Bidding a good slam for a big loss

This week, let’s look at the candidates for the Yeh Bros. Best Bid Deal of the Year award from the International Bridge Press Association. (Unfortunately, all of the declarer-play candidates are too complicated for this length of column. Shortly, I will send them out to subscribers to my website: www. bridgeforeveryone.com.) First, let’s see what a cruel game bridge can be. Sitting North-South were world champions Steve Robinson and Peter Boyd. The deal occurred in the Norman Kay Platinum Pairs last March in Reno. Three clubs showed four controls: two aces, or one ace and two kings, or four kings. Three no-trump was natural and forcing. Four clubs was Puppet Stayman. Four spades guaranteed a five-card suit. Five hearts was an artificial slam-try in spades. Six clubs was a grand-slam try. Seven clubs suggested a final contract. Seven hearts asked North to bid seven no-trump if he had clubs headed by the queen-jack. Note that seven no-trump would have made if clubs had been 3-2, but seven spades was better. Boyd won trick one with his heart ace, drew trumps and turned to clubs. When they split 4-1, South ruffed the fourth round, establishing a discard for his heart loser on the fifth club. But that only got him up to 12 tricks: five spades, two hearts, one diamond and four clubs. He also needed the diamond finesse, but that lost and the contract went down one. East-West gained a lucky 11.5 out of 13 match points.