Monday, Monday by Marti Ronemus

Best of Marti

Here we are, sharing a Monday cuppa. Are you ready to sharpen your skills? Brush up on your bidding? No? Do it anyway! Five bidding questions to stimulate discussion between you and your partners. Don't worry if you disagree with us. There's nothing in bridge that three people DO agree on!

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Question 1

Your Hand
♠ Q 4
♥ 9 8
♦ A K 9 2
♣ A 8 7 4 3

Q: 1 - What should you bid holding the South hand?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	pass
2♣	pass	3♣	pass
?

A: 3♦: It's obvious we don't have a major suit fit. It's also obvious we have game. But where? Let's continue to try to find a No-trumps contract. We can't do it because of the lack of a Heart stopper. By bidding the Diamonds, Pard will know what we're up to. We named a new suit, he's forced to bid. With a Heart stopper, he'll bid No-trumps. Without one, he'll park the contract in Clubs. You can make sure you end up in game.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A K 9 7 5 4
♥ Q 10 7 3
♦ 7
♣ K 4

Q: 2 - As South, what should you bid?

South	West	North	East
1♠	pass	1 No-trump	pass
?

A: 2♥: with 6-4 distribution, we bid 6-4-6. With 5-5, we bid higher, lower, lower. Also, remember that Pard's 1 No-trumps bid does NOT show a balanced hand. Who knows what lurks in dummy. 2♠ is way to unilateral. Bidding 2♥ at least gives pard a chance to be involved. You can always rebid the Spades.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A 6
♥ K J 4 3 2
♦ Q 5
♣ A 10 9 8

Q: 3 - As South, what should you bid?

South	West	North	East
1♥	pass	2♥	pass
?

A: Pass: While we are seriously tempted to bid 3♣ as a Help Suit Game Try, asking partner for help in Clubs, our hand isn't quite good enough. Even if Pard has help in Clubs, we don't have that great a chance of game opposite a partner with a minimum. To use HSGT, we like to have an invitational hand. This isn't quite it. We'll live to fight another day.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K 4
♥ A J 9 4 3
♦ Q 7 5 4
♣ A K

Q: 4 - What should South bid?

South	West	North	East
1♥	pass	2♥	pass
?

A: 3♦: This is the perfect time for Help Suit Game Try. We know Pard only has 6-9 pts., but what if he has the ♦K and maybe one other nice card, we should have a great shot at game. The HSGT says, "Yes, I know you only have maybe 6 pts., but I care where they are. If they are in Diamonds, put us in a Heart game. Otherwise, park the car at 3♥." GREAT bid!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ K Q 5 4
♥ A 10 6 3
♦ Q J
♣ 10 8 7

Q: 5 - Ready for a tough one? How should South bid this hand?

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	double	pass
2♣ *	pass	2♦	pass
2♥	pass	2♠	pass
?

* This is the strongest response to a Take Out Double, promising at least 11 pts. It is forcing until suit agreement is reached. The partnership bids four card suits up the line until a fit (hopefully) is found.

A: 4♠: Our cuebid of 2♣ is the strongest bid we can make and is as forcing as a gun. Pard's 2♦ bid shows a four-card suit. No fit yet. We now show our Hearts. STILL no fit! North now shows a four-card Spade suit and thank heavens, we've got a fit. Now the question is how high should we go. We've got an opener opposite Partner's opener, so we're going to game. Let's not make partner guess.
And now, we're going to play this hand. We're going to switch sides of the table. Since we bid it, we get to play it.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

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

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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!