1990 "The Simpsons" Debut-- Responder Rebids by Marti Ronemus

Has "The Simpsons" really been around since 1990? Yup. And it has been one of those shows that has entered our collective consciousness. Personally, I'm embarrassed to admit I enjoy it, and consider it one of my guilty pleasures. The sheer stupidity of the stories and characters is at the heart of its appeal.

I will eschew making a comparison between the Simpsons and some bridge games, and we'll move right on to our quiz.

Today we're going to be responder, and we'll be considering our rebids. First though, we need to talk about how, when Opener raises our major suit, he may only have three of them. Let's look at an example. Pard opens 1♦ to which we respond 1♠. He rebids 2♠, holding:

♠AJ6 ♥K984 ♦A8543 ♣4

With this hand, he really had little choice. With his minimum hand, he can't reverse into Hearts, and with his singleton Club, he doesn't like No-trump. He can't rebid the Diamonds.

This is something we need to keep in mind as we progress.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
?

A: 2 No-trump: Pard already knows we have four Spades. Now we're telling him we've got 10-12 points and are inviting. We are allowing for him to be holding only three Spades. With four, he'll correct to either 3♠ or 4♠. With only three, he'll either Pass or bid 3 No-trump depending on his point count. Simple, no?

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
?

A: 3♠: There's no chance we'll find ourselves in a seven-card fit with this hand, even if Pard only has three. We'll make a nice, invitational bid, and make it his problem. Duh.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trump: Let's think this through. We've got game-going values and we're not sure if Pard's holding three or four Spades. We will tell him that with our bid. He'll know we belong in game, and will leave it if he's only got three Spades, or correct to 4♠ if he's got four.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
?

A: 4♠: See how nifty this is? Pard will know we've got five Spades, and game values opposite his minimum hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 6 5 4 3 2
♥ A K 10
♦ 7 4
♣ A Q J

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trump: Give yourself credit if you bid 4♠, but EXTRA credit if you bid 3 No-trump. This is a judgment call. You've got such solid strength in the minors (Pard opened 1♦) and such a dreadful trump suit. Yes, you're assured of an eight-card fit, maybe even nine. We like going for the cheaper contract, though.

And now on to 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

Your results: out of Average:

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