"You Are My Sunshine". Responding to Overcalls with No Fit by Marti Ronemus

Ray Charles turned the banal, insipid song "You Are My Sunshine" into a toe-tapper of a soul hit back in 1962.

As bridge players, we should start every game by gazing into our partner's eyes and singing a rousing chorus or two. After all, this person puts up with our mistakes and the challenge of playing with us.

Today's partnership challenge is responding to our Pard's overcall when we have no fit. Some reminders: A new suit in response to Pard's overcall is forcing for one round (if we are unpassed), so we need extra... 10 pts.

A No-trump response shows a little extra also. Remember, Pard's overcall can be weak! Caution is the by-word here.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ Q J 7 5
♥ 4 3
♦ A 9 5 4
♣ 5 4 3

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	1♥	Pass
?

A: Pass: We aren't going to get Pard in deeper. We have no fit with his Hearts, we have no Club stopper, we have no five-card suit of our own. Pathetic. Remember, you have no responsibility to save your Pard.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♥	Pass
?

A: Pass: It doesn't matter how much sunshine Pard brings into your life. You aren't going anywhere. Remember we have no responsibility to save Pard, and all we can do is dig the hole deeper. With luck the opponents will bid again and it will be their problem.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♥: We don't need to jump. Just naming a new suit is forcing for one round. We have plans for this hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2 No-trump: If we had a fit with Pard, we could cuebid the opponent's suit to show game interest. Now, however, we see ourselves in a No-trump contract. We don't know if Pard has 7 or 17 points, so let's invite. We are promising stoppers in Clubs also. Let the sun shine.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♠	2♥	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trump: Pard must have at least 10 points for that two-level overcall. We've got enough points for a No-trump game, so let's just bid it.

We're all toasty warm from all that sunshine. Let's take our positive attitude and sunny feelings to 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

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What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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