Here's an explanation of a bid now called the Grand Slam Force but once was called Josephine, after the wife and partner of Eli Culbertson, who devised it. It's been part of standard bridge since the 1920's. But you knew that.
This is the simplest form of it - The opener bids 1
and responder jumps to 5NT, bypassing
Blackwood. How does the opener interpret this bid? Josephine said it meant, "Partner, if you have two
of the top three honors in the trump suit then please bid the grand slam, else just bid the small slam."
Stuff you can forget
If you like esoteric bidding and play with the same partner at least four times a week you can make another agreement when you have only one of the top three honors and your suit is spades.
-
After responder bids 5NT you are committed to the 6-level, but you have some room to give more information...
- 6
I have 1 honor and it's the queen of trump
- 6
I have 1 honor and it's the king of trump
- 6
I have 1 honor and it's the ace of trump
When your suit is hearts you don't have enough bidding room to show three of the honors, so change the rebids to this:
-
After responder bids 5NT and your suit is hearts...
- 6 I have 1 honor and it's the king of trump
- 6 I have 1 honor and it's the ace of trump
But probably you ought to forget about these bids that come up once a year and concentrate on remembering that a bid of 5NT asks you to bid the grand slam if you have two of the top three honors. That's what is important.
Here's something else you already knew...
Bridge players later extended the Grand Slam Force with a modification called the Small Slam Force, which is similar.
Opener bids 1
and responder jumps to 5 - saying,
"Partner, if you have two of the top three honors in the trump suit then bid the small slam, else just pass."
But there's more!
Josephine never considered this stuff that everybody knows now...
If we bid three suits, then the jump to the 5-level asks for 1st or 2nd round control of the unbid suit. You can cue bid the remaining suit with 1st round control, bid a small slam with 2nd round control, or pass and hope you are not too high if you don't have any help in the 4th suit.
All of the above is swell and wonderful when the opponents just sit there, but what if they decide to bid? Now what?
We have to change the agreement... the jump to five of the agreed major asks for first or second round control of the opponent's suit...
- With first round control of the opponent's suit you can cue bids that suit, and with second round control you should bid
six of the agreed major. Without first or second round control, just pass and cross your fingers.
Related to this convention is the Choice of Slams bid... Pick a Slam