BRIDGE

No messing

Andrew Robson

THOUGH seldom used, an opening bid of 4NT asks partner to name specific areas. It does not ask him to count up his aces and respond as in the Blackwood convention. Rather, a 5+ response shows no ace, 54/V/4 shows the ace of the suit bid, 5NT shows any two aces and 6+ shows +A. It is an invaluable convention when holding a very powerful hand with a void, needing to know which ace partner holds. So memo- rise the responses in preparation for the next time you hold a suitable hand — sometime in the middle of the 21st centu- ry.

Alan Mould, a mathematics teacher from Manchester, used the bid to good effect in the 1998 World Championships held in Lille.

Dealer South North South vulnerable

Q J 105 • J • A 7 6 4 2

+8 7 3 • A 8 7 4 2

• K 9 63

• 7 6 4

• 3 2

• Q 108

W E • J 9 5 3 Q 4

+9 6 2

4 —

• A K Q 109 85 • K + A K J 105

South 4NT 7,

West pass pass North 5• pass East pass pass Alan certainly took a rosy view of his hand by opening 4NT. Even when his part; ner gave him the perfect response of 5, to show *A, the missing +Q and 1tJ were potential problems. But by hiding his hand from the opponents in the bidding, he hoped that if his partner did not hold these cards, indiscretions by an opponent might resolve the situation.

West led a trump and Alan overtook VJ with 1PQ and proceeded to run all his trumps. Faced with a series of blind dis- cards, East eventually threw a revealing 412. Believing that East would not have dis- carded +2 if holding +Q, Alan now cashed +A and +K. West's +Q was felled and the grand slam was Alan's. Notice declarer's technique — rather than stake everything on an early + finesse against East, which is the a priori best percentage — he runs off his long suit and watches the opponents squirm.