"Pizza Month" by Marti Ronemus

October has a lot of food observances on my crazy calendar for some reason. Today we think about America's favorite home delivery item, with more options available than a hand of bridge. Pineapple? Dessert pizza? Thinking about all that melty drippy cheese and crunchy crust might distract our minds from our game, so be alert.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	Pass
Pass	1♠	Dbl	Pass
?

A: 2 No-trump: We are showing 10-12 points, and a Spade stopper. Our initial Pass limits our hand. We are tempted to bid Hearts or Clubs because of Pard's double (should hold four Hearts), but we'd rather be in No-trump. We've got a nice supporting hand, and opposite a full Takeout Double, we see game.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	3♣	Dbl	Pass
?

A: 5♦: We have six tricks in our hand, opposite a Pard who's willing to force us to enter the auction at the three level. C'mon! Live a little. Order anchovies!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	Pass
2♥	2♠	3♥	3♠
?

A: Pass: We don't have the right to bid. Let someone else pay for the pizza. We don't have an extra trump, we don't have extra values, and we don't have great shape. Pard also indicated he didn't want to hear from us again. If he did, he would have named a new suit or done something fancy. Let this go. Pard has another bid and if he takes it, he's responsible at the Post Mortem.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 9 3
♥ J 10 8 5
♦ A J 9
♣ K 7 6 5

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	Pass	2♦*	Dbl
3♦	3♠	Pass	4♦**
?

*Preemptive
**Cuebid looking for Slam

A: Double: The Double of an artificial bid is usually for lead direction, and that's what we want. We want to make absolutely certain Pard leads a Diamond. If he has a singleton, he might lead that instead, and we want to ensure we get that Diamond lead. Thus the double of the artificial bid.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A Q 8
♥ A J 9 4 3
♦ Q 8 7
♣ Q 6

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
1♥	Pass	1 No-trump	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trump: This one is a bit tricky and sure to cause discussion. We could do something convoluted to show that we have five Hearts, but Pard's got an opening hand, and it is balanced. We're not worried about the Clubs, because Pard denied holding four Spades or Hearts, and eschewed our Diamonds. He rates to hold Clubs.

And now it's time to earn our slice of pizza by playing a hand perfectly. Let's do it!

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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