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[Event "Bidding Box Feb 2019 #5"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "5"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "N"]
[Vulnerable "NS"]
[Deal "N:... J.A43.AK7.AT6432 ... AT975.876.J.KJ87"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{

The Bidding Box is a bidding contest in the <i>Bridge Bulletin</i>, in which pairs are
awarded matchpoint scores on a 12 top for their final contract.

The standard standard auction above gets to a fine club slam, scoring 11
points.  However, it is not automatic.  Would you, as East, make a jump rebid
on that moth-eaten suit?  Having done so, would you later downgrade the hand,
and bid 5\C instead of asking for keycards?  (Once you go past 3NT, it's
usually best at matchpoints to push on to slam, unless you have two quick
losers, because 5\C seldom outscores 3NT.  So ask for keycards.)  Would you
play 4\C as forcing?  The first pair in the <i>Bulletin</i> reached the slam on a
similar auction, using 4NT instead of 4\D as RKB.

Suppose East rebids only 2\C, disliking the bad suit.  West's hand is clearly
worth a bump to 3\C, and East then has an automatic 3 NT bid:  if clubs run,
there are nine tricks on top.  A slam seems unlikely, and it's seldom correct
to try for five of a minor on such a hand.

The second pair subsided in 3NT, for a respectable 7 points, after East
manufactured a reverse:

                      1 \C\n
     1 \S           2 \D\n
     3 \C           3 \H\n
     3 NT         Pass

It's difficult to go past 3NT on such auctions.

Judgment can be crucial in achieving decent results.}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[Hidden "NS"]
[Score ""]
[Auction "N"]
Pass 1C Pass 1S =1=
Pass 3C Pass 4C
Pass 4D =2= Pass 5C =3=
Pass 6C AP
[Note "1:Not a fit-showing 2\S, which would show secondary \S honors."]
[Note "2:RKB \C (Crosswood)."]
[Note "3:Two key cards, plus \CQ or extra length."]

[Event "Standard Modern Precision (SMP) Auction"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "5"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "N"]
[Vulnerable "NS"]
[Deal "N:... J.A43.AK7.AT6432 ... AT975.876.J.KJ87"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{

Andrew and I earned only 4 points on this deal in a practice session.  Let's
unravel it, looking at options.

West's 2\S shows five spades, or a bad six, and about 8-11 HCP, but is not
forcing.  The bid seems obvious, but West had other choices.  An artificial
inquiry of 2\D would give up on a 5-3 spade fit, but still find 5-4.  West
could next raise clubs (unless East shows a bare minimum), or even bid 3\D, an
artificial slam try in clubs.  Most aggressive, West could splinter to 4\D over
2\C (not Crosswood, having failed to set trump first).

East will never pass 2\S with a singleton there, but the usual bail out is 3\C.
 East's 2NT shows extra values with both red suits stopped.  But are they
primes (as here), or better clubs with soft stoppers?  The \CQ would take
strength from the red suits and actually detract from the slam potential.   

With no red suit help and a singleton diamond, West's 3\C seems correct,
showing West had club support all along.  4\C might be better on values, but
rules out 3NT.

As we have seen, having bypassed 3NT, it's best to push on to slam.  But was
4\C even forcing?  West did not think so, shrugged and bid game.  Perhaps 4\D
(Crosswood) would have been better.  East's 4\C bid seems timid.  Better would
be 3\D  or 4\D.

Both partners had lots of choices on this auction.  Both understood the system,
but had difficult judgments to make with relatively new tools.  The standard
bidders presumably had years of experience on which to base their judgments. 
This can be a weakness of adopting a fancy system.

(2019-02-00) https://3nt.xyz (c) Pete Matthews Jr}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[Hidden "NS"]
[Score ""]
[Auction "N"]
Pass 2C =1= Pass 2S =2=
Pass 2NT Pass 3C
Pass 4C Pass 5C
AP
[Note "1:6+ \C, 11-15 HCP."]
[Note "2:5+ \S, 8-11 HCP, non-forcing."]
