NEW CANADIAN BRIDGE

Monday, February 8, 2021

South ruffed in dummy and drew trump with the king and queen of hearts. An advance of the queen of spades fetched the king and ace where declarer could discard two clubs on the spade winners to emerge with thirteen tricks. North opted for a splinter revealing diamond shortness with excellent heart support when West opted for an Unusual 2NT overcall. East advanced to five diamonds as a sacrifice or a potential make but North's continuation to five hearts was passed out. The contract would be defeated when the spade king was offside and West owned the ace of clubs. East considered bidding six diamonds but this call would backfire when North then tries six hearts based on the diamond void. Then E-W would be compelled to save at seven diamonds to salvage a equitable matchpoint award. East would lose only three tricks in diamonds where a doubled three-trick set would result in loss of 800 points. Perhaps North should immediately bid five diamonds as a splinter delineating a void. Would South react positively to this action by advancing to the icy heart slam?

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