"Control-Alt-Delete" Responding over a Minor by Marti Ronemus

It was meant to be a secret, shared only among IBM programmers developing the first personal computers. They had to reboot the entire system every time they ran into a glitch... and that happened a LOT in the beginning.

It was costing so much wasted time that David Bradley developed a little shortcut that would reset the computer avoiding a lot of stuff we don't want to know about. He set it up that if CTRL ALT DEL were hit at the same time... you could avoid the Microsoft "Blue Screen of Death." Remember that?

So useful was this secret it was passed mouth to mouth, friend to friend. I just used it about 20 minutes ago. Thank you, David!

And now to some not-so-secret bidding.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A Q J 10 7 6
♥ 8 6
♦ 4 3
♣ A 5 4

Q: 1 - South:

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

A: 4♠: Pard has shown a minimum hand, with Spade support. We know Pard has four Spades. In Spades, our hand is worth 13 pts (including distribution). We have game values opposite an opener. Bid it.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A Q J 10
♥ 8 6
♦ 4 3 2
♣ A 5 4 2

Q: 2 - South:

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

A: 3♠: This time we're not so sure about game. Let's invite and see what Pard has to say. Unlike the last hand, we don't have as attractive a shape. Pard has limited his hand, true, but let's see what he says.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A Q 10 9
♥ 8 6
♦ 4 3 2
♣ Q 5 4 2

Q: 3 - South:

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

A: Pass: Even if Pard has 14 pts, we don't have it. Two minimum hands in an uncontested auction should never be above 2♠. Repeat that three times.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ A Q 10 9
♥ 8 6
♦ 4 3 2
♣ Q 5 4 2

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	p
1♠	p	1 No-trump	p
?

A: Pass: We like our hand even less after Pard's 1 No-trump response. Get out of Dodge!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	p
1♠	p	1 No-trump	p
?

A: 2♣: With nine cards in two suits, we'd really like Pard to pick one. Since our response is so minimum, Pard will pass with a preference for Clubs, or correct to 2♠.

Warning: If you play New Minor Forcing, you cannot use 2♣ as a natural weak bid. Make sure you discuss this with your favorite partner.

And now, hit CTRL ALT DEL to reset us 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.

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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