible than otherwise (damn
it). Partner would bid 3NT here,
maybe, with half a stopper - ♠Q x?
5. IMPs. East-West vulnerable.
♠A 10 7 6 5 4 ♥A K Q 9 6 ♦5 ♣6
West
Pass
Pass

North
1♦
3♦
3NT

Call
4♣
5NT
4♦
4♥
5♥
4NT
4♠
Pass

East
Pass
Pass
Pass

Votes
6
3
2
2
1
0
0
0

South
1♠
3♥
?
Award
100
80
70
70
70
40
30
10

At the Improv
Blame transfers - do you play them?
It's like a game of hot potato. Here we
have plenty of values and great controls, but what is trump?
4♣ by Weinstein, "a general try that
will conveniently shift the problem to
partner. If partner bids 4♥, we'll ask
for key cards. If he bids the expected
4♦, we'll bid 4♥, hopefully showing
a good hand with the majors and not
sure about strain or level. Confession:
I can't wait to open up the Bulletin and
see what everyone did with this one."
Sanborn bids 4♣. "I'm having a hard
time coming up with the best descriptive bid. 4♥, not forcing, doesn't show
extra values. 4♦ is somewhat of a
misrepresentation with a low singleton. 4NT sounds more balanced - not
what I have. 5♥ - what does that even
show? Or ask? Club control? We have
that. 5NT - is this a choice between
hearts and diamonds and notrump? Let
me just kick the can for another round
to see what pard can come up with. If I
hear 5♦, I'll probably raise."

Grossack chooses 4♣. "Not sure
what this bid actually means; perhaps
it's meant to be an advance cuebid of
diamonds. It's a bit of a funky bid, sort
of an action to take control of the auction. My intent is to prod partner into
showing secondary support for either
major so I can bid Blackwood and get to
slam or stop in five somewhat intelligently. If partner bids 4♦, I'll bid 4♥
and give up on slam, though there is a
risk partner won't quite understand
what I'm doing. Sometimes in bridge
you have to improvise if you can't bear
the thought of missing good slams!"
4♣ by Colchamiro. "Whatever
it means, it'll give partner room to
describe further. Over 4♥ or 4♠, I'll
1430 him; over 4♦, I'll bid 4♥; over
4NT, I'll pass."
Donn says he'll chance a slam with
5NT. "Maybe partner will have a better
idea where to play it. If he punts it back
to me with 6♣, I will bid 6♥."
Korbel bids 5NT. "If partner fits our
hand decently, say:
♠x ♥J x x ♦A K Q x x x ♣A K x,
a grand slam isn't out of the picture. I
can't construct too many hands where
slam is bad. So I bid 5NT and make
sure we at least get to a sensible strain."
Robinson emerges with 5NT. "We
have enough high cards to make a slam.
However, what is our trump suit? 5NT
says pick a slam, so I'll let partner make
the last mistake."
Molson comes up with 4♦. "Another
charmer. Of course, when partner
bids 4♥, I have no idea whether that's
kickback, so maybe 4♣ is better. That
allows partner to bid 4♥ with three,
4♦ or 4♠. At the table I would bid 4♦.
Writing this, I think 4♣ is right, so if
this exercise is being scored, my answer is the one that gets me the highest
score!"[Nope, sorry, Janice, we're going
with the call you would make at the
table.]
"I'll bid 4♦," says Lawrence. "If we
have a slam, it's probably in diamonds."
Cohen settles for rebidding his
hearts. "4♥. Partner has extras (his
jump), but in the wrong place for slam."
Rigal bids 4♥. "If I raise to 4NT, then

a club lead might separate my hand
from partner's, e.g.,
♠Q ♥x x ♦A K J x x x ♣A J x x.
Even a 5-2 heart fit should play OK
barring the usual 6-0 trump break."
Boehm improvises with 5♥. "Even
a perfect 12 count, e.g., ♠K x, ♥J x x
and the minor-suit aces, produces a
tenable grand slam. So some slam try is
called for. Admittedly a difficult call for
partner to handle, but I can't think of a
better way."
◾

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October 2020 Bridge Bulletin

39
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October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2020
