Responder Rebids "Hero of Dead Letters" by Marti Ronemus

In the late 1800s, because of low literacy and rising immigration and migration, over 7,000,000 letters a year ended up in the Dead Letter Office, their last hope of delivery. Patti Lyle Collins was the uncontested Super Sleuth, solving almost 1000 puzzles every day. Her astounding knowledge of languages, geography, miscellaneous facts and intuition enabled her to make the most amazing leaps of logic.

For example, a letter addressed to "Rev. Wells, Johnstown TN" had the office stumped, as there was no such town in TN. Well, our Heroine Patti remembered reading that President Andrew Johnson once worked in a tailor shop in Greenville TN. Sure enough, that's where Rev. Wells lived and the letter arrived safely.

SO! Where is Patti when we need her? I would imagine she would have no trouble whatsoever interpreting the bids we see around the table, no?

Let's see if we can make Patti proud today as we work on Responder Rebids.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	p
1♠	p	4♠	p
?

A: 4 No-trump: Give yourself credit also if you bid 6 Spades. Pard's bid promises 19-21 points. After all, he was willing to go to game opposite our possible 6 pts. Pard's bid is NOT a shut-out, but a limit bid. Let's find out a little more about his hand. We aren't crazy about using Blackwood without first- or second-round control of all suits, and down the road, we will cue-bid controls rather than use Blackwood.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	p
3♦	p	3♠	p
?

A: 3 No-trump: Why would Pard name a new suit after we've agreed on trump? He's showing us where he's got a stopper. He doesn't want game in Diamonds any more than we do. If he had Heart stoppers, he would have bid 3♥, but he bypassed them. We have to hope he's got the Clubs stopped, and we should bid 3 No-trump.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	p
2♣	p	3♣	p
?

A: 3 No-trump: Again, who wants to play game in a minor when a No-trump game is available? We've got stoppers in the red suits, and Pard has shown 12-14 points, a minimum opener. We like our chances.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	p
2♣	p	2 No-trump	p
?

A: Pass: Much as we hate to pass, this would be a good time. Pard's 2 No-trump bid limited his hand to a minimum opener of 12-14. We've got 10, so the max we hold is 24. Patti would interpret this as the right address.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	p
1♠	p	2 No-trump	p
?

A: 3 No-trump: Pard's 2 No-trump bid shows 18-19 pts and no interest in a major. We Do the Math and have the points for game. Bid it, with the knowledge that no contract is too high when your Pard has to play it.

And now, with Patti's spirit in mind, 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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