Friday, February 10, 2006 3:40 AM

Last Train Slam Tries

PITBULLS:

When is a Q bid not a Q bid ? if an auction has gone near the game level too fast as a result of a splinter , pre-emption by the opponents or just Q bidding the rank order of suits . You may have reached the game level too quickly and do not want to go to the dreaded 5 level. You still have slam interest but a Q bid will get you past game or the level of your commitment as the Bridge World calls it. . If you bid the suit just below the trump suit , it is never & I repeat never a Q bid. It says I have a Q bid somewhere else so I cannot bid KCB because of a flaw. The negative inference that you did not bid KCB should be a trigger to identify last train slam tries.

Splinters bring out the Last Train Q bid the most often but it occurs in other auctions also . I had ♠Qx ♥AQ1098x ♦Qxx ♣Ax and BJ opened 1♠ and I bid 2♥ . BJ splintered to 4♣ so I am interested in slam but I have a flaw – no diamond control. BJ could be ♠AKJ10xx ♥KJxx ♦Jx ♣x or similar hands without a diamond control . I bid 4♦ as a “last train slam try” saying I do not have a control in diamonds but I have a control in a lower ranking suit & I am still interested. BJ knowing that I am still interested will take control with KCB if he has the diamond control. The opening bid is one suit , the trump suit is another , the splinter suit is another so the bid just under the trump suit is the Last Train non Q bid. Since we have three suits accounted for so if we had the 4^th suit , it begs the question why did we not just bid KCB ? The answer is because we do not have that suit so we have defined the last train slam try during the auction.

A while back Maurice had a rock ♠AKxx ♥AKQxx ♦x ♣Axx and opened 1♥ . Klimo bid 1♠ and Maurice bid 4♦ . Klimo made the “death response” of 4♠ as his hand was decimated by the splinter bid. Maurice bid 4NT and they were too high and lost 13 IMPS. Klimo said he would have made the “last train “ slam try of 4♥ if he could not Q bid anything & he did not have wastage in diamonds.

Last train can occur in overcall situations. You hold ♠AKxxxx ♥xxx ♦x ♣Axx and the opponents open 1♦. You overcall 1♠ and they bid 3♦ and partner Q bids 4♦. You do not want to go to the 5 level nor do you want to discourage partner by bidding 4♠ ( the death response ). You bid the suit under the trump suit as a “last train” slam try so you reach your spade slam. The “death response” of 4♠ ends the auction.

Some sample auctions to further describe the concept:

1♠-P-2♦-P

2♠-P-3♠-P

3NT-P-4♦-P

4♥

You have serious slam interest via your 3NT bid . Since partner has denied a club control you must have it or you would have signed off in 4♠ . You are telling partner that you have a club control by still trying for slam . If you had a heart control, you would have bid KCB . Subtle inference J

1♥-P-2♦-P

2♥-P-3♥-P

3NT-P-4♦-P

You have denied a spade control by bidding 3NT . I have a spade control but I can not bid it below game . I do not have a club control or I would have bid it so I am making a last try at slam with the spade control.

1♠-P-2♥-P

2♠-P-3♠-P

3NT-P-4♣-P

4♥

The 4 heart bid is a last try for slam saying I do not have a diamond control but I am still interested via overall strength. You still may have a diamond control so I do not want to give up.

1♠-P-2♥-P

2♠-P-3♠-P

4♣-P-4♥-P

4♣ was a courtesy Q bid so 4♥ is an “asking” last slam try attempt. It says I do not have a diamond control but I am still interested in slam .

1♠-P-2♥-P

2♠-P-3♠-P

4♦-P-4♥-P

Since the 4♦ bidder denies a club control , 4♥ must say I still have interest and the club control but I still do not have enough to take control by bidding 4NT. Over to you ..

1♥-P-2♦-P

2♥-P-3♥-P

4♦ This is simply a diamond control showing no spade or club control and no serious slam interest.

This “Last Train” Q bidding style is a part of serious 3NT theory. Interestingly , Bridge World standard has adopted “Last Train” Q bidding with any slam interest but not serious 3NT . Here is the definition from Bridge World Standard .

“Last Train: Any time there is only one call that indicates slam interest or further slam interest without raising the partnership’s level of commitment, it is a Last Train slam-try, unrelated to the strain named (unless followed by an uninvited further action).”