Swedish Bidding

As a child, I liked watching The Muppets Show. My favourite was the Swedish cook, always getting chased by his own chickens and bitten by his own spaghetti. My father told me then that the Swedes have their way of doing things. Maybe that’s why most teams prefer to avoid playing bridge against Sweden. Besides having great players, they have a very aggressive way of bidding and unique conventions. Take a look at the following sequence which took place some years ago in the Swedish team trials. Notice: There are no misunderstandings in the bidding!



The bidding:



Capish? No??? OK then:
1♣ - Better minor
2♣ - Michael’s cue bid = both majors, either 6-10 point or 16+ points.
3♣ - I have club support and a "relatively" weak hand.
4♣ - Partner, if your hand is strong , I have interest in a slam in either major. If its weak – just bid a game.
5♣ - I have more clubs than I showed. By the way... We are not vulnerable.
6♣ - Regarding your bidding, I have an interest in a slam. A grand slam. Ah, don’t worry about club losers.
7♣ - I also have more clubs than I showed. Did I hear anyone say we are not vulnerable?

Up to the 7♣ bid the bidding went quietly, fast and smooth. The problems started later: West passed rather quickly - a mistake, as his Pass shows a better hand than a Double. Pass is forcing - showing extra values for a grand slam and transferring the decision to East. East thought for a long time (probably wondering how come his partner passed so fast). Finally he decided to double, which turned out to be, as the cards laid, a better move for him than the grand slam which is not makeable (only because of the ♠10!).

7♣ went 3 down but collecting a good score of -500 nonetheless. North-South appealed. They claimed that East had no other bid than 7♥/7♠ with no minor losers and an encouraging Pass from partner. They claimed that if West would hesitate a bit before Passing, East would clearly go for the Grand. East-West said that it’s the first time someone is appealing based on a fast bid (which is not after jumping or a stop card). Normally it happens the other way around - you call the director when one is thinking a lot before passing and his partner chooses to bid.

Eventually, the result remained unchanged.