Strutting your stuff

Matchpoints, not vulnerable, you are sitting North.

♠ x x x    ♥ A x x x   ♦ A x x   ♣ x x x

Aces and spaces. Yawn. Dead square distribution. Ho hum. Did I remember to turn off the lights in the garage?

Partner opens 1 ♣. You answer dutifully with 1 ♥. Partner jumps to 2 ♠, game forcing, promising at least four spades. You have a balanced hand and don't have a four-card spade fit, so 2 NT is an easy call. 

Then partner bids 3 ♠. Hey, forget about the garage lights! Partner just said she has a very strong six-five in clubs and spades. Eleven black cards over there, you have a double fit in the black suits and two red aces for her two red losers. Slam is in the air. Your call?

♠ x x x    ♥ A x x x   ♦ A x x   ♣ x x x

Partner	You
1 ♣ 2 ♠ 3 ♠	1 ♥ 2 NT ?

ANSWER: 4♦, a cue bid showing first-round control (the ace). It's a game-forcing auction, so you can't pass. With visions of slam, you don't dare bid 3 NT or 4 ♠ or 5 ♣  because partner would think you were signing off. For now, spades -- the suit just rebid -- is the implied trump suit, though you can place the contract in clubs later. Your goal for this auction is six of something: the nine-card club fit is safer but at matchpoints 6♠ is often a more attractive contract (+980 rather than +920 if both are makeable).

Should you be trying to bid 7 clubs or 7 spades?  It's not your decision to make! Partner has the strong hand with 11 black cards. You don't know exactly how strong her suits are. The best you can do is to tell her you have both red aces, support for at least one of her suits, and interest in slam. Let her figure it out from there.

PRINCIPLE: In a slam-oriented auction, usually the stronger hand should assume captaincy (e.g., take charge of the auction). When that isn't possible, as in this case, the weaker hand should push the auction forward, providing as much information as possible, but leave room for the stronger hand to make the final decisions.

FOLLOW-THROUGH: After your cue-bid of 4♦, partner bids 4♠.  Your next bid will be 5♥ to show the heart ace as well. Let partner take it from there. She already knew from your 2NT call that you have at least two clubs and at least two spades. Since you got all excited and started cue-bidding after her 3♠ call, she can reasonably assume that you have 3-card support in spades.

♠ x x x    ♥ A x x x   ♦ A x x   ♣ x x x

Partner	You
1 ♣ 2 ♠ 3 ♠ 4 ♠ (more)	1 ♥ 2 NT 4 ♦ 5 ♥

My five minutes are up, but there's more to come. Stay tuned... and oh-by-the-way

WERE YOU THINKING OF 4NT BLACKWOOD? The problem with 4NT is that you are now "taking captaincy", and there's so much you don't know about the texture of partner's black suits. Better to just cue-bid the A♦ and then the A♥; partner can take it from there. But if you do bid 4NT and partner shows two aces, then bid 5NT to promise all the aces. That's a standard part of the Blackwood 4NT that we usually don't learn as beginners. Partner will answer kings, of course, but you really don't care. Your 5NT bid guarantees partner that we have all the aces, and that's what partner needs to know.