Have you ever cue bid a jack?

Turns out Dave Colbert is a closet blogger. He recently unearthed this gem he wrote a few years ago, and apparently did not publish anywhere. I asked him if he would mind if I share with you,  and here we are. The hand revolves around probing for a grand slam where the key card sought is a jack. The story ends with the bridge equivalent of a poker bad beat.

“It was the final round of a knockout in Reno, in the recently concluded Nationals.  I was playing with Keith Balcombe and the opponents were quite strong.  The effort to get here and the ubiquitous Daily Bulletins have increased my motivation and concentration levels appropriately, when this hand comes out of the pocket :

                                                xx  KQ8xx  Q   KQJ109

I open 1 heart, Keith bids 1 spade, I bid 2 clubs and he bids 2 diamonds. This is a game force. We open 4 card  majors so I bid 2 hearts to show 5. He bid  2NT and I bid 3 clubs so now he knows I’m 5-5.

So far then, the bidding has gone 

                       

East	Dave	West	Keith
Pass	1 H	Pass	1S
Pass	2C	Pass	2D
Pass	2H	Pass	2NT
Pass	3C	Pass	?

 

Now he bids 3 hearts.  Well, he’s setting trumps but he doesn’t have much in hearts or he wouldn’t have bid 2NT. I will bid 4 clubs.  This is a cue bid showing an honor concentration (KQ here) in our system.

Now I hear 4NT from him so I show my one keycard with 5 clubs. He bids 5 diamonds, which is looking for the heart queen.  I have it and can show it by not signing off with 5 hearts.

Why not 6 clubs? This shows the heart queen and more than previously shown in clubs. It must be the Jack or even Jack-ten.  He thinks for about a minute and bids 7 hearts.

They lead a spade. Keith’s hand is splendid : 

Keith Balcombe
♠	Axxxx
♥	AJ
♦	AKxxx
♣	A
Dave Colbert
♠	xx
♥	KQ8xx
♦	Q
♣	KQJ109

 

Are you happy? Looks like 13 tricks : 1 spade, 5 hearts, 2 diamonds and 5 clubs. And you must be in hearts in order to get back to your hand after unblocking. This is great !  This is why you play.

You win the spade, cash the AJ of hearts and… RHO shows out.  I was down with the 5-1 split.  Fate intervened. Also part of the game.  Lose 14 imps to 6NT making at the other table. You lose the match.

Are you ready to play again tomorrow?”

Thanks Dave – yes we’re ready – we live for stories like this.