"Yet Another Thing We Didn't Know" Responding to Takeout Doubles by Marti Ronemus

Did you ever hear of a "mountweazel?" Me neither. It is a false entry in a fact book, designed to be a trap for copyright theft. The word itself comes from an entry in the 1976 New Columbia Encyclopedia.

The mythical Ms. Mountweazel was a photographer and fountain designer. Her book, Flags Up!, was purportedly an unmatched collection of rural American mailbox photography. Unfortunately, she was killed in 1973 in an explosion, while on assignment for the equally nonexistent Combustibles magazine. Who knew?

Don't try to find any mountweazels in Vu-Bridge. All our entries are true, true, true. Open to debate, but true.

Monday we talked about making Takeout Doubles. Today, we take it a step further and look at advancing your Pard's Double. We will be showing both suit and point count.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ 3 2
♥ 8 5 4 3
♦ 3 2
♣ K 8 7 6 5

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	Double	p
?

A: 1♥: Every responder's nightmare. We want to exit for the restroom, but we can't Pass is not an option. Of the two viable options, Hearts or Clubs, we prefer showing Pard our major at the cheapest possible level. Try not to look sick when you bid. Our bid shows 0-7-ish points and now it's Pard's problem.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ 3 2
♥ K 10 9 8
♦ A 2
♣ K 8 7 6 5

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	Double	p
?

A: 2♥: We can't bid the same thing with this 10 HCP (High Card Point) hand as we did with the last. Our jump of one level shows 8-11-ish pts as well as our suit choice. Pard is unlimited at this point. Now that we've limited our hand, he is in a position to place the contract.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 -

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	Dbl	p
?

A: 1♠: We aren't crazy about this bid, but we do know that Pard has often four Spades. We have a cheap hand and make a cheap bid. Pard will survive a seven-card fit at this level. We've raised the red flag.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 -

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	Dbl	p
?

A: 2♦: Our bid is the best we can do. We have a good hand, but a jump would show a little more strength.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 -

South	West	North	East
-	1♠	Dbl	p
?

A: 4♥: We know Pard has usually four Hearts and an opening hand. What else can we bid? We could also use the cue-bid, but we show our shape and our points. Any further action is up to Pard.

Ready for 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

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