BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

USinG the losing trick count, you as West can see that each hand has six losers and therefore a slam is a good prospect.

in fact, you would be very unlucky not to make 6 ♠ , but it will not be easy to bid if you don’t use cue-bidding, rather than Blackwood.

if you discovered, via Blackwood, that you were missing two kings, you might be put off a slam. But if you can know with reasonable certainty that east’s one king is in diamonds, you can press on to 6 ♠ . this is why cue-bidding is so important.

Your initial 4 ♣ bid, in addition to showing ♣ a, expresses slam interest; east’s 4 ♦ shows ♦ a and confirms interest; 4 ♠ is not a sign off, because you have already shown interest; you are showing your lowest second round control ( ♠ K) and therefore have denied holding ♥ K.

east could have passed 4 ♠ , so his 5 ♥ must indicate a good suit of diamonds in addition to ♥ a, and obviously ♦ K. You have now heard all you need to bid 6 ♠ . (your ♦ Q is a priceless bonus). remember, only cue-bid when you have slam interest; it is a much superior approach than the Blackwood alternative.