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 Negative Doubles "Ghost Stories" by Marti Ronemus

Show biz people don't seem to be like the rest of us. Maybe that's why Hollywood is called La-La Land. Perhaps that is why I wasn't too surprised when I found some factlets about stars and their haunted abodes.

Joan Rivers, bless her soul, lived in a Guilded Age mansion and was haunted by the niece of J.P. Morgan. She made Joan's life miserable until she (Joan) hung a portrait of the lady and kept fresh flowers in front if it. Sting, the (IMHO, terrific) singer, lived with an unidentified ghost for quite a while. He grew to like it.

And, in one of life's little ironies, Dan Aykroyd, one of the stars of "Ghostbusters," lived in a house haunted by Mama Cass Elliot.

Personally, the only haunting in my life are the legion of ghosts of badly bid and played hands. We at Vu-Bridge want to help you reduce the number of ghosts hiding in your corners, and one big Ghostbuster is the Negative Double -- one of bridge's most useful bids.

In its purest, simplest form, it is a bid made by responder when there's been an intervening bid. If we were to name a new suit after the intervening bid, we would be promising a five-card suit. What if we only have four? We can use our Negative Double. There's a lot more to it, and dozens of variations, but let's start simple. Because we are RESPONDING, we only need 6-plus pts.

Question 1

  Your Hand
 Q 10 8 7
 K J 8 7
 8 4
 J 5 4
 
Q: 1 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--11
?


 Your choice:
A: Double: This is the absolute, classic Negative Double. If there were no intervening bid, we'd cheerfully bid 1, a nice up-the-line response. We lose that option with East's bid, as to name a suit now would promise five. BUT!! While we lose that opportunity, we get to make a BOGO bid (Buy One, Get One free). Pard will know we have two four-card majors, and at least 6 pts. Notice that we are unlimited! Stand by for action.

Your result so far:
Open Question

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Question 2

  Your Hand
 Q 10 8 7
 K J 8 7 4
 8
 J 5 4
 
Q: 2 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--11
?


 Your choice:
A: 1: We're going to bid our Hearts this time, and Pard will know we have five. This is exactly the same hand as before, with the addition of a FIVE card major. Again, we are unlimited.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
 K J 9 4
 9 8 7
 3
 K Q 5 4 3
 
Q: 3 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--11
?


 Your choice:
A: Double: Again, a great opportunity to show Pard we've got four Spades. The bonus is we get to show our Clubs also.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
 4 3
 A J 9 8 7
 Q 6 5 4
 3 2
 
Q: 4 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--12
?


 Your choice:
A: Double: Yet another opportunity for the Negative Double. We would love to tell our Pard about our Hearts, but the 2-level isn't available to us because of our lack of points. We can still show our Hearts with a Negative Double. This isn't all that exact and there's a lot more to it, but this will get us started. On our next bid, we can bid Hearts, showing that we had five, with a bad hand. Very useful!

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
 8 5
 3 2
 K J 8 4 3
 K Q 7 5
 
Q: 5 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--11
?


 Your choice:
A: Double: Yet another opportunity to show our suits. We don't have enough to overcall 2, but we get our chance for a two-for-one bid. Pard will know we are loaded in the minors and will bid accordingly.

And now, get ready to leap tall buildings.

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

Your results:   out of    Average: 

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

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