Bid with Barry by Barry Rigal

Five valuation problems. To bid or not to bid that is the question. Some of these problems relate to your initial action, others to rebid. Most of the questions are relatively straightforward; but in some cases you have to judge accurately what it is that partner has shown in order to work out what your options really are.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ K Q 10 4 2
♥ 7
♦ A 10 8 4 2
♣ K Q

Q: 1 - What do you bid as South?

South	West	North	East
1♠	p	1 No-trump	p
2♦	p	2♠	p
?

A: Pass. You have told your story, and although you have an extra diamond, and a queen more than a minimum, your partner expressed no game interest. If he has three spades he is likely to be dead minimum, or he would have raised spades directly, so game cannot be attractive here.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A K 7
♥ 6 5 4
♦ A Q 7 2
♣ 7 5 4

Q: 2 - What do you rebid as South?

South	West	North	East
1♦	P	1♥	p
?

A: Bid 1NT. Do not worry about your three small clubs; when you have a totally balanced hand, rebid one no-trump rather than raising partner with insufficient support, or inventing a suit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ J 4 3
♥ A 7 6 5 2
♦ K 9 8
♣ A K

Q: 3 - How do you open this hand?

South	West	North	East
?

A: Bid 1NT not 1♥. When your hand falls into the low end of the no-trump range, conceal a weak five-card major. This is better than opening one heart then having to mis-state the range on the next round by rebidding at no-trump, or by introducing a three-card suit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K 10 3 2
♥ K Q
♦ A 9 8 6 4
♣ Q 2

Q: 4 - What do you bid as South?

South	West	North	East
1♦	p	1♥	p
1♠	p	2♠	p
?

A: Pass, happily. You have a little extra shape and are not dead minimum, but your partner has only shown 6-10 points. Even facing a maximum, you are a long way from finding your way home in game.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ Q 10 9 8
♥ A K 10 3
♦ 7 6
♣ A K 4

Q: 5 - What do you bid as South?

South	West	North	East
1 No-trump	p	2♣	p
2♥	p	3 No-trumps	p
?

A: Bid 4♠. Partner’s sequence shows four spades and game-going values – and you can see that spades may well play much better than no-trump here, since the diamond suit may be a serious weakness.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
More informations on our website: www.VuBridge.com

Rate yourself:

0 - 40%	We applaud your effort. Review the subject and try again. You'll be surprised how much better you'll do. We're here for you!!
41 - 50%	Buy your mentor a cuppa and ask for clarification on the ones you got wrong. No mentor? Make finding one a priority!
51 - 60%	Nice improvement! One more review and you'll have this down solid!
61 - 80%	What a good job! All that's left is some fine tuning
Over 80%	Wow! It's time for you to become a mentor. Find someone who needs help and share your knowledge!