A difficult slam to bid.
Bridge Column for August 5, 2001, By HARVEY BERNSTEIN
Neither side vulnerable.  South deals.
                              NORTH
                              S: A K J 9 4 2    
                              H: 5       
                              D: K           
                              C: J 5 4 3 2
            WEST                             EAST
            S: 10 7 5                        S: Q 6  
            H: Q J 9 7 4                     H: K 8 6 3 2  
            D: 9 7 5 4                       D: J 8 6             
            C: K                             C: 9 7 6       
                              SOUTH                         
                              S: 8 3  
                              H: A 10  
                              D: A Q 10 3 2 
                              C: A Q 10 8 
          The Bidding://
                  SOUTH    WEST    NORTH    EAST                  
                    1D     Pass     1S      Pass
                    2C     Pass     2H      Pass
                    2NT    Pass     3C      Pass
                    3D     Pass     3S      Pass
                    4H     Pass     6C      Pass
                   Pass    Pass
     Three no trump was the popular spot when this hand was dealt
at a local duplicate game.  After a heart lead, those declarers
that just took their nine tricks got a good score and those that
tried a finesse in one of the black suits wound up with a bad
score.
     A couple of pairs got to the excellent club slam.  It is
difficult to bid, but if you have the right tools, it can be
done.  In the auction shown, two hearts by North is "4th suit
forcing".  This should be alerted by South and the explanation is
simply that two hearts in this sequence is forcing and says
nothing about the heart suit.
     Some partnerships play this convention as "forcing to game"
while others play it as a "one round force".  I take the middle
road.  I play that the 4th suit bid is forcing and the next bid
by that bidder is also forcing.  If, however, the partnership
cannot find a fit, they could wind up in a contract below game.
     In this case, two no trump by South shows no other
distributional feature.  Three clubs sets the trump suit.  The
next three bids are "cue bids" showing first round control. 
North is then able to determine the full value of his diamond
king and singleton heart, and to bid the club slam.
     West led the queen of hearts.  South won the ace and played
a diamond to the king so that he could take the club finesse. 
This lost to the singleton king but everything else worked and
twelve tricks came home for plus 920 and a tie for top score on
the hand.
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Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.