"Watermelon Seed Spitting Days" by Marti Ronemus

The Summer Sillies are in full bloom with events like Watermelon Seed Spitting Days. It's wonderful that talents of all kinds are celebrated, even ... seed spitting?! If you google watermelon seed spitting contests you'll be amazed (and perhaps not a little frightened) and how much time and effort is spent on this. Just so you are in the know... the current world record was set 8/12/95 when Jason Schayot spit a seed an astonishing 75 feet 2 inches. Yup, you read it here.

Today our quiz is about talents that might be a little more useful... cuebids of the opponents' suit(s). Let's see how far we can go!

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ K 10 9 2
♥ 9
♦ A Q 7 4
♣ K 10 8 7

Q: 1 - As South, your bid?

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	Dbl	Pass
?

A: 2♥: You could bid Spades. A double-jump would show 9-11 pts. A jump to game would preclude further action. A cuebid however is perfect. It shows 12-plus pts, unlimited and forcing.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - How far can you spit this one? South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	1♠	Pass
?

A: 3♠: Pard has shown five Spades and 7-17 HCP. Your bid follows the Law of Total Tricks and shows a nine-card trump fit. Remember that in a competitive auction, a raise of Pard's suit is the weakest bid you can give.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A K 9
♥ 4 3 2
♦ J 9 3 2
♣ Q 8 5

Q: 3 - How far can you shoot those seeds? South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	2♣	Pass
?

A: 2♥: As we know, a cuebid of the opponent's suit shows a fit and a limit raise or better. In this case, Pard should infer that we don't have a Heart stopper. If we did, we would have found a strain of No-trump. Without a stopper, Pard will rebid Clubs, the level depending on his point count.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - On this one? South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	1♥
?

A: 2♥: What works for the advancer works for the responder also. Our cuebid shows a Club fit with Pard and a limit raise or better point count. It also denies a Heart stopper, since we are looking for a possible game and would prefer No-trump. Our Pard will infer that, and take appropriate action.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - One last chance for the world's record. South?

South	West	North	East
Pass	Pass	1♣	1♥
?

A: 2 No-trump: This time we've got the Heart stopper. Our initial pass alerts Pard that we've got exactly 10-11 HCP. He'll know what to do.

While we haven't broken the world's record, we've come close. Let's see what happens after we play 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.

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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

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!!
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51 - 60%	Nice improvement! One more review and you'll have this down solid!
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