Bridge Puzzle #3

What? 6 Diamonds?

In contract bridge (which always has fixed partnerships), slams (contracts of 6 or 7) which contain a high number of scoring points can be bidded to quite easily. Here is an example:

Contract: 6D  
Declarer: S
Vul: N-S
Lead: C10
S A Q J 9 6
H A 8 5 3
D A
C A 7 4
S 10 7 4
H J 6 2
D J 9 2
C 10 9 8 5
W N



S
E S K 5 3 2
H K 10 9 4
D 7
C K 6 3 2
S 8
H Q 7
D K Q 10 8 6 5 4 3
C Q J

The bidding went as follows:

WestNorthEastSouth
Pass1S (1)Pass 3D (2)
Pass3H (3)Pass 5D (4)
Pass6D (5)All Pass 

(1) Showing 5+ card spade suit, 13 - 21 points.
(2) I'm got a good diamond suit and some points.
(3) I'm got points too, my second suit is hearts.
(4) Sorry, I'm only interested in diamonds.
(5) All right, diamonds it is. Have fun with the slam.

Ok, so (2) and (4) was questional bidding. The opening lead is the C10. Is there any way to make the slam contract now that you can see all four hands? If so, how? If not, you're not thinking hard enough!

Even better, can you make 7? Thanks to Dr. Alan Cheng for pointing that out.


Last updated: Friday 13 September 2002, 16:25:12 hrs
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