Bridge | 16 March 2024

Last weekend’s women’s trials for the European championships – a playoff between two teams of four – was surprisingly enjoyable. Not only was I lucky enough to be partnering Paula Leslie, but also all eight of us got on exceptionally well. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that level of friendliness in such a crucial match. Which made it marginally less painful when my team eventually lost by 205 to 242 imps. I’m still kicking myself for my mistakes, of course. But there’s one hand I just didn’t know how to bid – and still don’t, even after canvassing the opinions of some top players (see diagram).

In the other room, 7NT was reached after an auction which began 2♣-2♥-3◆-4NT. Paula opened 1◆. Of those I asked most preferred 2♣. But 1◆ works well if the oppo intervene at a high level, as you can bid spades next. I responded 1♥ and Paula jumped to 2♠. I rebid hearts; she rebid spades. What to do? If Paula held the ♣A, grand-slam was on. But I had no way of setting hearts as trumps. Almost all the experts bid Keycard Blackwood anyway: it ‘couldn’t cost’, and if she showed four, I could bid the grand. But I worried that if she showed three, we would never reach 7♥. How would I know if she held the ♠K or the ♣A?

My solution was to jump to 6♥, hoping it showed solid hearts. Opinion was divided. Gunnar Hallberg and Artur Malinowski would have raised with North’s hand. David Gold and Thor Erik Hoftaniska thought it was close. Nevena Senior (our opponent at the table) wouldn’t. If her partner jumps to slam, she never raises: they could be gambling. Zia agreed – he never raises. I’m still scratching my head!