Hand of the Week #176 ♥

West opens 1♥ based on the rule of 20 (always open the higher ranking of two 5 card suits) and East responds with a simple 1♠ as there is no rush to jump because 1♠ is forcing. West’s rebid of 2♦ shows a 5+:4+ distribution (usually exactly 5:4) and at this point East is unsure of which contract to go for. East knows that game is on and even suspects their might be a slam on, but isn’t sure of the final contract or suit at this point so elects to use Fourth Suit Forcing to find out more information about their partner’s hand. West rebids their diamonds which now confirms that they are at least 5:5 in the red suits and are unlikely to have 3 cards in spades, or a club stopper. This rebid of West’s makes East’s mind up that both NTs and spades don’t look wise, so it looks like it will have to be diamonds as trumps, but how high? East bids 4♦ which confirms a diamond fit and suggests the possibility of a slam because 5♦ would be game and East-West are game forced after East’s 3♣* bid. West, however, has nothing more to show and is not interested in a slam so just opts to sign off with a 5♦ bid. East decides that their hand is simply too good (it is a 5-loser after all) to settle for game so raises their partner to 6♦ which ends this complex auction! North leads a top club against your minor suit slam – what is the play here?

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