Everbody bid the club suit. Bridge Column for August 23, 2002, Harvey Bernstein Neither side vulnerable. South deals. North S: A Q 9 7 6 H: K J 8 6 5 D: J 4 C: 5 West East S: 2 S: J 5 4 3 H: Q 9 4 H: 3 2 D: 7 5 D: Q 10 2 C: K J 10 9 8 7 3 C: Q 6 4 2 South S: K 10 8 H: A 10 7 D: A K 9 8 6 3 C: A The Bidding: South West North East 1D 3C 4C 5C 6C Double 6S Pass Pass Pass This hand is from a friendly rubber bridge game and was interesting because of both the bidding and play. After South made a normal one diamond opening bid, things got a little out of hand. West pre-empted in clubs. North made a cue bid in clubs. East got caught up in the excitement and bid the club game. South wanted to double five clubs. This contract should go down at least four tricks. The question was, what did his partner's cue bid mean? South was looking at the ace of clubs, so North could not be showing that card. There was a possibility that North had a big diamond fit, or that he had both majors. Six clubs turned out to be a very good solution. This bid asked North to pick the right slam. North selected the spade slam and East led the two of diamonds. Declarer won this trick, played three rounds of trump, and then reverted to diamonds. The defense was able to score only the jack of spades. It was a very good result from a very different auction. _______________________________________________________ Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.