"Hug Your Cat Day" by Marti Ronemus

Hugging a cat that doesn't want to be hugged is highly dangerous and very likely to end with the well-intentioned hugger in bandages. So, although according to our calendar, today is the day to do it, watch yourself. Be sure to discuss it with the cat first.

And I don't have to struggle to find a bridge tie-in. Think about how using some conventions without proper handling ends up with you in shreds. Think about your partner when you've stepped on his tail by mistake. Oops. Always discuss it with the cat -- er, Pard -- first.

And now on to our quiz, and here's a little hug for you (from a safe distance).

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ Q 10 5 4
♥ 9 5
♦ J 8 7 6
♣ K 10 9

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	2♣	Pass
2♦**	Pass	2♥	Pass
?

**Waiting

A: 3 No-trump: This shows a hand not good enough for slam, but certainly good enough for game--but without a fit or a suit of our own. A nicer hand without a fit would employ the "Principle of Slow Arrival" and bid 2 No-trump. Seems counter-intuitive, but the better the hand, the slower up the bidding ladder until you find the perfect resting place. The only thing we don't like about this bid is it puts the big hand on the table. But... life isn't PURRfect, is it? (Sorry, can't resist.)

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South's rebid?

South	West	North	East
3♦	Pass	3♠	Pass
?

A: 4♠: Well, we're going to be at the 4-level somewhere, right? Pard's bid is oh-so-forcing, and to name his own suit, he's likely got six or more. With our partial fit and an honor, plus the lovely Heart ruff, this is a good hand for Spades. AND!! Our ♦A will be like a little bowl of cream, since he has either a singleton or void.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South's rebid this time?

South	West	North	East
3♦	Pass	3♠	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trump: We aren't crazy about Spades and with such a nice Diamond suit, we don't want to go past 3 No-trump. Pard knows we don't have much outside our Big Suit. He will know we only have a singleton Spade (we would have supported with two, and with zero we wouldn't have preempted) so the final contract if he's not happy with no-trump is his problem.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South's bid?:

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

A: 4♠: Well, isn't this exciting! We've got a double fit, the cat's meow. When we bid 1♠ at our first bid, we expected to return to Hearts and were making a forcing bid to find out more about Pard's hand. AND! We find out we have a choice. We are going to place the contract in Spades, because from a play point of view, a 4-4 fit is more advantageous than a 5-3. Think about it... a 4-4 fit enables us to use either hand as the master hand. PLUS! We get rid of losers by TRUMPING in dummy or DUMPING in dummy, and those Hearts will be a great place to DUMP losers.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South?:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	3♠
Pass	Pass	4♥	Pass
?

A: 6♥: Preempts do their job! They make our lives hard, but cat-like we do have nine lives. We're going to risk one of them on this bid. Pard would never have made the bid without a rock-solid suit. Our only danger is that Pard has BOTH of the two unaccounted-for Spades. We will not allow Those Opponents toy with us like cats with little mousies. We are members of the Clint Eastwood School of Bidding, and we're going for it.

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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