[pilowsky]

We, of course, didn't reach any of them. This came up in an online Club tournament today.
As bid and played.
The pbn file.
What would you bid next for East? Imps scoring, Dealer West. NS vul.
We play basic SAYC.

---

[smerriman]

1N (yes, 15-17) - 4♦
4♥ - P

Even seeing the hands I don't want to be in a small slam, let alone a grand.

[dokoko]

Unless you pinpoint the spade weakness, a small slam is a good bet, needing not much more than either a non-spade lead or ♥K onside. But hard to reach (East would need to know about West's clubs).

A grand is for cheaters or result merchants.

[Tramticket]

The only reason that you are suggesting a grand slam is that the double dummy software has told you it is possible. You will improve your bridge if you ignore this double dummy analysis and work out how the play will go. It would then be obvious that the grand slam needs the spade finesse and the clubs to split. It is not a sensible to suggest a grand slam.

[DavidKok]

Most pairs have some conventional bids at their disposal on this sequence, such as Checkback Stayman, 2-Way (Puppet) Checkback Stayman or XYZ. In my system I would bid 2♦, conventional and GF (but not showing anything else), on which West would bid 3♣ to show exactly a 3=2=3=5 shape. This may or may not be enough to help me get to a small slam. I leave the grand to the clairvoyants.

[pilowsky]

I agree with everyone. Not for a second did I imagine being in a slam - before or after - I was just amazed when I saw the double-dummy and wondered if the clever people would have something up their sleeve that I didn't know about. As for clairvoyance - that would have to be psychic.

[nullve]

Quote

även maskiner behöver lite kärlek

Swedish!

Where is it taken from?

[pilowsky]

Mina farföräldrar talade minst åtta olika språk. Jag pratar bara engelska i åtta olika accenter. Jag har en underbar svensk partner och Google översätta är underbart. Naturligtvis är det helt onödigt - hennes engelska är perfekt.
As for the little phrase - I made it up myself .

[mycroft]

Yeah, this is a 5-or-7 hand, especially if it's a complex auction that pinpoints the spade lead. I hate those - because you almost never get a great score in 6. If it makes, there's the one or two nutcases that bid 7; if it goes down, there are too many people scoring +650 (or +630, or +200!).