"You've Been Chopped!" by Marti Ronemus

For those of us who enjoy "Chopped" on the Food Network, we found a few gems where the chefs paid a very high price for mistakes in the kitchen.

Way back in 1531, Richard Roose, a chef for a high-placed bishop, decided to "prank" the fancy dinner by adding a laxative to one dish. Turned out to kill a couple people. Roose's sentence from the courts? To be boiled to death. (This is TRUE!)

In 2012 an Australian chef made a very fancy dinner for a gathering of fellow chefs. Sadly, the mushrooms he picked for the sauté were poisonous and several of his colleagues died. Obviously he wasn't a Vu-Bridge subscriber, because we warned about this a little while ago.

Finally, the most frightening. In 2014 a very famous Chinese chef, Peng Fan fatally misjudged his ingredients. He was butchering a cobra for the soup, and a half-hour after decapitating the snake, he went to throw the head in the waste bin. It bit him!! This story is frightening on so many levels, from culinary to cautionary, that I suggest we move on to our quiz.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A J 10 9 8
♥ 8 6 5
♦ A J
♣ K 9 8

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♣	2♥
?

A: 3♣: Not the easiest hand to bid, is it? There are those who would Pass, because the intervening bid enables Pard to bid again. Normally 2♣ would be forcing, but with no other biddable suit, nothing extra, Pass tells that story. We like 3♣ however, since this gives us a chance to show our Club honor with a minimum bid. We don't like 2♠ because rebidding freely an unsupported suit promises six. We would do that if we had no other bid, but we've got better ingredients for our dish.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	3♠**	Pass
?

**Splinter bid that shows a serious trump fit and a singleton or void in the bid suit, and at least game-going values. Yum.

A: 4 No-trump: Pard's promised singleton/void in Spades erases your losers. That, combined with trump support and values, make this worth a try. You've got first or second round control of every suit, and you can still bail out cheaply if needed. There are no poisonous mushrooms in this. Eat up!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♠	3♣
?

A: 4♠: This hand turns into a real nice entrée the minute Pard supports our Spades. A nine-card trump fit, shortness in our weak Clubs... We are upgrading this hand to game-going. We need very little from Pard.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South?:

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

A: Pass: Pard has rejected both of our offered suits, and has shown a minimum hand. He also is seriously distributional. We have a misfit. He will be a Crummy Dummy if we don't allow Hearts to be trump. Take a deep breath and make our problem, his.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 2
♥ Q 10 9
♦ K J 10 9
♣ 8 7 6 5 4

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	1♠
2♥	Pass	3♦**	Pass
?

**Help Suit Game Try: Pard, I know you only have 6-9 points, but I need help in Diamonds. Can you help?

A: 4♥: Pard asked for help in Diamonds, and boy oh boy do we have it! We take the partnership to game. Were our honors elsewhere, we might just bid 3♥.

Well, we made it safely through meal prep. Let's go play a 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!