East-West vulnerable. South deals. North S: Void H: A 4 2 D: A J 9 5 4 C: A J 8 7 2 West East S: A J 9 7 4 2 S: Q 10 5 H: K J 10 5 H: 9 8 7 3 D: 6 D: 3 C: K 9 C: 10 6 5 4 3 South S: K 8 6 3 H: Q 6 D: K Q 10 8 7 2 C: Q The Bidding: South West North East 1D 1S 2S Pass 3D Pass 6D (All Pass) Opening lead: SA This hand came up during a duplicate game. South opens the bidding with one diamond. This is a very thin opening bid but there is a rebid and two diamonds would be a poor choice because of the four card spade suit. West made a very normal one spade overcall. North obviously needs more information from his partner. His two spade cue-bid simply says I have a good hand and need to know more about your hand. South has an easy diamond rebid. At this point, North knows that partner has a minimum opener with five or six diamonds. He could bid Blackwood for aces but he knows that the likely answer will be five clubs, or none. Asking for kings would be dangerous because if South has more than one king the answer would be six hearts or six spades which would preclude a small slam in diamonds. Instead of confusing the issue with some other bid, North decides to ignore the grand slam possibility and just bid six diamonds. West led the ace of spades, ruffed by declarer. When the king of clubs fell doubleton, the jack of clubs provided a resting place for a small heart and thirteen tricks was easy. This was a top score on the board as many pairs stopped at three no trump making nine or ten tricks. _________________________________________________________________