The slam

Commented deal

The slam in a four-player game of tarot is very rare and ultimately rather uninteresting, as it requires a hand with no losers at all. At five players, it occurs more often and can be achieved in a variety of playing conditions, even with hands that contain several losers. In most cases, an aggressive and early trump play is required. This explains why slams are much less frequent at beginners tables, where players are often too cautious despite holding very powerful hands with strong trump control.

For those wondering, the small slam (all tricks but one) does not exist in tarot according to the French Federation of Tarot. Only the grand slam is rewarded (400 points if announced, 200 points if not announced). A failed announced slam is always penalized by a loss of 200 points. These bonuses are not multiplied and are added to or deducted from the score after the contract has been calculated.

Five-player tarot
SOUTH dealer and declarer (guard against the dog)

Dog: Exc, K, 1

Distribution and bidding

WEST	NORTH	EAST
16-6 9-4-1 7-6-5-4-3 10-9-6 J-7 Pass	15-12-7 Q-C-3 J-8 C-8-4 C-6-5-2 Pass	17-14-3-2 10-8-5-2 9 J-7 10-4-3-1 Pass

SOUTH	S-EAST
21​-20-13-9-8-4-1 - K-Q-C K-Q-2-1 8 Guard against ()	19​-18-11-10-5 J-7-6 10-2 5-3 K-Q-9 Guard (!)

The play of the hand

The play of the hand

SOUTH	S-E	EST	NOR	WEST
20	.10	14	15	16
.K	5	7	4	6
.D	3	J	8	9
.2	19	2	C	6
21	.11	17	7	6
.1	18	3	12	1
8	.5	9	2	4
and South takes all remaining tricks

South succeeds by 41 points for a score of +656 !

Although his hand is exceptional, SOUTH still needs a partner whose hand is perfectly suited to the situation in order to hope for a slam. Several top trumps are missing, and it is also necessary to find a safe place to dispose of the two losing .

Note that the slam is also possible by starting with a trump draw led by both declarers (four rounds), followed by K-Q and a small ruffed by the partner. South then cashes all remaining trumps as well as the honors in before giving the lead back to the partner (with the king of clubs), who finishes with K-Q of . The queen is used to discard the fourth . In fact, this fourth diamond was not a true loser, since no player held four cards in the suit. This is how the declarer should play when an unavoidable loser remains in hand. Drawing all the trumps costs the Petit at the end, but makes it possible to discard the losing diamond on the queen of clubs instead of ruffing it unnecessarily.

As for the choice of calling a partner or not, SOUTH may reasonably believe that bringing the Petit to the end would be difficult if he played alone, especially when the player who bid the Guard has the opening lead (I admit the Guard bid is a bit esoteric… but we have seen worse !).

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