Bidding quiz BRIDGE

You deal and bid One Diamond. Partner responds Three Diamonds (forcing).

What would you bid now with each of the following four hands?

1. [S] K105 [H] KQ7 [D] AK7652 [C] 8

2. [S] Q4 [H] K3 [D] KQ753 [C] AQJ8

3. [S] J6 [H] K94 [D] AJ95 [C] KQ72

4. [S] 82 [H] AK6 [D] KQ874 [C] J63

***

1. Four notrump. Partner’s jump indicates excellent diamond support and 13 to 16 points (Including distribution), raising the question not only of whether there’s a small slam, but whether you might even make a grand slam.

Accordingly, you invoke Blackwood, asking for aces. If partner bids five diamonds, indicating one ace, you will of course pass. If partner responds five hearts (two aces), you will bid six diamonds. If he responds five spades (three aces), you will next bid five notrump, asking for kings. If partner responds six diamonds, indicating one king (which must be the king of clubs), you will bid seven diamonds because you can count 13 tricks.

Finally, if partner bids six clubs (no kings), you should stop in six diamonds as you cannot account for what you will do with your potential spade loser.

2. Four clubs. If you had a minimum opening bid, you’d normally bid three notrump or four diamonds to show your limited resources. But this hand is not a minimum -- you have 17 high-card points -- and you can portray these extra values by bidding four clubs to show interest in a slam and first-round control of clubs.

You then leave the rest to partner. He may carry on to slam or choose to stop at game as he sees fit.

3. Three notrump. This is not a pleasant bid to make, considering your spade holding, but there is no better call available. In view of your flat distribution, an 11-trick game in diamonds is far less attractive than a nine-trick notrump game.

Partner doesn’t really expect you to have all three side suits completely buttoned up when you bid three notrump, so he can decide to overrule you by returning to diamonds if his values are unsuitable for notrump.

4. Three hearts. Here, too, the best chance for game lies in notrump, but you can’t reasonably bid three notrump with two suits unguarded. You therefore bid three hearts, hoping that partner, with spade and club strength, will be able to bid three notrump.

Three hearts does not, in and of itself, profess interest in a slam. It can be interpreted as either a probing bid for game in notrump -- which is the intention here -- or as an initial step toward slam.

Tomorrow: Choosing a line of play.