What bonus is awarded for bidding and making a small slam?
Card editor of the London Field W.H. Whitfeld published this bridge problem in 1885. South is declarer and has the lead with hearts as trump. With a sophisticated finesse, South can win every trick. South begins by leading the ace of diamonds, which, depending on what the opponents discard, opens a possible finesse of North's jack of diamonds. Next, South passes the lead to North with a spade that North trumps. North then leads the last heart, and South discards the 10 of clubs. With the lead of the last trump and then the ace of clubs, the defenders are presented with an insurmountable dilemma. East must hold two diamonds or South takes the last two tricks in the suit by discarding a spade. However, in order to hold on to two diamonds, East must discard the jack of spades, which in turn would force West to hold the queen of spades. Since West also needs the queen of diamonds and the jack of clubs to avoid losing a trick, a discard from any of the three suits will allow South to win all of the remaining tricks by an appropriate discard.
In the card game of bridge, the bonus awarded for bidding and making a small slam (a contract of six) depends on the side's vulnerability:
- Not vulnerable: 500 points1
- Vulnerable: 750 points1
It is important to note that a side must specifically bid the small slam to receive these bonus points; if a side bids six but makes seven, they only receive the small-slam bonus plus the value of one overtrick. Conversely, if a side bids seven but only makes six, they have failed to fulfill their contract and do not receive the slam bonus, instead incurring an undertrick penalty.1