I think you get to 3NT basically all time time there.

2C is fine IMO; the only thing you might possibly consider is trying 3S ("are you sure, partner?". That probably gets you to diamonds down though.

What did partner have?

You bid optimally.

3NT might well be the best contract, unlucky all spade honors were with the overcaller

I suspect it's one of those 12 v 12 games that everyone gets to these days and sometimes they make.

Personally I'd like to play 2NT here as GF and showing mild extras; this puts a lot of pressure in my 2D rebid but oh well.

Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought LHO opened 1D?

Matchpoints, nil all

AQ
AKQxx
Axx
Kxx

2C-2D
2H-2S
2N-3S
4N-5H
?

How do you want to explore for your 13th trick?

If you bid 5N, partner bids 6S...

If you bid something else, tell me what it asks for and what the responses are.

I like 5N to be an undefined "I want to bid grand - what do you reckon ?" - this auction isn't my system but seems to be that the primary issue from our point of view is how many spades does partner have ? - working backwards I guess he has only promised 5 as otherwise you might be in grand already - if he responds 6S to 5N he probably should not be looking at a spade more than he promised

on a general note I might add - current scoreboard of imps lost or gained as a result of opponents using highly detailed continuations after blackwood;

lost - 81
won - 12,435

This is snap 7s

You need nothing more to know unless you want 1520

What did 2d show?

What did 2S show

I fail to see how we are that cold for 7 anything

Where is your 13th trick Gabe? You have 6 spades, 3 hearts, AK clubs and A diamonds? The heart spots are literally 32. You aren't ruffing anything good in hearts.

ruffing hearts in the long hand isn't going to get you anywhere.

Partner has 100% promised 6 spades on this auction

If partner has x in hearts, hearts can be 4-3. If partner has xx in hearts, hearts need to be 3-3 or 4-2. Partner could have Jh. Partner could have Qc. Partner could have Qd and long hearts are with Kd. Partner could have a 7th spade.

Imagine the very very worst hand possible (heart void), you still will have play for 13 tricks. Hearts could be 4-4 or you might have a squeeze.

Such an easy 7S bid when you know it will be ranging from playable to icy cold.

They can also be 5-2, or 6-1

Sure he could have a stiff or doubleton J, but assuming he has a singleton, the odds are 1/7 he has the J, and if he has the doubleton, the odds are 1/4 (7 combinations of Jx out of 28 possible doubletons).

Sure, but there is a method to check for this and then I'd much rather play 7NT

Not likely, he denied the Q which means he is not showing extra length

This is matchpoints... you have an ice cold 6NT score. So you are risking an Avg+ for either a (near) top or 0 in a good field.

I think the correct bid is 6C asking for 3rd round control in clubs.

If partner does not have 3rd control in clubs he bids 6D or 6H with a red king

If partner does not have club control or a king he bids 6S.

If partner has the doubleton club he bids 7S

If partner has the queen of clubs he bids 7C.

You seem overly pessimistic, expecting a bunch of good things that could happen to not happen

I think there is no way to scientifically find out if partner has the hand to make grand slam cold. He can't know a doubleton hearts is enough, Jh is enough, Qc is enough and Qd is not enough. He might think you are fishing for K's which he probably does not have and he is going to sign off waaaaaayyy too often with hands that allow for 13 tricks.

Also I disagree with the bidding. After 2D this is a 2NT rebid imo, showing 22-23 I suppose. 5-card Stayman is pretty standard over a 2NT opener/rebid, so what can go wrong? There are really 4 suits you can end up playing.

Furthermore, after 3S, 4NT is bad, you can just cuebid with 4C (never a real suit, with 4 clubs you rebid 3C over 2S) and now partner will actually know Qc is a valuable card.

I think I'm just blasting to 7S at both forms of scoring. Seems like everyones slamming here, so 6S isn't going to be great unless partner has a nut low hand. You have a lot of outs to get to 13 tricks (friendly heart split, an extra spade with partner, useful honor in hearts, useful minor honor, squeeze).

I think the harder question is 7S or 7N at matchpoints.

Fun Hand:

..............KQ2
..............AQJ5
..............J942
..............AK

JT865
K987
863
7

..............A43
..............T63
..............74
..............Q5432

Contract is 3NT, West leads a Diamond, and East rattles off the first four tricks holding AKQT. South pitches two Clubs, and West pitches one Club on the fourth Diamond.

East plays back a Club, South plays low, West pitches a Spade, and North wins the King. Plan the play.

the nomenclature is commonly in dispute for this position - I was persuaded a while ago to call it a 1 suit squeeze - rare and hard to spot when it does come up - this hand you should be a serious chance to see it with 9 major cards marked on your left - if I did get it right I would be rushing to the hand record and a bridge columnist

You have to cash clubs and play a high spade overtaken in hand to play Qc and squeeze lho

He must release clubs allowing you to enter your hand twice for the finesse or release a diamond, allowing you to play Td and pick up the suit

Matchpoints - You are NV vs Vul - Opponents deal

You hold
K86xx x AKxxxx x

(1H) 2C (P) 2D* non-forcing constructive
(2H) 3D (3H) 5D
passes out

Ok with the bidding?

I think I would have tried 3S on the way instead of 5D. Maybe opponents bid 4H and partner can double.

I dunno how much I love it if he does; I'd be much happier if he raises to 4S though

I like the auction - I hate having to judge a departure from a "regular" auction to suit matchpoints and 5 of a minor is a narrow target - I would judge those options this hand to be too big a distortion

Where are they getting their tricks?

As long as partners 2m overcalls are sound, I can't see the opponents getting to 10 tricks in hearts with less than half the deck

I don't worry so much about a spade fit, but I worry more about partner having two black aces and 4 trumps, in which case 6D ranges from playable to icy cold.

So my simple approach on this hand would have been 2D in the first round (an underbid!) and when partner voluntarily supports to 3D, invoke good old keycard and bid the small slam if I hear two.

5D is a fairly large underbid, your second in the auction and that will cause you to miss slams, with 100% being your fault.

Players looking for a spade fit are forgetting that partner has clubs, diamonds, should have some hearts as well , so he will have less than 3 spades almost every time (which is good, as we will not run into 6D with a heart loser and Kxxxx opposite Axx in spades).

hearts, a couple spades, and a bazillion ruffs