"Life Before Air Conditioning" by Marti Ronemus

As our days grow hotter and hotter and we reach for the A/C switch, let's consider what life was like Back in the Day when we had to suffer. Here are three factoids to drop into today's conversations.

1) The summer of 1896 was so hot that New Yorkers slept on rooftops and fire escapes. Over 1500 of them rolled off edges to their deaths.

2) Until 1920, most of America shut down during the high heat, even Broadway. Theaters moved outside, creating everyone's favorite -- Summer Stock.

3) Moms bought "baby cages," boxes to hang their infants outside windows, dangling above the pavement.

If you can't make your conversation sparkle with these, you just aren't trying.

And now let's make our bidding sparkle.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A 8
♥ A J 4 3
♦ Q 10 9 6
♣ 4 3 2

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	1♠
Double	p	2♥	p
?

A: 3♥: Pard opened the bidding and now shows a fit with our Hearts. We've got 12 pts in favor of Hearts. Let's invite.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	1♠
Double	p	2♥	p
?

A: 4♥: Now, opposite Pard's opener, we've got game values. Let's bid them.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♦	p	1♠	p
3♣	p	3♦	p
?

A: 3♠: Our jump shift committed the auction to game. A raise of Pard's suit now shows three-card support. If we had four, we would have jumped to game on our second bid, right? Let's show our three-card support and see what happens next.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K Q J
♥ A J 9 8 7
♦ 8 7
♣ Q J 2

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	1♠	2♥	p
p	3♦	p	p
?

A: Pass: We're not delighted, but let's turn up the "cool" and think it through. West offered East a choice of two suits and showed a very nice hand. Pard has three Hearts and a minimum hand. Since East has chosen Diamonds rather than returning West to a seven-card Spade fit, we should suspect East of holding a singleton Spade. We could start off losing a Spade, a Spade ruff and a couple Diamonds before we ever get control of the hand. We're going to pass and let them be surprised by our holdings.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♥
1♠	2♥	p	p
?

A: Double: This shows a nice hand with at least three-card support for each unbid suit. It certainly isn't ideal, but it's better than going quietly.

And now, before things get too hot, 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.

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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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