Best Bid Hand Keith Bennett & Neil Rosen

It is rare that a contract that is only reached at one table is exactly 100%, but such was the case in the best-bid hand for the weekend. Indeed the two 6NT contracts bid in the event were almost 100% apart in their probability of success, but not quite (the Irish one above only needs diamonds 0-8 with the diamond void on lead, and that player holding the ace of spades, not to mention clubs playing for four tricks).

The key to this hand was to avoid playing in diamonds, which Keith Bennett did comfortably by never supporting the suit. After the normal 1S – 2H start, he upgraded his hand with the two red tens, and rebid a 15-19 2NT. After two natural slam tries by Rosen, he saw no benefit in playing in diamonds, and bid a natural 4NT. Rosen bid what he thought he could make, and Bennett claimed fairly quickly once he had done a bit of unblocking. Ireland bid the reasonable diamond slam, but their luck was out for once, and they lost 10 IMPs to Norway, who were smarting after a heavy first-round defeat.

Extract from Paul Lamford's Match Report