"Respect" - Hand Evaluation by Marti Ronemus

Miss Aretha Franklin's immortal "RESPECT!" rings in our ears as we look at today's hands. We are going to be responder, and we'll need to evaluate our hands. We are going to be dummy, and a very important concept is in play.

We've said over and over that the main ways of getting rid of Declarer's losers (in a trump contract) are: TRUMPING losers in dummy or DUMPING losers on dummy's length. Can you see that the respect you show your hand as dummy depends on its shape?

We're going to look at five hands and judge if they should be respected or rejected. Listen to Aretha...

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South: What should we bid and what does this hand bring to the table?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♠: Pathetic. Yes, we've got gorgeous trump support and a Club doubleton. BUT!! Our long Diamonds are probably going to be useless as we don't have enough entries for Declarer to develop the suit. We are going to give a minimum response. Yuch.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ 7
♥ A 9 4 3
♦ J 10 9
♣ A 10 4 3 2

Q: 2 - South: What do we think of this hand?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	Pass
?

A: 3♥: We are faint with joy. We've got a nine-card (at least) trump fit, a singleton, and a develop-able (is that a word?) Club suit. Our hand is worthy of serious respect. We're going to add 3 pts for our Spade shortness which brings our hand to 12 pts. 3♥ shows 10-12 pts.
With that said: A strong case for bidding 2♣ can be made also, in that it is forcing, guaranteeing at least 10 pts and is unlimited. Give yourself credit if that's your bid.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South: How much respect do we give this hand?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♠: It's hard to respect a hand that looks like this. All we've got going for us is Heart shortness and a wee trump fit. The hand is worth 9 pts because of the 3 pts. for a dummy singleton. Don't look excited when you bid.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	Pass
?

A: 1♠: Aretha would have us show the greatest respect for this hand. We sniff the chocolate chip aroma of a slam. We've got 20 pts with the Diamond void (worth 5 pts in dummy!). AND!! We've got a nine-card trump fit. There is no Heart bid that would work so we need to make a forcing bid to get things rolling. The beauty of the 1♠ bid is it leaves all the room in the world for Pard to give us more info on his second bid.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A J 10 9
♥ 7 4 3
♦ 8 4
♣ Q 4 3 2

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♠: With our 7 HCP and our 1 pt for distribution, we only have 8 pts., but we do like this hand. Marvelous trump support, some shape. Minimum bid for a minimum hand. Pard will love our trump support.

And now, let's earn some respect with our outstanding play. Ready for a nice 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

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