Partnership! The perfect "Running Mate" by Marti Ronemus

In 1962 Bob Dylan gave the worst possible advice to bridge players when he hit the charts with "Don't Think Twice." Nonsense. We've got to think at LEAST twice... maybe more than thrice.

Did you know that the number of decisions in a hand of bridge rivals the number in a chess game? Not only do we have multiple decisions, we've got the vagaries of a Pard to deal with. Which is the best and only sometimes the worst thing about bridge.

We've all experienced playing bridge with the perfect running mate, and also those mistakes. Personally I look for Pards with a sense of humor, tolerance for ambiguity and short memories so they quickly forget how I botched the last hand.

Let's work on some partnership skills with these bidding questions.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♦	3♠	Dbl	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trump: Your running mate has made a negative double, showing four Hearts and most likely four-ish Clubs. Since he made his double over a three-level bid, he's most likely got game-going values. While it isn't perfect (what is?), you've got a darn good shot for 3 No-trump. Give it a shot.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ 5 4 3
♥ K 9
♦ K 7
♣ Q J 10 8 6 3

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	2♠	2 No-trump	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trump: Surely you weren't thinking about game in Clubs, were you? Honestly! Pard's 2 No-trump bid over the pre-empt means he would have opened 1 No-trump, and has the opponent's suit stopped 1-1/2 times.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	2♠	Pass
?

A: 4♠: Two reasons for going to game. First, we might actually make it. After all, we've got a ten-card trump fit, and we've got two honors in that suit. Second, we might NOT make it, but we're keeping Them out of something nice. And finally, while not the primary consideration, the vulnerability is favorable.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ J 7 6
♥ J 8 7 6
♦ K 4 3 2
♣ K 10

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	dbl	1♠
2♥	3♣	4♣**	Pass
?

**Mild slam interest. With extra, show a control.

A: 4♥: Pard's cuebid shows a reasonable control of Clubs and asks us to continue bidding with extra. We just don't have it so our smartest move is just to bid game in our Heart suit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	3♥
Pass	4♥	Pass	Pass
?

A: 5♦: This is a tough one, because a strong case can be made for any of the three answers. We like 5♦ because Pard's got opening points, and in Diamonds, our hand has some real value. We're not sure if we can take the four tricks needed to set them. It might be a needless sacrifice, but we are nothing if not audacious.

We're going to play this hand. Will we make it? Will we go down? Will it be a good decision? Once the votes are in....

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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