[jillybean]

---

MP, your partner is known to be a tad aggressive.

[mike777]

4h

KJXXXX...AQX...AKJX....VOID

[apollo1201]

The shape is flat but I cannot see how we could have a better honor structure after a simple raise and the (supposed) splinter.

Not bidding 4H would be criminal. If we go down in slam it will be because partner misbid and it will be a lesson for him to evaluate hands better for slam prospects.

[mw64ahw]

Game try before slam try or does 4♣ show a void?

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

6S

4C is a slam try on the basis, that you have only a single raise, and ask,
do you have max. without wastage in club? If yes, slam is on.
This assumes, that you do not play constructive raises, i.e. 2S is something
like 6 ... 10, 3 card raise.

If it does not have play, partner should can take his 4C and send it to the
toilett.

Obv., you can go slower, but p is lacking a the Ace and Queen of trumps, i.e.
he wont really move over 4S.
If you want to go slower, you think 7S is on.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[TMorris]

4 H for me. I am near maximum for my bidding so far. Not co-operating with partner would be rude.

[jillybean]

mw64ahw, on 2026-October-14, 00:46, said:

Game try before slam try or does 4♣ show a void?

I am unfamiliar with style here but expect that a slam probe via game try would be stronger.

And game tries are still under construction

[P_Marlowe]

jillybean, on 2026-October-14, 05:22, said:

I am unfamiliar with style here but expect that a slam probe via game try would be stronger.

Obv. it matters, what kind of Game Tries you are playing Long / Short of Help.
My impression is, that Long / Help is more common than Short, due to this, I would take
4C as a Splinter.
If you have add. agreements, like 3NT showing a Void, than ..., but most would play 3NT as
choice of Games in the given seq., again my take on common praxis.
Which means, that opener has to make the splinter immediately, ..., because

Responder is limited, as is opener, the combined HCP strength is max. 30, a slam needs fitting
hands, the splinter is a useful tool to find out, if the hands fit.

[Cyberyeti]

apollo1201, on 2026-October-13, 23:50, said:

The shape is flat but I cannot see how we could have a better honor structure after a simple raise and the (supposed) splinter.

Not bidding 4H would be criminal. If we go down in slam it will be because partner misbid and it will be a lesson for him to evaluate hands better for slam prospects.

Not necessarily, I would say if the slam has no play rather than if we go down in it, I wouldn't exactly blame him for holding KJ 8th, Axx, AQ, void if the diamond finesse didn't comply

[jillybean]

P_Marlowe, on 2026-October-14, 02:12, said:

If it does not have play, partner should can take his 4C and send it to the
toilet.

---

[mike777]

 jillybean, on 2026-October-14, 07:18, said:

---

Rock solid bidding to a lay down contract
Bridge is easy

[jillybean]

mike777, on 2026-October-14, 07:25, said:

Rock solid bidding to a lay down contract
Bridge is easy

Sarcasm?

[P_Marlowe]

jillybean, on 2026-October-14, 07:18, said:

---

The problem ist the single king of clubs.

Anyway: Looking at the East hand, we have
2 loosers in spade, our trump suit, we are missing AQ
2+ loosers in hearts, we only have AJxx in hearts,
1 loosers in diamonds, we are missing the King
1 looser in club, we are missing the Ace

To sum it up, we need p to cover 5 of of our 6+ loosers to
make the small slam, and he has said, he only has 6-10HCP

I mean with a min raise, and as far as I see it, responder never
said, he had more than min, you may even go down in 4S.
poor little old LTC would tell you, that this a pretty rotten
19HCP count, 19HCP count are 5-6 loosers, you have 6 loosers,
and maybe even more, depending on your prfered LTC method
..., actually this is a hand, that the LTC was designed for,
and the LTC would say: STOP.

You can come up with hands, that give slam a chance, even now, we
only req. both red finesses to work (a bit less than 25%), but those
hands are pretty specific.

Move the King of clubs to diamonds, and the bidding is ok, LTC would
also happen to agree, but with the given hand, the 4C bid is just garbage,
and no, this is not being overly agressive, just ...

[Cyberyeti]

P_Marlowe, on 2026-October-14, 07:45, said:

You can come up with hands, that give slam a chance, even now, we only req. both red finesses
to work (a bit less than 25%), but those hands a pretty specific.
Move the King of clubs to diamonds, and the bidding is ok, but with the given hand,
the 4C bid is just garbage, and no, this is not being overly agressive, just ...

It may be that he was making the mildest of slam tries thinking you had 3 bids, all at the 4 level, but even so, I don't see how he's ever gonna find out if you've got the magic AQx, x, Kxxxxx, xxx

Best to just bid 4♠

[apollo1201]

 jillybean, on 2026-October-14, 07:18, said:

---

OMG the habd is just too weak. Where on earth does partner expect to take 12 tricks facing 6-10 points. The honor structure sucks with a sg K and a H suit that is so empty. A lot of losers that cannot expect a 6-10 points hand to cover.
Still the contract is not hopeless, but only very bad, requiring lots ofluck in the reds. That illustrates that partner probably made a wrong call if we go down (barring the wild hand correctly suggested by Cyber where anyway it is hard to be too scientific).
And (for instance with a more suitable hand, sg C and AKJx H) if a slam try is to be made, the alternative contract of 6H with a 44 or even 45 fit should be investigated.

[mw64ahw]

By aggressive does that mean unable to evaluate hand strength?

I'm not going anywhere near a slam try with 6 modified losers opposite 9.5~9 or 9.5~8.5 as I play it.
Playing 3-way game tries with
2N reverse help suit try
3♣ weak trumps
3♦ splinter
3♥ splinter
3♠ ♣ splinter

Either of the bids in bold will get 4♠, but that's it for me

[jillybean]

Cyberyeti, on 2026-October-14, 07:55, said:

It may be that he was making the mildest of slam tries thinking you had 3 bids, all at the 4 level, but even so, I don't see how he's ever gonna find out if you've got the magic AQx, x, Kxxxxx, xxx

Best to just bid 4♠

This!
We made 5, and had we stopped in 4, it would have been a top.
It was club bridge, a practice session, so it's good to have these errors here.

We didn't open 2♣ or make an advanced cue on our way to game. Make the club king a diamond and I am going to bid this way,
1S 2S 4S is the maximum for the hand, "I hope to make it".
What should 1S 2S 4C look like?

[akwoo]

I bid 4H. And if partner signs off with 4S, I bid 5S. Unfortunately, that bidding sequence is also consistent with AQx x QJxxxx xxx but oh well.

Your partner unfortunately has no hand building skills. If they are up for discussing this hand, you need to ask them what hand you could have that would make slam good. They might never have thought to think that way before.

[mike777]

 Cyberyeti, on 2026-October-14, 07:55, said:

It may be that he was making the mildest of slam tries thinking you had 3 bids, all at the 4 level, but even so, I don't see how he's ever gonna find out if you've got the magic AQx, x, Kxxxxx, xxx

Best to just bid 4♠

Two spades?

[P_Marlowe]

Cyberyeti, on 2026-October-14, 07:55, said:

It may be that he was making the mildest of slam tries thinking you had 3 bids, all at the 4 level, but even so, I don't see how he's ever gonna find out if you've got the magic AQx, x, Kxxxxx, xxx

Best to just bid 4♠

I guess there are game try variants, that enable you to find out, if responder has shortage, and I guess they would
start with 2NT, and responder can than indicate, if he has min / max and an undisclosed shortage, but this is pretty
arcane, and I dont play this kind of stuff / ...