René's Bridge Diary

  Don't look at the bidding. It is a fool's work. But there we are. I have a few chances. For one, the ♣Q could drop, or the ♠Q could fall with a finesse. So my plan was to check the ♣ first, and then finesse for the ♠Q if that fails. Chances are meager that this plan works. However, I did improve my options by first cashing all the tricks in the red suits, then the ♣AK. There are four cards remaining. As the cards stand, East must keep to the ♣Q and needs to expose the ♠Q to the finesse. 7NT made. I was the only one making the contract, but not the only one bidding it. Most other players went to 6♣ which is a far better bet.

  But I did not beat him, due to greed. Sliynk is the IntoBridge alias of Peter Hollands , a Youtuber who creates nice content about Bridge. I met him on IntoBridge only once. On this server, you still have a chance to meet a player twice. The hand above was bid by all players in "other results". The bidding of 3♠ is an artificial slam try which I still do not understand completely. I am playing 2/1 with Lia. The system is explained in very little detail here . I don't have more information. Although you have 34 points in the combined hands, you cannot make 6NT because the ♦ suit does not break. Once you notice that fact, you should give up. For that to work, you need a plan to deal with it beforehand. You have only 10 sure tricks. The ♣ could provide another one. But the ♦ look like the best bet to get two more. So cash the ♣ lead in the hand, test ♦ A, cross to the table and try to finesse ♦ . This does not work. Now, you can no longer make your contract if ...

  The explanation of 5NT in the bidding above was 17+ points. So I guessed, 7NT could not be a bad option. Partner would have an entry in  ♥  and either three discards in spades or all missing jacks. And so it was. Out came a small ♠. However, the game play turns out to be not so straightforward. We have 12 tricks and need a 13th. At the table, I opted for 3-3 in either  ♥  or ♣. Neither happened. With a bit more thinking (I tend to think too fast while playing on-line), I could have combined this option with a squeeze. But I spoiled it by trying the two suits first. I should have cashed the three top  ♥ , uncovering the 4-2 break, then the three  ♦  tricks ending at the table, then the top three ♠, discarding two  ♥  and one ♣. At that point, West had to discard one of his winning cards, the ♠8, or a small ♣. Note that in case the ♣ break 3-3, we still make. So we have indeed increased our chances. It is worth thinking about the...