March 2025 - 40

cover. It's the wasted space that prevents
West from bidding 2h, 2s
or 2NT himself (itself?). Over 2NT,
West bid 3h to show his suit. East
next bid 6NT, a quantitative slam bid.
It wastes too much room, but it's also
hard to see what choice East had at
that point. West passed, as bidding
a grand slam looked like total guesswork
at that point.
Bridge Bulletin auction: 2c-2d;
2h-2NT; 3c-4c; 4NT-5d; 5NT-
7NT. 2c is strongly recommended
with 22 or more high-card points,
as otherwise it becomes too difficult
to catch up later. After West's strong
bidding, East is justified to take a
chance on 7NT at matchpoints. Even
if the dJ was a low one, the combination
of 3-3 diamonds and the chance
of a red-suit squeeze still brings the
contract to over 50%. And West can
have other compensation instead,
such as a fifth club or the hQ.
Scores: 7NT 12; 7c 10; 7d 9;
6NT 6; 6h 4; 6c 3; 6d 2; games 1
Seguineau-Sebbane 31, GIB 21
Problem 5
North deals. N-S vulnerable.
West
East
s Q J 10 3 2
h J 10
d -
s A K
h A 6
d K J 10 9 8 5 3
c A 10 9 8 3 2 c 7 4
Seguineau Sebbane
1d
1s
2h
Pass
East opened 1d with the seven-card
suit. Despite holding longer
clubs, West responded 1s, as the
hand wasn't strong enough to begin
with 2c. East conservatively rebid
2d. 2h by West was artificial, and is
a forcing/asking bid. East bid 3d to
show extra length. West had heard
enough and passed before they got
any higher.
40 | Bridge Bulletin | March 2025
East started with 1s, and West
upgraded to a 2c response, forcing
to game. 2s by East didn't promise
six, as has been seen in several earlier
hands. Therefore, the 4s call by
West showed a minimum with three
spades. East liked his hand enough
to advance with key card Blackwood,
taking the small chance that West
2d
3d
Seguineau Sebbane
1s
2c
4s
5c
6c
Pass
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(email and in-app) with your bidding
compared with the experts and the full
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2s
4NT
5d
6s
GIB
1s
4c
Pass
After the 1d opening and 1s
response, East decided to rebid 3d.
This does make sense given the seventh
diamond. West next bid 4c,
which already bypasses a likely contract
of 3NT. East gave preference to
spades with the strongest doubleton
possible, and West had no reason to
go any higher. 4s might even make,
but will often require friendly breaks,
and the defense not finding the right
plays at the right moments.
Bridge Bulletin auction: 1d-1s;
3d-Pass. Some hands are just too
hard, but the general concept has always
been to stop bidding in the face
of a misfit.
Scores: 3c 10; 3d 8; 3s 7; 1NT 6;
4s 5; 4d 2
Seguineau-Sebbane 39, GIB 26
Problem 6
East deals. E-W vulnerable.
West
East
s Q 10 6
h 3
d 10 8 4
c A K 10 7 6 2
s A K 9 8 5 2
h A J 8
d 3
c Q 8 3
GIB
1d
3d
4s
would have a weak club holding or
that they would lose two other tricks
along the way. West bid 5c, showing
one or four key cards for this
pair. 5d by East asked for the sQ.
West's 6c said, " Yes I have the trump
queen and also the cK, " a treatment
designed to help in case the partnership
belongs in a grand slam. Here,
East knew a key card was missing, so
he signed off in 6s.
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March 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2025
