I meant it as a general principle rather than for this particular hand. The Suth hand could be quite different, the North hand not so much.
nonetheless, I think it applies pretty well here, given that we take the previous bids to be as they were intended. Suppose the N hand has the
K and bids 6
showing it.
N looks at his hand and reviews the bidding. The intended meanings of the bids were such that S can assume that N has the
Ak, now he hears of the
K, he preciously heard of the
K, and he has heard that they have all of the keys.
So let us first look at when N has the
K:
AQ53
AK2
K2
A764
KT84
Q93
A4
KQ32
He can play N for at least the above. Ok, this requires that both black suits break 3-2. But it is also just giving N 20 highs, so it is possible that if the clubs break 4-1 maybe N has the J. Or maybe N has
Kxx and
Axx. In these cases a 3-2 spade split will suffice.
If he has to worry about clubs splitting 4-1 or whether or not N has the
J then yes, he has a bit to worry about. But whether they do or do not bid the grand it seems that S is probably in the better position to choose. He does not have a total map of the N hand, but he knows quite a bit.
And, with the hands as they actually were, where N does not have the
K. Since N doesn't have it, N bids 6
, S says to himself "What am we going to do about hearts?", and passes.
Summary, assuming 6
shows the K: On those hands where N has the
K and bids 6
, S can be reasonably confident of the grand. On those hands where N lacks the
K and so bids 6
, S will be concerned about the !h and, at least with the given hand, pass 6
. On a different hand he might go on, but he will be aware of the
problem.