[jillybean]

The Day of Dombyra resonates every first Sunday of July, honoring Kazakhstan’s cherished national instrument.

But enough Trivia, what do you do with this hand from the TG tonight?

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[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

if you trust North, that he knowes, how a red vs. green 4S bid in first position looks
like, you bid 6S.

He should only need 2 tricks to make 4S, you have 4 tricks.
RKCB will tell you nothing you dont already know, in theory 2KC and the Q of trumps
are an option, ..., so you could bid 4NT, a lead directing double of the 5H response
wont hurt you, the guy would be on lead himself, the remote chance of the Grand is
real, hence not blasting is better.

With kind regards
Marlowe

PS: If he should show up with only 2KC without the Q, he should have 8 spades, i.e. 7 looks
pretty good, RKCB gets a lot better, than I initially gave it credit.

[mikeh]

Methods count, although perhaps not as much on this as on others. Do we have two ways to preempt here…as in namyats? Assuming not, then red v white 1st seat should deliver about 8 tricks, especially given that we have the trump ace. KQJxxxxx x xx xx is possible if partner thinks seat and vulnerability don’t matter, but surely that’s the very worst he could have. Slam is likely anywhere from cold to being on a helpful lead and finding the heart Ace onside. Couod he have say KQJxxxxx Ax x xx or similar? Grand is excellent.

So…on a good day we rate to hav3 13 tricks. On a bad day we have some play for 12 tricks, which adds up to we have to bid.

I’d bid 4N unless we play namyats, in which case I’d give up on grand. If he admits to two keycards plus the trump queen, we may be able to establish hearts…worst case is a stiff ace which impedes transportation. Screw it, I’ll bid 7S opposite a 5S response. If we play namyats, I just bid 6S, to avoid any informational leakage, not that I expect it to matter, but grand is really against the odds then.

[jillybean]

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No namyats, no experience in regards to style.
Should have, could have made some move, I push to slam on a lot less than this.

[akwoo]

1) How confident are you in your main partnership that 4N is RKCB rather than natural?

2) Wouldn't you generally rather be in NT rather than spades at MPs? Or are you worried about partner only having 7 spades? A bonus for 6N rather than 6S is that your HK is protected.

[jillybean]

1. In my main but infrequent partnership, 100% confident 4nt is keycard. In others, it would be a gamble.
2. This hand is from the Team Game. If I was to be playing this at the club, I would bid 6N

[pescetom]

I think even I would not play 4NT as quantitative here. My doubt with a pickup would be whether it is RKCB or plain Blackwood. With a regular partner it is RKCB (one of the few times I would use it) and yes we play void showing responses.


I was wondering if anyone plays 5♣ as a control bid in spades here. It's another bid that makes little sense as natural in the context.

[mike777]

An alternative approach some players do
Is to open 3NT with a long unspecified major.
No outside ace or King.

You can differentiate

Leaves a bit of room to explore at a lower level

[mikeh]

akwoo, on 2026-July-06, 10:04, said:

1) How confident are you in your main partnership that 4N is RKCB rather than natural?

2) Wouldn't you generally rather be in NT rather than spades at MPs? Or are you worried about partner only having 7 spades? A bonus for 6N rather than 6S is that your HK is protected.

100% confident. Protecting the heart king is an illusion on most layouts. It gains only when you have 12 tricks without needing a heart trick and when opener has 2=1 in the reds with the heart ace offside.

[P_Marlowe]

jillybean, on 2026-July-06, 07:28, said:

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No namyats, no experience in regards to style.
Should have, could have made some move, I push to slam on a lot less than this.

The North hand is a dead min for 4S, but it is ok, the 8th spade and the heart void.
Without the Q of diamonds, ... I dont know if I always have the discipline to bid
only 3S, I have done it in the past, but not always, I would in my main partnership.

And even without the Q 6S has lots of play.

[pescetom]

4S 4N
6H 6S
P

Void showing responses are another "but we need the eggs" situation.

I have a 3Nyats opening, but all partners refused to play it so far. We haven't returned to Namyats and while I do miss the inferences, a natural 4m has been unexpectedly useful.

[WasWinM]

P_Marlowe, on 2026-July-06, 13:32, said:

The North hand is a dead min for 4S, but it is ok, the 8th spade and the heart void.
Without the Q of diamonds, ... I dont know if I always have the discipline to bid
only 3S, I have done it in the past, but not always, I would in my main partnership.

And even without the Q 6S has lots of play.

It's actually pretty much cold other than a 6-1 diamond break. Win the opening and cash the top two diamonds. Then a low spade to the K. Ruff a third diamond with the spade A. Heart ruff back to hand and surrender a spade
to the Q. Even if the spades are 3-0 it makes.