Pass. In addition to showing 20 or 21 points, partner’s bid indicates a balanced hand with strength in all suits. It could therefore be argued that since the combined hands might contain 26 points, you should raise partner to three notrump.

However, another factor must also be considered, namely that partner will have trouble reaching dummy to take whatever finesses he might need. This lack of communication with dummy is apt to prove troublesome even if partner has a 21-point hand. While it is true that a combined holding of 26 points usually produces a satisfactory play for game, this is rarely the case when one player holds practically all the high cards.

2. Six notrump. This is simply a matter of arithmetic. Partner’s 20 or 21 points added to your 13 bring the combined holding to at least 33, the amount ordinarily required for a small slam with two balanced hands. You should therefore bid six without further ado.

3. Four spades. High-card points are of course not the only criterion in judging the probability of game. Here you have only four points in high cards, but your six-card suit is worth several points more. Five or six tricks are likely to be taken with this hand if spades are trump. There is no point in bidding three spades, since you don’t plan to pass a three-notrump bid by partner. Similarly, if you play Jacoby Transfers, you would bid three hearts to force partner to bid three spades, and then raise him to game.

4. Four notrump. This bid is simply a raise in notrump suggesting the possibility of a slam, and has nothing whatever to do with Blackwood. Partner should pass with a minimum and bid six with a maximum. Holding 12 points, you can’t tell whether the combined point count is 32 or 33, and the four-notrump bid expresses that uncertainty.

5. Three clubs. Even though you have a hand suitable for notrump play and enough points to make a game in notrump, you should check via Stayman to see if partner has four hearts. Your doubleton small club is a concern, and if partner has a weak holding in that suit and four hearts, you are almost surely better off playing in game in that suit. If partner bids three spades or three diamonds (no four-card major), you will of course retreat to three notrump.

Tomorrow: Death of a monarch.