March 2025 - 67

Special Contributor
Dear Billy
BY BILLY MILLER
dearbilly@aol.com
dearbilly.org
Dear Billy,
Nobody vulnerable, South
deals:
North
s Q 7 3
h A K 4
d A K Q 7 4 2
c 3
South
s A K
h 6 3 2
d J 10 9 8 3
c A 6 5
West North East South
1d
1s 5d
All Pass
5d is cold for seven after
you pitch your heart loser on
the sQ. How should we get
there? Jacoby 2NT applies over
majors, not minors. We do play
cuebid raises, so maybe North
starts with 2s? South bids 3d to
show the length, and North bids
Roman key card Blackwood?
What's your advice?
A Minor Faux Pas
Dear Major Pho,
You really fell into a pot of boiling
soup! North must start with 2s and
go from there. After North cuebids 2s,
showing at least a limit raise in diamonds,
I'd assume South would rebid
2NT, not 3d, because he has such a
powerful spade holding. South is not
thinking about a slam; he is simply
doing his best to end up in 3NT, the
most likely game. Notice the 2NT rebid
would show a minimum hand. With
more, he would jump to 3NT.
North should be very happy to
hear the 2NT bid because he did not
have first- or second-round control
of spades, the suit the opponent bid.
Over 2NT, he can bid Roman key
card Blackwood for diamonds, however
you do that in your system. The
king-ask will show 12 tricks for sure.
Now only the boldest or the most
sophisticated will get to the ice-cold
grand!
Bidding 5d showed a weakish hand
with a million diamonds, not appropriate
for this mega-hand. Good
diamond fits with game-going hands
must start with a cuebid, as you
mentioned.
Happy New Year, Billy!
I was the dealer on this board:
Me
d A K 7 6
c 4 2
Partner
s A K Q 10 7 4 s J 9 8 6
h 7
h A K 10 4 3
d J 10 5 4
c -
Against silent opponents, the
bidding was 1s-2h; 3s-5c;
Pass. I passed 5c, as I thought
partner had a 6-6 distribution
and was asking me to choose. He
said it was exclusion Blackwood
for spades because it was a presumed
fit. We play splinter bids
as well. SOS!
Oops?
Dear Fumblerooski,
Your side has definitively set trump
as spades with the 3s rebid. Period.
That's the way it should be played.
Everything else that follows in this
auction must be in support of spades.
If your partner bids any other suit
at the four level other than spades,
it would be a cuebid in support of
spades, including 4h. 4NT would
be key card Blackwood for spades.
Any suit jump to the five level would
be exclusion Blackwood, asking for
key cards not in the exclusion suit.
Exclusion Blackwood is used with
a void in a side suit. Your partner is
totally correct.
This is an interesting situation that
deserves partnership discussion.
You'll get it next time!
You also mentioned that you play
splinters. I do agree that a splinter
can be made with a void (i.e., 4c
directly in response to 1s), but if
opener has the ace, the void can be a
wasted value. If over 4NT the splinter
bidder decides to show the void at
the six level, he really doesn't know
whether that is a working void or a
wasted void. On this hand, the void
is working overtime facing two low
clubs. All in all, I like responder's
choice of the initial 2h bid.
P.S. I can't honestly say that I agree
with the 3s rebid, though it is close.
With a seventh spade or the sJ
instead of the 10, I think you would
convince me. 2
March 2025 | Bridge Bulletin |
67
http://www.dearbilly.org
March 2025

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