N/S Vul
IMPs
Dealer: North
Lead: 
Q
justinl A J 8 7 6 K 3 2 A Q 7 5 2 — |
||
| vcaracci 5 3 9 8 6 5 K 8 6 4 8 3 2 |
![[W - E]](http://gee.aaronhaspel.com/files/2012/10/t.gif) |
dkogut K 4 10 4 J 9 3 Q J 10 9 5 4 |
| Maestro Q 10 9 2 A Q J 7 10 A K 7 6 |
| West
Pass |
North 1 4 7 |
East 3 Pass Pass |
South 4 6 Pass |
One would think that if any of Gee’s partners had mastered the intricacies of captain/crew theory by now, surely it would be Seaman Lall. And I would have agreed, until this hand the other day.
The Seaman, North, opens a spade in second seat; East makes a preemptive 3C overcall, and South, or hero, bids a fine 4C with his moose, showing spade support and slam interest.
The Seaman cooperates by cueing diamonds. Well now. Gee has a diamond stiff opposite his partner’s diamond ace. He has the two top club honors against probably a doubleton or a stiff. A grand is probably playable if the Seaman holds only the top trump honors and nearly cold (barring a possible club ruff) if he holds the heart king as well.
There are several ways to proceed. I would cue bid 5C to give my partner a chance to cue hearts, intending to bid a 5NT grand slam force over 5H and sign off in 6S otherwise. Bolder bidders might simply bid RKC or 5NT, if they are willing to play seven without knowing about the heart king.
Gee weighs the possibilities and makes the expert call of 6S, which the Seaman, flush with his extra heart king and the high spirits of youth, raises to seven. Whether this is sound judgment can be debated, but what is clear is that he has arrogated the captaincy to himself, and this will not be tolerated.
Spec #1: why blast like that?
Spec #2: deja vu
Spec #3: he’s fun anyway…
Spec #4: well this isn’t someone’s lucky day
G (to specs): crew took over captainship :(
Spec #5: g werent u afraid of missing grand?
G: nope
Gerard is no longer a spectator.
Spec #6: how prescient
Spec #5: well there u have it
Spec #7: gonna have a seaman spanking i believe
Spec #8: justin must walk plank
Spec #4: the crew took over the captainship well how about that?
Spec #3: you can’t get good crew these days…
G (back at the table): that was not warranted justin
justinl: would you say that if the KS on?
G: I bid 6S… I was captain
Spec #5: lol
G: same thing
Spec #8: and justin a lowly seaman
Spec #3: justin doesn’t know he is Tennile…
Spec #7: da captain has spoken
Spec #9: mutiny on the bounty?
G: not the result I am looking at… it’s the quality of bridge
justinl: so if i have the same hand with the SK i’m not allowed to bid 7, because you are the captain?
G: correct
G: i already made my evaluation of the situation
Spec #10: well jus zactly who is the capn?
Spec #2: cabin boy very insubordinate
Spec #8: cudnt go to phx without this final review of captain/crew
justinl: so if we have 100% grand i’m not allowed to bid it? how is that quality bridge?
Spec #10: cabin boy is going back in the brig whence he never should have emerged
I think Justin needed too much from G to bid 7. KQS, AH, stiff D (or king), AC and perhaps more. Even kqxx,axxx,x,akxx is not cold for 7. The 6S bid also leaves much to be desired. Why not just bid 4H and give Justin a chance to row the boat?
Ok Gerard, I keep on hoping you will get better. Here is a hint. The responder is not automatically captain. Did you hear? The responder is not automatically captain. Captaincy only changes hands when one of the players has limited their hand. In this auction, Justin has not had a chance to limit his hand.
Furthermore, if you cue 4h, then Justin can go into 5nt, as grand slam force, and find out how many key trump you have. Hope that helps:))))