Success for the Graded Grand Slam Force and Multi Loses the Spade Suit

In the Estoril Daily Bulletin from Day 5, Phillip Alder supplies an article entitled "Bidding with Difficulty" in which he discusses the following board 12 from Round 5 of all events.

North (Brown)
S: AKT984
H: QT3
D: 87
C: 92

West____________ East
S: Q5 ___________ S: 6
H: J98654 _______ H: AK72
D: J5 ___________ D: KQT632
C: QT8 __________ C: J6

South (Daigneault)
S: J732
H: -
D: A94
C: AK7543

With N/S vulnerable and West the dealer, at many tables the bidding proceeded:
P = 2S = 3D = 4D
P = 4H* = P = 5N**
P = 6S*** = P = 7S.
* Last Train showing good hand for slam in spades
** Graded Grand Slam Force (Josephine) asking trump quality
*** Showing exactly AK of trumps

This auction was not explained in the Alder article however the combination of last train and fully graded grand slam force led to the good grand which would depend only on partner having third round club control of an even break if partner holds 3 or more clubs. A solid success for the Brown-Diagneault methods.

As the Alder article indicates this hand also shows some of the dangers of the multi 2D opening bid. In the other room the with Bill (West) and John (East) Bowman holding the cards the auction proceeded:
P = 2D (multi) = 3D = all pass.

South passed expecting his partner to hold hearts and not spades thus allowing his opponents to play quietly in 3D-1 while cold for a grand slam. This swung 19 imps to Canada in their narrow 16-14 VP win over Sweden in Round 5.

Alder's article provides an analysis of the auctions at the other 32 tables in play in the 3 events and is well worth a read. In some cases West also opened a multi-2D which led to some interesting results...