"National Waffle Week" and "National Nutrition Week" by Marti Ronemus

Not only is this "National Waffle Week," it is also "National Nutrition Week." Who plans these things? Is there any National Overseer who coordinates dates? Does anyone care that we are torn between thick gooey syrup on calorie-laden carbohydrates and sprouts? (It's not so much about choice, as about our tolerance for guilt.)

Maybe we can tolerate this kind of ambiguity in our calendar observances, but certainly NOT in our bridge bidding. Let's try some bids, determined to keep things clear for Pard.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	Pass
1♠	Pass	2 No-trump	Pass
?

A: Pass: Pard has guaranteed 18-19 points with a flat hand. We can squeeze out 6 points with the doubleton, but this hand has little to offer in terms of trick-taking. If you took it to 3 No-trump, don't penalize yourself too much.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 -

South	West	North	East
-	1♠	1 No-trump	2♠
?

A: 3 No-trump: Pard is bound to have something in Spades (He's an optimist and picked the waffles), and we've got a strong hand opposite a No-trump bid. We are NOT promising Spade stoppers. If we were the first to introduce Spades into the auction, it would be different.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A 5 3
♥ 10 9 7 6 5
♦ 4 3
♣ 9 5 4

Q: 3 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	3♦
?

A: 4♥: This is a competitive auction and we've got a dreadful hand... EXCEPT!! Pard has bid Hearts. We toss ambiguity out the window and raise to the level of trumps in our combined hands. It would be better if we had a singleton, but we just aren't going to be robbed.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South?

South	West	North	East
1♦	1♥	1♠	2♥
Pass	Pass	4♦	Pass
?

A: 4♠: Pard's Spade bid promised five, and maybe we could have raised on our second bid. BUT!! Our hand is flat and without much merit beyond our opening bid. Once Pard shows his huge hand though with his 4♦ bid, we see game in our future. We've got a double fit and can't resist.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South?

South	West	North	East
1♦	1♥	Dbl	Pass
?

A: 5♦: Let's bid what we think we can make. Pard's Negative Double promised Clubs and Spades. Surely he can pull one trick out for us, maybe two?

And now that we've warmed up, let's see how our hand goes.

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.
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