"Spunky Old Broads Day" by Marti Ronemus

One has to wonder how this day got on the list of Official Observances List. Being one myself, I thought EVERY day was Spunky Old Broads Day. I remember when I first started playing bridge at clubs and tournaments, being warned against LOLs At that time, it meant "Little Old Ladies." Now LOL has been subverted to an email expression, but it used to refer to one of those very harmless-looking lovely mannered ladies. We were warned that if one of them doubled you, you were going down for a phone number.

Here's hoping today's quiz and hand will help you avoid this fate.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South?

South	West	North	East
Pass	Pass	2♠	Pass
?

A: 4♠: We know, we know. A passed hand isn't supposed to advance a preempt. BUT!! Just how much temptation is one person supposed to resist? We know Pard has at least five Spades. We've got a singleton. We've got five card trump support. If you don't make it, be prepared to look suitably humble during the postmortem and say the devil made you do it.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♠	1 No-trump
?

A: Pass: Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. Our hand is probably worth more on defense. Pard's got five Spades, and based on the fact that East didn't Negative Double, Pard probably also has Hearts, maybe as many as five. Also, our minor suit points may not be worth too much, as the opening bidder is behind us. Let's see what damage we can do on defense.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South?

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♠	2♥
2♠	4♥	5♦	Pass
?

A: 6♦: No Spunky Old Broad would let this one go. Pard is probably void in Hearts as West's jump sounds preemptive to us. Pard can only have 9 HCPs in the suits he bid (look at our hand), so he must have the ♣A to justify his five-level bid opposite our minimum opener, which we showed with our strictly-from-desperation 2♠ bid. Show your spunk and bid slam!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ Q 10
♥ A 10 4
♦ Q J 5 2
♣ 10 8 7 5

Q: 4 - Easy one to give a breather after the last one! South?

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♠	Pass
?

A: 1 No-trump: Some might pass Pard's overcall, but not us! This is our day. We can't raise Spades with a doubleton. Name a new suit? Silly. Pass? Did we pay to play or not. 1 No-trump shows 6-9 pts and a Diamond stopper. Voila.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 10 8 5
♥ 10 6
♦ 8 4 3
♣ A Q J 5 4

Q: 5 - Okay Spunky people, men and women alike. What say you as South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	1♠
Pass	Pass	Dbl	Pass
?

A: 3♣: Our first pass might have shown anything. But we've got a little extra here. We have a very biddable suit that we couldn't bid. Before. Now we've got another chance. Don't bid the lazy 2♣. We could do that with zero. Jump to show our good suit and a nicer than expected hand.

Now that we're showing our spunk, are you ready for your hand?

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

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

Play on ANY Device

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

Rate yourself:

0 - 40%	We applaud your effort. Review the subject and try again. You'll be surprised how much better you'll do. We're here for you!!
41 - 50%	Buy your mentor a cuppa and ask for clarification on the ones you got wrong. No mentor? Make finding one a priority!
51 - 60%	Nice improvement! One more review and you'll have this down solid!
61 - 80%	What a good job! All that's left is some fine tuning
Over 80%	Wow! It's time for you to become a mentor. Find someone who needs help and share your knowledge!