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 "Pluto Demotion Day" by Marti Ronemus

Were you as incensed as I was when Pluto lost its planet status? Here all our lives we thought it was a dwarf planet (after all, it has five moons of its own!), but now it is just another iceball in the Kuiper Belt. Maybe the probe New Horizons' fly-by will help it regain its previous status. Meantime, I'm just plain mad, and delighted to have an actual observance day to vent. One minute you're our representative at the outer limit of the solar system, next you're downgraded to iceball status. Sheesh.

Our theme for today's quiz will be upgrading and downgrading hands for bids. And as we go through it, please think kindly of poor Pluto.

Question 1

  Your Hand
♠ A K J 9 2
♥ 7 4
♦ K 8 3
♣ Q 10 8 		 
Q: 1 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--PassPass
1♠Pass2♥Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass: We know from Pard's initial pass that he has five Hearts and exactly 10-11 pts. If he had six Hearts he would have bid at his first turn. With our minimum opener and scattered minor honors, we have to downgrade our hand and just Pass. Yes, Pard's in a seven card fit, but he'll survive.

Your result so far:
Open Question

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Question 2

  Your Hand
♠ A 9 8 7
♥ 4
♦ K Q 9 4
♣ K Q 7 4 		 
Q: 2 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
1♦Pass1♥Pass
1♠Pass2♥Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass: Sadly, we must make a Pluto-like degrade and Pass. Why not 2 No-trump? Write this down: In a non-competitive auction, two minimum hands should rarely be above 2♠. We have stoppers but 2 No-trump would promise 16-18 pts. We don't have it. Pass and wait for the next fly-by.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
♠ J 8
♥ 5 4 3 2
♦ A Q 10 9 4
♣ 3 2 		 
Q: 3 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--1♠Pass
1 No-trumpPass3♠Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♠: We were a bit of an iceball on our first bid, as we couldn't afford anything but a 1 No-trump response. Pard's second bid however makes us re-evaluate. While we indeed only have 7 HCP, we have that fantastic Diamond suit. This is worth an upgrade.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
♠ A J 4 3
♥ K Q 9
♦ K Q J 10
♣ 8 3 		 
Q: 4 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--2♥Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♥: Deciding whether your hand is an iceball or planet opposite Pard's opening preempt takes some thought. Bridge is a game of TRICKS, not points. When Pard preempts, he's got 5-1/2 tricks (if it's a disciplined Weak Two). We don't count our points (although we've got lots), we count our tricks. We hold the ninth trump (1 trick), a quick Spade trick, and three-ish Diamond tricks. That adds up to game.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
♠ 8 3
♥ K 9 8 4
♦ A K J 10 8 4
♣ 8 		 
Q: 5 - South?
SouthWestNorthEast
--2♥Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♥: Previous hand, our decision as to our planet or iceball status was easy... we had a spaceship full of points. This decision is a little more subtle. We've got a ten-card trump fit and several Diamond tricks. Also with the short black suits, there won't be any trouble ruffing our way into dummy to use the Diamonds.

And now, let's try a 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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What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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