Over Interference "De-Cluttering Day" by Marti Ronemus

The remote control was across the room and I was too busy writing my Vu-Bridge column to find it. The infomercial was all about de-cluttering closets. Did you know there is a whole industry built around helping us get rid of STUFF? Who knew. I was inspired to clean out my office "junk drawer." I now have room for MORE junk!

Let's talk about de-cluttering our bridge game. When people find themselves in a slump, one excellent piece of advice is to immediately dump two of the conventions you are playing. Why? Too often we are relying on fancy bidding when what we SHOULD be doing is working on basics. There's no point trying to learn a back flip until you learn to swim.

And that's what we're doing today. We're looking at basic techniques when the opponents interfere in your communication with Pard.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ J 3 2
♥ 8
♦ A 10 3 2
♣ A Q 10 7 6

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	2♣
?

A: Pass: Let's think about this. A Double would be Negative, telling Pard we have four Spades and probably four Diamonds. No good. 2 No-trump is an option, but the vulnerability becomes a factor. What if we don't have game? And we are BEHIND the bidder with a stunning Club suit. If we Pass, Pard is very likely to reopen the auction with a balancing bid, likely a Double. Then we can Pass, and set them for more than we could have made.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	1♠
?

A: Double: What a perfect hand for our pal, Negative Double. This bid should never be discarded during de-cluttering. We cannot name a new suit at this point, as it would promise five card suits. We desperately want Pard to know about our Hearts (and the Diamonds) so the Negative Double is perfect. Pard will know if we had five, we'd bid them. We are promising 7-ish plus points, so the bid is unlimited and forcing.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	1♠
?

A: Double: Again, the Negative Double. Yes, yes, we don't have Clubs, which the Negative Double would show. BUT!! The most important message we want to get out is our Hearts. Should Pard bid Clubs, we will then support his Diamonds, and he'll understand what we've got.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ J 2
♥ J 5 4 3
♦ K 10 9 3 2
♣ 8 7

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Dbl
?

A: 3♦: We can't show the Hearts. Why not? East's Double shows probably 4-4 in the majors. He could end up our worst nightmare. We know Pard has a 93% chance of holding four Diamonds, so we are going to make a pre-emptive raise. How will Pard know we don't have a NICE hand? If we did, we would have redoubled first.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 5 4 3 2
♥ 7
♦ A Q 8 7 6
♣ 5 4 3

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	Dbl
?

A: Pass: Let's declutter these choices. Firstly, we can immediately discard 2♦. We don't have the cash for the two-level. Next, while 1 NT would show our point count, we don't have stoppers to offer. That leaves us with 1♠. While at the one-level, we might squeeze in a Spade bid with a four-card suit, can you really justify bidding that suit? Let's Pass, knowing that Pard, with a good hand, will have the option of bidding again.

Ready for our hand?

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

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!