"Pick a Pathologist Pal" Day by Marti Ronemus

When I first saw "Pick a Pathologist Pal" Day, I wondered why pathologists would need such a day. Certainly they've developed quite a following on shows like "CSI" and "Bones". Maybe people only want to see them from a distance? A HUGE distance?

Nevertheless, as bridge partners we are certainly pathologists of a kind. Don't we live for the postmortem? Isn't dissection of Pard's bids and play one of our chief hobbies? Don't we delight in reducing the opponents to itsy bitsy pieces? Admit it, we are all pathologists at heart.

Let's practice our skills.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - As South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	2♥	Pass
?

A: 2 No-trump: We're faced with a dilemma. Hopefully you play disciplined Weak Twos so you know what Pard has -- 5-9 HCP, with either 5 pts in the suit or three honors, and nothing except maybe a stray ace or king outside the suit. Pard has 5-1/2 tricks for us. We are close to game. Let's invite by bidding 2 No-trump, which asks Pard if he has an outside honor. If you don't like his response, you can pass 3♥.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠
♥ A 10 8
♦ J 10 9 2
♣ 8 7 6 4 3 2

Q: 2 - As South, what do you say?:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♥	Pass
?

A: 2♥: Looking under the microscope, we see Pard holding between 7 and 17 pts. Do we care? No. With our minimum hand, we want to give a Wonderbra response: with a minimum hand, support with support. Even if Pard is at max, we don't have game.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 8 4
♥ J 7 5 4 3 2
♦ 7 6 5
♣ A 8

Q: 3 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
Pass	1♠	dbl	3♦
?

A: 3♥: This requires very careful scalpel work. North's double was for the unbid suits, especially guaranteeing four Hearts. Our problem isn't what suit to bid, it's how high should we go. The Law of Total Tricks suggests we shoot the moon. We've got a ten-card fit. BUT!! We'd like to have a singleton or void. A suggestion to solve the problem. Bit 3♥ and if needed, we're willing to go to 4♥ to win the contract.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K J 8 4
♥ 8
♦ A Q 8 5
♣ Q J 7 3

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	Dbl
?

A: Redouble: If this auction doesn't belong to us, we're going to penalize the opponents. Redouble doesn't confirm or deny a fit. The opponents will have to bid and we'll double again, this time for penalty. Our Pard should be able to read the X-rays and will pass.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 2
♥ 8 3
♦ A Q 10 9 5 4
♣ 10 7 6 3

Q: 5 - A final hand requiring a keen pathologist's eye. As South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	Pass
1 No-trump	Pass	2♥	Pass
?

A: 3♦: We had to bid 1 No-trump on our first bid. Why? With only 6 pts. we can't do anything else! BUT!! We did limit our hand to a maximum of 9 pts. Now, when Pard bids again, we can show our long, powerful suit. Pard won't assume we found a king hidden in our hand. He'll know we've got a big suit in a bad hand.

What will he do next? We get to play this hand, and we'll 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.
More informations on our website: www.VuBridge.com

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