BRIDGE
Not obsolete
Andrew Robson
ONE OF the more elegant conventions in bidding is the Grand Slam Force, some- times known as 'Josephine' after its inven- tor, Josephone Culbertson. A bid of 5NT, when not preceded by 4NT, asks partner for two of the top three honours in the agreed trump suit for the Grand Slam. As you can imagine, the convention does not occur too commonly, and for this reason, coupled with the fact that new advances such as Roman Key Card Blackwood ren- der it less useful, it has become largely obsolete.
Dealer West North-South Vulnerable 4 A K 10 5 3 • A 6 3 • A 3 • A 10 4 4 Q 8 4
• J 10 8 7 5 4 2 • K 7 + 3
4 J 2
• Q 9 • J 9 8 6 5 4 2 + 9 7
N
W E
4 97 6 K
♦ Q 10
• K Q J. 8 6 5 2 The Bidding
South West North East
3V double pass 5+ pass 5NT pass pass pass pass After South jumped to 5+, North used the Grand Slam Force to ask for two of the top honours in trumps, +s. South naturally jumped to 7+ and West led VJ. Declarer won 1PK, drew trumps in two rounds finishing in dummy, and discarded • 10 on VA. He cashed •A, trumped 403 and then ran all his trumps. As he led his last trump, West was down to 4Q84 and V10, dunarnY holding V6 and 4A10. West had to discard 44 to prevent dummy's V6 from becoming winner, but now dummy's V6 could be dis- carded. Declarer led to dummy's •K' cashed 4A, felling 40 and 4J, and tabled 410. He was naturally elated at squeezing West to make his vulnerable Grand Slam, but his line of play was far from best. After winning VK and drawing trumps fin- ishing in dummy, declarer should have discarded 46 (rather than •10) on VA. He cashes 4AK and trumps a third # 1°, establish dummy's 4s. He crosses to •A and discards • Q on a 4 winner.
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