"Rocky and Bullwinkle Day" by Marti Ronemus

Those who were living in a cave between 1959 and 1964 won't know who Rocky and Bullwinkle were, but the rest of us spent many hours laughing at the antics of the flying squirrel and moose, and their arch-enemies Boris and Natasha, plus Professor Peabody and his time machine, and Dudley Dooright with his forest tips.

Let's celebrate our memories by seeing if we can avoid the machinations of Boris and Natasha, as they try to keep us from victory.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - Boris sitting West opens the bidding, followed by two passes. What should we do?

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	pass	pass
?

A: Double: When the auction has gone Bid-Pass-Pass to you, your job is to re-open with a Double in the balancing seat. No, you're not going to bid your Clubs. You'll get to bid again later. The big tip-off here is that Natasha, sitting East, passed. She doesn't have even 6 pts! Pard has something. A pass in the overcall seat doesn't say, "I don't have anything." It says "I don't have a bid." Pard may be sitting there with a trump stack and want to convert your takeout to penalty. Give him a chance.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - Natasha, East, has tried to drop a bomb with her preempt. What will you do, as South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♦
?

A: 3♥: A jump after a WEAK bid shows strength. A jump after a STRONG (or normal opener) shows weakness. There are those who would bid 2 No-trump with this hand, showing a No-trump opener with a stopper, but we think it's more important to show our GREAT five-card major and big points.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - Natasha makes yet another attempt to halt our efforts. As South?

South	West	North	East
-	pass	1♥	3♦
?

A: 3♥: We can scrape up just enough points to raise Pard to the three-level.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 8 7 2
♥ Q 6
♦ J 5
♣ A K Q J 3 2

Q: 4 - If you recall, Boris and Natasha NEVER give up. Here they are again. What should we do?

South	West	North	East
-	3♦	dbl	pass
?

A: 5♣: We don't give up either. Pard must have a very solid hand to double at the three-level. We'd like to support a major, but it ain't to be. We have to be in game, and it can't be No-trumps. So...

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - One final chance to avoid the spies' bomb. As South?

South	West	North	East
-	2♥	dbl	pass
?

A: 3 No-trumps: This time, we've got sound stoppers in Boris' suit. We don't have a great major fit, so we go with No-trumps. Pard's got a solid opener, so we can't settle for less than game.

Was this a good decision? We are going to play the hand and find out.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

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Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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