[Yale R]

http://tinyurl.com/bpspzee

I'm new here so I don't know how to embed the deal. You must click on the link above.

I first thought to bid 7 after finding out that partner had the ace of diamonds, but I chickened out and bid six. Good thing too, because partner misplayed the hand (he didn't see the crossruff) and made only 6. At matchpoints, most other tables were at aix clubs making seven. NOBODY bid the grand.

Thoughts?

[Fluffy]

Don't use blackwood if the answer is not going to change the final contract.

You cannot count 13 tricks unless partner has 4 diamonds witch is rare, but as long as partner has 2+♥ and 2+♦ you are 50% at worse for grand so normally it will all be about luck.

You should had used a grand slam try, partner has room for ♦A, ♣Q and a major suit King, let him try.

[Cyberyeti]

The key to bidding 7 with confidence is to know that partner has the A♦, the heart void AND only 2 spades, if the preempter is 3037 this grand is nothing like as good. This is pretty tricky to figure out. You might get there by accident if N shows his ♥ void and S misinterprets it as the K.

[manudude03]

Grand isn't really biddable, unless you can find a way to find out partner is 7-4. Move 1 diamond into hearts, and you're on a heart guess. You should at least bid 5H as a Q ask though, maybe partner can bid 6H meaning you can count 13 tricks.

[gszes]

preempts work this time the 3c bid successfuly kept your side out of
7c if you and p are ok with bids like that than no worries if you dont like
those kinds of results save your 3+ level preempts for more classically
shaped hands.

[rmnka447]

Normally, you don't bid a grand slam unless you can count 13 tricks or have about a 65+% chance of making 13 tricks. (So, with fairly ordinary hands, you would bid a grand if you had an 8 card fit and all that was required to make 13 tricks was a 3-2 break in the suit.)

Unfortunately, after partner's ♣ preempt, there's just no way to find out exactly what partner's hand is. So, the prudent action is to bid 6 ♣ and take the most likely best result.

Especially at matchpoints, any slam bid and made is likely to be a pretty good result. The only exceptions are those few hands where literally every pair in the room will be in slam or where getting to the right (i.e. higher scoring) slam contract matters.

[gnasher]

Fluffy, on 2013-March-03, 13:57, said:

You should had used a grand slam try, partner has room for ♦A, ♣Q and a major suit King, let him try.

A vulnerable first-seat preempt with an ace and a king outside, and clubs headed by Q10? Yuck.