"The Doorway Effect" by Marti Ronemus

Today's gem will help you understand that you're NOT crazy, you have lots of company. You walk from the living room to the kitchen to get your car keys. And you stand in the kitchen, having forgotten why you entered the room in the first place.

Would it surprise you to know that scientists have actually studied this phenomenon? Yup. It's comforting to know this is so common it needed to be studied. It's not a question of how long it took you to get to the kitchen, or the distance traveled. There's something about crossing the portal ... the brain perceives it as a cut-off point, and drops the thought that propelled you there in the first place, wiping it out of short-term memory.

I think the bridge equivalent is when you cross to dummy... and forget why you wanted to be there. Admit it. It's happened to you. And now you know and can tell your bridge friends you are suffering from the Doorway Effect.

So focus! Let's bid some hands.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	p
2 No-trump*	p	4♦**	p
?

*Jacoby 2NT promising game values, at least four-card trump support.
**5 Diamonds with two of the top three honors

A: 4♠: We can easily envision a slam, don't you think? With no first- or second-round control of Clubs, we need to show our first-round Spade control. We already have trump agreement, so the introduction of the new suit has to be control-showing.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A 9 3
♥ 2
♦ A K J 9
♣ A K 10 9 8

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♣	p	1♥	p
?

A: 2♦: this hand is perfect for a reverse. You don't need to jump shift into Diamonds. We are strong enough to Reverse. We are promising that our first-named suit is longer than the second, and we are bidding a suit Pard by-passed. Pard will know we are in a forcing auction. We just don't know where we belong yet.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	1♦
?

A: Double: Perfect for a Negative Double, unlimited and forcing.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	1♦
?

A: 1♠: No Negative Double with a five-card major, especially Spades.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
Dbl	p	2♥	p
?

A: Pass: Pard may well only have four Hearts, and doesn't have much more than 11-ish pts. We aren't going anywhere.

And before we forget everything, let's 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.

Play on ANY Device

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

Rate yourself:

0 - 40%	We applaud your effort. Review the subject and try again. You'll be surprised how much better you'll do. We're here for you!!
41 - 50%	Buy your mentor a cuppa and ask for clarification on the ones you got wrong. No mentor? Make finding one a priority!
51 - 60%	Nice improvement! One more review and you'll have this down solid!
61 - 80%	What a good job! All that's left is some fine tuning
Over 80%	Wow! It's time for you to become a mentor. Find someone who needs help and share your knowledge!