"Sleeping While Flying" by Marti Ronemus

Stop the presses! Did you know that birds can sleep while flying? Scientists measured birds' brain activity (never mind how) while they were on long migrations where they don't touch land sometimes for weeks. And--amazingly!--they can indeed sleep while flying. They have the same skill as dolphins, in that they can sleep with only one eye open, and one side of their brain turned off.

And I suspect this is a skill being attempted by many bridge players. We've all seen the evidence, haven't we? It's the only explanation for some of those bids.

We're going to be wide awake (hopefully) while working on our bids today.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♥
?

A: Pass: Tempting to bid the Clubs, but the hand just isn't worth it. Remember, we haven't heard from Pard yet. You can't use 3♥ Michaels, mainly because you're not 5-5 plus in the minors. Hang tight, something may happen.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♥
?

A: Double: A double is so perfect. We've got a hand we would open with, and shortness in Hearts. We've also got the bonus of four Spades. We are wide awake with this one.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♥
?

A: 2♠: The suit is indeed ratty, but to offset that, we know the opening lead is going to be a Heart, right smack dab into our tenace.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♣
?

A: Double: Normally we don't cheat on the shape when we double, and we aren't short in their suit, nor can we really tolerate Diamonds. But the major holdings make it just too tempting. Let's try it and see what happens. Fingers crossed!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
?

A: Pass: All we can do is sigh. Can't overcall, can't double. If the Spades were nicer, maybe we could tuck a Club in with them and pretend they were five for an overcall at the one-level. We have to hope we'll get another chance to bid.

Ready to fly 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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