"The Humble Pencil Eraser" by Marti Ronemus

What do the humble pencil eraser and oxygen have in common? Yup, they were both discovered by Joseph Priestley (1733-1804).

What a guy! He was a chemist, theologian, biologist, teacher and philosopher... he published over 150 works, founded Unitarianism in Great Britain, and was so outspoken in his beliefs about human rights and attempts to reconcile religion and science that he had to go on the lam and escape to the United States.

And somewhere along the line, he discovered that rubbing a piece of latex rubber on paper would erase pencil lines. For that, bridge players should be eternally grateful.

Let's get to work!

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	1♠	2♥
?

A: 3♥: This is a common, and very interesting, auction. Pard's overcall shows a five-plus card suit, and somewhere between 7 and 17 pts. East's raise of 2♥ is the weakest bid he can give (remember, in a competitive auction, a raise of Pard's suit is the weakest bid possible, in this case showing a minimum hand with only three trumps). We've got lovely support and a very nice hand. We can't raise Pard's suit, so we cue-bid the opponent's, promising 10-plus points and support. If Pard has a minimum, he can bail out at 3♠. Otherwise, he'll go to game.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ Q J 10 8 5
♥ K Q J 10 2
♦
♣ Q J 10

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	p
?

A: 4♦: Do you play Splinters? The double-jump in a suit shows game-going values along with either a void or singleton in the bid suit. It shows mild slam interest. This is a creative gadget Priestley would be proud of. Pard can now reevaluate his hand, knowing Diamond losers are moot(ish). If you don't play Splinters, you can just bid 2♥, which guarantees five and is forcing. That will also work just fine.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 8 4 3
♥ 4 3
♦ A 9 5 4
♣ 6 5 4 3

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	2♣	p
2♦	p	2 No-trump	p
?

A: 3 No-trump: Pard has 22-23 HCP and a balanced hand. The presence of the Ace in our hand requires us go to go game. Don't try to weasel out on this one.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1 NT	Pass
?

A: 6 No-trump: There's no point doing anything else. We have between 33 and 35 pts. We've got controls in every suit. We don't want to be in a major. There's no point asking for Aces. Just bid your hand. You won't need your eraser on this one and there's plenty of oxygen in the air, even this high up.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 6 5 4 3
♥ A 6
♦ A 10 6 5
♣ A 9 4

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	3♠
p	p	4♥	p
?

A: 6♥: This is a very tough one, and if you choose one of the other bids, give yourself credit also. Preempts are designed to kick the opponent's hard and in this case, that 3♠ bid does the job. The fact that Pard was willing to bid game opposite a passed Pard (that would be us) should encourage us to go forward. A strong case can be made for bidding 5♥, invitational, but that won't get us very far.

Well, get your eraser ready and let's 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

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