"Letter to Santa Day" by Marti Ronemus

The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the day we write our letter to Santa. Here is an excerpt from mine. (It is quite long!)

"Dear Santa, I have been exceptionally good this year (PLEASE do not attempt to verify that claim with my partners). After world peace and my gigantic lottery win, here's what I want.

I want everyone who plays bridge to be treated with kindness and respect by Pards and opponents alike. I want fellow players to understand there are several (correct) answers to each puzzle. I want everyone to take the same joy I do from each hand, good or bad.

And please, Santa, please (and if you remember I asked for this LAST year, too!) let JUST ONE finesse work--when I NEED it, not when I don't."

So, what do YOU want from Santa? Have you been good or bad? Your answers to today's quiz will tell the story.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A Q J 10 4 2
♥ Q 7
♦ K 8
♣ A 6 3

Q: 1 - As South?

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	1♥	Pass
?

A: 1♠: There's no need to do more at this stage. Most modern players don't play strong jump shifts any longer, preferring to reserve those for WEAK hands. The advantage of NOT jumping (after all, your bid is forcing) is you have a better chance of finding exactly the right contract. You are leaving your Pard with lots of bidding space.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ K J 7 6
♥ 3
♦ K 10 9 6 2
♣ A Q 4

Q: 2 - As South? Remember, Santa's watching.

South	West	North	East
-	1♠	2♥	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trumps: Pard's two-level overcall shows a close-to-opening hand. Bid the game you know you have. And no detours into the Diamonds. They will be super for No-trumps.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 6 2
♥ 6 3
♦ A Q 10 9 7
♣ 10 7 6 5

Q: 3 - And South says?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	Dbl
?

A: 2♦: Remember last year when Santa gave you that lovely REDOUBLE? In Standard methods, a redouble would show 10 plus points, so a new suit at the 2-level after a Take-Out Double does NOT show 10 plus pts and is NOT forcing. Without the double we would have been forced to bid 1 No-trump. WITH the double, we can show our hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - How about this for a nice stocking filler--South?

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♥	Pass
?

A: 2 No-trumps: We aren't sure if Pard has 7 or 17 ish points, but we have to make an effort to get to game opposite anything except a minimum. We might still be too high, but it's worth a try. Pard will pass with a minimum.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - This one's an early holiday gift. Get it wrong, and you'll find coal in your stocking.

South	West	North	East
-	-	1 Notrump	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trump. Do not admit to Santa (or Vu-Bridge!) if you get this wrong.

BUT! You now get to play the hand. It's not as easy as the bidding. Ho ho ho.

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.
More informations on our website: www.VuBridge.com

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