Grand slam force Grand slam force The Grand Slam Force is a bidding convention in contract bridge that was developed by Ely Culbertson in 1936. It is intended to be used in cases where the combined hands of a partnership are so strong that a slam (winning at least 12 tricks) is a near-certainty and a grand slam (winning all 13 tricks) is a possibility. It allows one partner to gain information on the quality of trumps in the other partner's hand. When this convention is in force, a bid of 5NT (five notrump), when it does not conflict with other conventions used
Skat (card game) (in case of a "hand" game, when the "Skat" is not picked up). Players have therefore to exercise careful scrutiny during bidding, as not to incur an unnecessary loss. The bidding may also give away some information about what cards a player may or may not hold. Experienced players will be able to use this to their advantage. The game value (also called "hand value", ) is what the game will be worth after all tricks have been played. It is determined not only by the 10 cards held, but also by the two-card "Skat". The "Skat" always belongs to