"Nat'l Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day" by Marti Ronemus

Just thinking about the oozy deliciousness of a grilled cheese sandwich is enough to distract most bridge players. Not long ago I was at a restaurant where they offered an "elevated" grilled cheese, with caramelized onions, apples, brie, arugula on a fancy bread. Yum. BUT for sheer comfort, what can beat plain old Wonderbread all crunchy, with Velveeta runny on the inside.

Well, we must get down to work here. Will our bids be elevated? Let's see.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - As South, what's your bid?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♥
Pass	2♥	Pass	Pass
?

A: 3♣: Yes, yes, it's a little risky to enter the auction at the three-level with only those stale ends of bread. BUT!! You've got that lovely ♥A and a respectable six-card suit. The opponents only have shown 20-ish points, so our Pard rates to have an almost-opening hand. Don't let this one go.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A J 8 4
♥ 2
♦ K J 8 5 3
♣ Q 10 5

Q: 2 - South:

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

A: 1 No-trump: But, wait! We've got 11 HCP! How can we bid 1 No-trump? Your Pard doubled in the balancing seat. That means he "borrowed" 3 pts. from your hand to make his bid. You need to treat your hand as if it were 3 pts. lesser. You could bid your Diamonds, but why bother?

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♣	Dbl	1♥	Pass
2♥	Pass	3♥	Pass
?

A: Pass: We know we've got an eight-card fit in Hearts (Pard's bid of the suit over the double promises five). Our rebid of 2♥ shows the fit and a minimum hand of 12-14. And now Pard invites. This is a tough one, because we have no extras. We've only got 13 pts., but the REAL reason we pass is our pathetic flat shape. This sandwich won't be starring on anyone's menu.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South again.

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
1♠	Pass	2♥	Pass
?

A: 3♦: Let's pause to visualize Pard's hand. He's got the gourmet version. He reversed. His second-named suit is one that we by-passed (the quickest way to spot the Dreaded Reverse). He's got at least 16 pts., and he's promising that his first-named suit is longer than his second-named suit. That means he's got a minimum of five Diamonds and four Hearts. We need to show our eight-card Diamond fit and our sad little hand. Our bid takes him back to our known fit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - Our last chance to get a bite of the sandwich. As South?

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♥: Since we're talking about that "elevated" sandwich, er, bid, the Reverse, here's another example. We've got 16 HCP, plus some very nice distribution. Pard denied Hearts when he bid Spades, so we're going to show him our caramelized onions by bidding them. We are saying, "Hey, pay attention! I've got an intermediate or better hand, and my first-named suit is guaranteed to be longer than my second-named suit."

Ready to go for the gold(en brown, crispy bread) in our 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!