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Detail specifications 52HM - Level 3 ★
Controls
Controls are used when a slam seems possible and before the Blackwood
The principles :
The principles :
- A suit is controlled when there is no (or maximum 1) trick to lose on a lead in this suit.
- Controls are always bid in an economic sequence : skipping one is a control denial.
- When a suit is not controlled (by none of the players) the last player to bid gets back to the trump suit. It's a Stop.
- No Blackwood if a control is missing.
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Here is the translation:South skipped the spade control: North, who has the spade control but not the club control, bids 4 Clubs. South, who has the club control, bids Blackwood, and the partnership plays and wins 6 Hearts!
Different control types
- A void or a singleton are controls for a trump contract, obviously not in NT.
- Aces and Ks are efficient controls in a trump or NT contract.
- Aces and voids are 1st round controls, singletons and Ks are 2nd round controls
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Problem E6000
South, by bidding 4 Diamonds, agrees to the heart fit and shows their diamond control. North, who does not have club control, bids 4 Spades, showing spade control. The partnership ends up playing 5 Hearts and going down. By using the anti-control, they would have stopped at 4 Hearts... because by bidding 4 Clubs, North would have denied club control, and South would have concluded with 4 Hearts.
South, by bidding 4 Diamonds, agrees to the heart fit and shows their diamond control. North, who does not have club control, bids 4 Spades, showing spade control. The partnership ends up playing 5 Hearts and going down. By using the anti-control, they would have stopped at 4 Hearts... because by bidding 4 Clubs, North would have denied club control, and South would have concluded with 4 Hearts.
FR version