[hrothgar]

Relay Responder
♠ T
♥ KJ852
♦ AKJ4
♣ QT7

Relay Asker
♠ KQ2
♥ AQT94
♦ 82
♣ AKJ

[hrothgar]

hrothgar, on 2013-July-27, 14:20, said:

Relay Responder
♠ T
♥ KJ852
♦ AKJ4
♣ QT7

Relay Asker
♠ KQ2
♥ AQT94
♦ 82
♣ AKJ

MOSCITO auction

First hand where I am going to use Keycard rather than QP ask.
The Ace of Spades is potentially a monster card. Seems right to ask for it...

3♠ - 4♦
4♥- 4N
5C - 5H
6S

3S = RKCB in Hearts
4D = 2 KC, no Queen
4H = CAB in Diamonds
4N = Q or AK

Opener can't have A of Spades and K of Hearts, so he must have the Ace/King of Diamonds

5C = CAB in Clubs
5H = Q or AK
6S

[rbforster]

hrothgar, on 2013-July-27, 14:20, said:

Relay Responder
♠ T
♥ KJ852
♦ AKJ4
♣ QT7

Relay Asker
♠ KQ2
♥ AQT94
♦ 82
♣ AKJ

3♠-4♦ RKC ♥; 2 no Q
4♠-5♣ diamond ask; AK or Q only (slam is good vs the former, hopeless against the latter; risky but seems worth a try based on suit lengths)
5♦-5N club ask, Q (or AK) (without the Q♣, we could still wimp out in 5♥, but probably wouldn't)
6♣-6♥ spade ask, nothing
P

I admit this may not be a convincing auction, since it sucks not to be able to determine the diamond holding with no honors to help interpret the response. I'm not 100% sure, but it seems somehow more likely partner will have his values in his long suits rather than stiff AS and only Qxxx in diamonds.

Amusingly, if partner had the A♠ and missing only the K♥, you could swing for 7 if you need it, especially since the likely trump lead (or not) could very well give up the trump position. you would be losing only to Kx offside or both 3-0 breaks (play for stiff K if not lead), a 52% grand.

[rbforster]

hrothgar, on 2013-July-27, 14:35, said:

First hand where I am going to use Keycard rather than QP ask.

3S = RKCB in Hearts
4D = 2 KC, no Queen
4H = CAB in Diamonds
4N = Q or AK

Opener can't have A of Spades and K of Hearts, so he must have the Ace/King of Diamonds

5C = CAB in Clubs
5H = Q or AK
6S

Why can't the 2 keys be AS and KH? With a minor Q or two, he'll still have GF values without the top two diamonds.

Also, I assume you're playing 6H not 6S... Those 3-1 trump holdings are hard enough for slam without missing the A .

[akhare]

hrothgar, on 2013-July-27, 14:20, said:

Relay Responder
♠ T
♥ KJ852
♦ AKJ4
♣ QT7

Relay Asker
♠ KQ2
♥ AQT94
♦ 82
♣ AKJ

...3♦

Even with the 10-card trump fit, we aren't going anywhere without some serious oomph. RKC ♥ won't get us the information in time before the 5-level and might not survive it opposite x Kxxxx Axxx xxx.

So:

3♥...4♣ (QP ask, 8 QPs)

Now that have 5-level insurance even opposite A Kxxxx A xxx:

4♦....5♣ (DCB; controls in ♥/♦/♣, no second ♥)
5♦....5♠ (DCB; second ♦, no second ♣)
6♥

Even with a 5♥ response (A Kxxxx Kxxx Qxx), slam is 50%.

[rbforster]

akhare, on 2013-July-27, 15:44, said:

...might not survive it opposite x Kxxxx Axxx xxx.

Is that really a GF response?

Quote

6♠

You and Richard both playing in spades?!

[akhare]

rbforster, on 2013-July-27, 15:51, said:

Is that really a GF response?


You and Richard both playing in spades?!

Heh...fixed typo. A / K is technically a GF response given the 5 QP stipulation.

[rbforster]

akhare, on 2013-July-27, 16:00, said:

A / K is technically a GF response given the 5 QP stipulation.

Ah, that's another difference I guess. I insist on a decent 8 HCP, just having 5 QPs alone isn't enough for a GF for me. Soft 8 counts and weaker will bid semi positive responses barring some freak shape with good fillers.

[awm]

... 3♦ (shape)
3♥ - 4♣ (relay, 8 QP)

Not enough for grand slam here (all the keycards would be 8 QP, but then there is no way to remove the diamond loser).

However, there's also no way small slam isn't good.

6♥ - Pass

[straube]

hrothgar, on 2013-July-27, 14:20, said:

Relay Responder
♠ T
♥ KJ852
♦ AKJ4
♣ QT7

Relay Asker
♠ KQ2
♥ AQT94
♦ 82
♣ AKJ

Straube

3♥-4♣ QP ask, 8
4♦-4♠ PCB, odd heart with even diamond
4N-5♥ ask, odd club and skip for small spade but stay for HK
6♥

[sieong]

(PCB with control parity)

Same as Adam's, since at 8QP that's all we need to know.

[Free]

I don't like RKC here because you might possibly end up in slam missing a ♦ control. ♠A can indeed be a monster card, but it's counted with our QP's, so no problem there imo.

...-3♦ (shape)
3♥-4♣ (QP ask ; 8)
4♦-5♣ (start scan ; 1 in ♥, 1/2 in ♦ and ♣)
(5♦-5♠)* (relay ; 2 in ♦, 1 in ♣)
6♥-pass
(*) if rightsiding is an issue and you're afraid of a ♦ lead through Kxxx you can ask to verify you have 2 top honors. We have just enough space, with 1 ♦ honor North will bid 5♥.

A-Kxxxx-Kxxx-Qxx or x-Kxxxx-AKxx-Qxx is good enough for slam, with the extra step you can also figure out which it is.