It seems to me that N should bid 3 !s whenever he has at most one spade. This hand is an illustration. S is unlimited. With my actual S hand, after partner opened 1
, I fully expect 4
to be the final contract. There was a further clue from the context: This is a "best hand" tourney where the human gets the hand with the most hcps, so I know N has at most 14 highs. So 6
is unlikely. I often forego such inferences, partly because I feel it distorts the game too much and partly because it sometimes backfires, as it would have here.
At any rate, after partner opens 1
I think a slam is reasonable in two possible cases: Either partner is sort in spades or partner has extra values. Once he shows the stiff spade, the situation has improved considerably. Partner has an 11 count but still there is a good play for the contract. Change one of those club spots to a J, or the diamond Q to the K, and it is virtually a certainty.
We are often told not to splinter with a stiff A. I was somewhat surprised to find, when I seated four bots at the table and had them bid this, that the S bot responded 4
on the first round. I am not sure I agree that we should "never" splinter with an A but I think it should be very seldom. As the old Gilbert Sullivan line goes "What! Never?" "Hardly ever". Again this hand illustrates why. I expect most already agree with this but I'll take a look.
After the 4
bid, S will have little choice but to accept N's sign-off in 4
. And N, thinking S's values are in suits other than diamonds and having no room to explore, is very likely to mis-judge whether to sign off. Starting with 2NT increases the options. After N responds, whether he shows a minimum with no stiff (4
), or extras with no stiff (3
or 3NT), or a stiff (3 something, in this case 3
), then S has an opportunity to re-think the hand. The bot explanation for my 2NT is balanced support with 13+ total points. Ok, we just have to take a flexible view of "balanced". It's balanced in the sense that my short suit is an A, a reasonable view when slam seeking.
My play was not optimal but it sufficed.
T1 Spade A
T2 Another spade ruffed
T3
to A
T4
back to hand
T5
ruffed
At this point I ruffed a spade back to hand. I think a trump back to hand would have been better for a variety of reasons. But I survived. As the cards were, almost any line would have worked.