Splinters

         Introduction.      It is often possible to make slam with relatively few HCP. For example, consider the following two hands:

AKQ43 A85 Q32 76

T752 2 KJ74 AK43

Despite the paltry 26 HCP, the two hands are cold for 6. The secret, of course, is the heart suit: declarer's Axx is perfect opposite dummy's singleton.
        Splinters are an essential tool for finding such distributional slams.

         Basic Splinter Bids.      Here's the convention:

Using this agreement, there are six different splinter bids:

1 — 3		1 — 4
1 — 4		1 — 4
1 — 4		1 — 4

        EXAMPLE:     If your partner opens 1, you could bid 4 with:

T752     2     KJ74     AK43

         Evaluating Slam Potential.      After your partner makes a splinter, your potential for slam depends strongly on your holding in the suit:

With a good holding, you probably only need about 30 total points for slam. With a poor holding, you will need the traditional 32 or 33 points.

        EXAMPLE:     You open 1 and your partner responds 4. If you hold:

AKQ43     A85     Q32     76

you could bid Blackwood (4NT) to explore slam. However, with:

AKQ43     KJ5     Q32     76

you should probably just signoff in 4.

Related Topics:

• Slam Bidding