Daily Bidding Questions by Frank Stewart

When Frank Stewart's "Daily Question" column was (and is still) published, each hand has a companion bidding question which is, or is not, related to the said hand.

With Vu-Bridge, best is to gather these questions as a quiz, for your enjoyment...

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - What do you bid next?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	Pass
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
?

A: 1♠: To bid 3NT looks easy and obvious, and many players would choose that action. I would be nervous about it since partner's hand is not well defined. He might hold K6, QJ54, 2, AKJ864. Bid one spade, forcing, and let him make another descriptive bid. You will still have plenty of room to get to notrump.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - The dealer, at your left, opens one diamond. After two passes, you "balance" with one heart. Your partner bids two hearts. What do you say?

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	Pass	Pass
1♥	Pass	2♥	Pass
?

A: 3♥: This is a matter of style, but I would be inclined to try for game. You might have balanced with less strength: You would have bid one heart with 76, A10652, 963, AJ5. Partner should not have raised unless he saw a chance for game opposite a weak hand. Bid three hearts.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - The dealer, at your left, opens two hearts (weak). Your partner doubles, and the next player passes. What do you say?

South	West	North	East
-	2♥	Dble	Pass
?

A: 3♠: Partner's double is for takeout. His hand will be worth 16 or more points in support of any suit (or he may have a strong hand with a suit of his own). Bid three spades to try for your most likely game. You must jump to show values; a response of two spades would show none.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ A K 10 6
♥ A J
♦ 8 6 5 3 2
♣ A Q

Q: 4 - You open one diamond, your partner responds one heart, you bid one spade and he jumps to 3NT. What do you say?

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
1♠	Pass	3NT	Pass
?

A: 4NT: Partner has at least 13 points, maybe as many as 16, hence slam is possible. You shouldn't bid slam because the poor quality of your long suit is a minus, but you must make a try. Raise to 4NT (not ace-asking since no trump suit is agreed, but "quantitative"). Let partner decide.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ K 9 3
♥ K
♦ K J 10 8 7
♣ K Q 9 8

Q: 5 - You open one diamond, your partner responds one heart, you bid two clubs and he jumps to three diamonds. South in today's deal bid 3NT next. Do you agree with that action?

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
2♣	Pass	3♦	Pass
?

A: 5♦ or 3NT: Whether you treat partner's bidding as invitational or forcing, you have enough extra strength to go on. To try either five diamonds or 3NT is reasonable. Your lack of aces is troubling, but partner will have a couple.

Sorry if you answered 5♦: we cannot allow two answers the "good answer" value!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

Overall Results

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What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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