[msjennifer]

mikeh, on 2018-October-16, 11:03, said:

Actually, this hand 'technically' has 2 losers And assuming, as seems reasonable, that the opps have all or most of the spade honours (they are red v white!), partner is marked with at least the diamond King, so this hand, having a LTC of 2, rates to find a nice dummy.

And the pass is not 'tame'. It is, in fact, the most aggressive call one can make, inviting partner to bid a slam with a decent long suit (which can only be diamonds on this hand), which we intend to raise to grand...the antithesis of 'tame'. Partner is expected to bid 5N with 2 places to play, and to double only with a blah hand, whereon, personally, I think it to be close but I would choose 6♥. Stronger, by logical inference than bidding 6H directly.

Sir,I am SORRY,this comment of mine was placed by mistake on my part in this column.It was actually meant for the other problem which was was given today.I have since corrected it as "wrong post".

[miamijd]

I'd get to the "wrong" contract on this one given the lie of the cards.

I'd bid 5NT pick a slam. If partner is nice enough to bid 6C, I would raise to 7. All I need is four clubs and decent splits in the rounded suits, and we probably make, and I know partner has more than that since he passed rather than Xed. If partner bids 6D, I would correct to 6H (hearts score better than diamonds). If partner bids 6H, I will take a chance and raise to 7, because partner has to have something, and the odds are pretty good that his something is in diamonds.

Here, I'll get to 7C by East, which can be set on a H lead. Of course, if North is nice enough to X, I'll probably run to 7H, and now I'm apt to end up defending 7SX.

Cheers,
mike

[neilkaz]

Do people really think that at unfavorable vul, the opps will sac in 7♠x after jamming your auction and making you guess?

[gszes]

IMHO pass is a stand out simply because it carries a message of grand slam interest. We know responder has something over there but we do not really have a clue here or how much they have. The pass implies first round control of spades which also helps partner devalue the spade ace. I do not believe this hand is strong enough to commit to a grand unless partner can show a club suit. If partner bids 6c or 5n I will bid 7c and convert 6d to 6h and pass 6h. Looking at both hands I would end up playing 7c since partner will bid 6c over 5s. If those 3 jacks had been a useful Q or K I would have expected a 7c bid instead of 6c.