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Q:

What tools are needed and what is the best auction for N-S to reach 6♣ or 7♣?

North
♠ A K 10 5
♥ —–
♦ A Q 4
♣ A K J 8 6 2

South
♠ Q 7 2
♥ A J 5 4 3
♦ —–
♣ Q 10 9 7 3

A:

South is a bit light for a 1♥ opener in first chair, no matter how you count your hand playing a Standard or 2/1 GF system. West passes and now North must decide whether to open 1♣ or 2♣.  The modern treatment for a 2♣ opener with a long minor shows 9.5 tricks.  This hand comes close to a 2♣ opener, but 1♣, planning to jump shift to 2♠ is a better descriptive bid.

East jumps to 2NT showing a two-suited ♥/♦ hand.  This is where playing the convention Unusual vs Unusual comes in handy.  Roundies to Roundies (♥=♣) and Pointies to Pointies (♦=♠).  In this case, South wants to raise clubs and bids 3♥ to show club support (usually a 5-card suit) and minimum game interest.  West passes.  Now take a look at North’s hand.  The ball is in his court.

North
♠ A K 10 5
♥ —–
♦ A Q 4
♣ A K J 8 6 2

North now knows South has 5+ clubs and game values in support of clubs.  North wants to ask for controls but doesn’t want to hear about the ♥A.  North can actually get this done by using a convention called Voidwood.  Voidwood is a jump to the five level (once trumps are set) which says tell me about your keycards outside of the suit in which I jumped.  5♥ is the bid here.  You might be thinking, well North knows South is going to respond no keycards ~ right – North has them all out side of the heart suit.  This route, however, is the way that North is going to make a grand slam try.  Once South, responds 5♠ (no keycards ~ as expected), North now bids 5NT which is the Grand Slam Try saying, look South, I don’t need any keycards from your hand because I have them all ~ The ♠A, ♥void, ♦A and ♣AK.  What I need from your hand is something extra that you haven’t had a chance to tell me about. 

Take a look at South’s hand: 

South
♠ Q 7 2
♥ A J 5 4 3
♦ —–
♣ Q 10 9 7 3

South’s ♥A is a trick (that he hasn’t told North about), South’s ♦void is a source of tricks through trumping (that he hasn’t told North about) and the ♠Q can’t be a bad card since we know North is short in hearts and diamonds (from the unusual 2NT bid), he must have spade length.  Based on these three features in South’s hand, South should jump to 7♣ to end the auction.

The entire bidding would look like this:

North  East     South  West
1♣         2NT      3♥         Pass
5♥         Pass      5♠         Pass
5NT      Pass     7♣         AP

This is high-level thinking and bidding but sure makes for a smooth auction to 7♣s!