"Second Chances" -- Opener by Marti Ronemus

When we open 1-of-a-suit, it takes us two bids (usually) to complete the description of our hand. Our second bid, (hopefully!), shows Pard both our shape and point count.

When we first pick up our hand, we as opener decide if it's minimum (12-14), invitational (16-18) or maximum (19-21). (What happened to 15, you ask? 15 is a "crease" number and depending on texture can be downgraded to minimum, or upgraded to invitational.)

Today's mission, should you choose to accept, (remember "Mission: Impossible"?) is to decide what rebid can best describe your hand. And your reward will be a nifty hand. Let's go!

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ K 10 6
♥ 5 4
♦ K Q 9 4
♣ A J 7 4

Q: 1 - What's your rebid as South?

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
?

A: 1 No-trump: Well, let's see what we've got here. We have a minimum opener, and our hand did NOT improve with our partner's bid. We, with only two Hearts, can't support Pard's suit and with a minimum hand, we don't want to name a new suit...not to mention we don't have another suit to mention! We make the best possible rebid to tell the story: "Nothing else to say."

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ 10 4
♥ K 6 5 4
♦ K Q 9 4
♣ A J 7

Q: 2 - What's your rebid as South this time?

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
?

A: 2♥: We have a minimum hand with at least an eight-card fit in Hearts. A simple raise of Pard's suit tells the story perfectly.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - What's your rebid as South this time?

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
?

A: 3♥: We've got an invitational hand. We are going to show Pard our fit, plus 16-18 pts, all with one bid. Remember, we must jump since you can't bid the same thing with 12 pts that you bid with 18.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K 9 2
♥ 8
♦ A K Q 4 2
♣ A Q J 6

Q: 4 - We need to show our shape on this one. As South?

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
?

A: 3♣: This is a little tougher. We don't have a fit with Pard, so we think about No-trump. BUT! We've got nine cards in two suits, and generally that's an important fact to tell an unlimited partner. Clubs are the right strain. 2♣ isn't big enough though, as we would bid that with a minimum hand. We need to jump shift to show our big hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ K 9 2
♥ K 8
♦ A Q 4 2
♣ A Q J 6

Q: 5 - Last change to get it right. As South?

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
?

A: 2 No-trumps: Isn't it lovely when we've got the perfect bid for the perfect hand? The difference between this hand and the last one is, again, shape. We have none. Last hand we had nine cards in two suits. Not this time. Our jump to 2 No-trumps shows EXACTLY 18-19 HCP. Cool beans!

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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