Pard Opens a Minor. What Now? by Marti Ronemus

A: 1♠: I know, I know. They are hideous. BUT! You aren't saying "GOOD" Spades, you are saying "FOUR" Spades. What if Pard is holding ♠AQJ8. For those of you wanting to pass, shame! With 7 pts, you simply must bid, even if you don't feel well. You've got two Quick Tricks for Pard. Show some guts. By the way, you've named a new suit, so Pard must bid again. You have forced the auction. (Incidentally, raising the Clubs is not an option until we check out the major fit.)

Your result so far:

A: 1♥: Did we fool you? Did you skip the Hearts because you don't like them? Remember, we bid UP THE LINE. Keep in mind that in bridge we only get to see half our hand. The other half is "across the street" and the only way we get to see it is through clear reliable bidding. Trust us, those Spades will come in very handy. You could miss a lovely eight-card Heart fit if you skip them. Your bid is forcing for one round.

Your result so far:

A: 1 No-trump: Bidding 1 No-trump over your partner's Club opener denies holding a four-card major or another biddable suit. We don't really want to raise our partner's Clubs when 1 No-trumps is such a descriptive bid. We've got stoppers in the majors, and while we have nothing in Diamonds, that shouldn't stop us from making this great descriptive bid, promising 6-9ish points. Since your bid has LIMITED your hand, Pard does not need to bid again.

Your result so far:

A: 2♦: Let's look at our options. We can't bid a major. We can't afford to bid our Clubs, as "buying" the two-level costs 10 pts, and we don't have it. No-trump is a bad bet, as we don't have a single stopper outside our Diamonds. So we raise our Pard's suit. A two-level response shows 6-9 pts, and at least four Diamonds. (There's a 97% chance Pard has four or more Diamonds.) A raise of your partner's suit is NOT forcing. You have limited your hand and the captaincy passes to Pard. We LOVE that!

Your result so far:

A: 1♠: You want Pard to know about those lovely Spades. Down the road when you have more tools in your kit, you'll bid this hand a little differently, but for now, this is good. Your bid is forcing, as you've named a new suit. What will Pard do next? What's going to be the final contract? You are about to play the hand, and you'll find out!

Your result so far: