"There's Hope Ahead!" by Marti Ronemus

Mosquitoes are even worse than we thought. In addition to what we've been reading in the news lately, they caused 214 million NEW cases of Malaria in 2015. Wow.

BUT!! There's hope ahead. The "Malaria Journal" (heady reading, I assure you) recently reported that mosquitoes don't like chickens. The scientists are still trying to zero in on just what it is they don't like... feathers? smell? clucking?... but meantime, we need to take advantage of that knowledge.

Surely there's room on your patio, deck, garage, for a few chickens to keep away those mosquitoes. And think of the side benefits... fresh eggs! Early morning alarm service for the neighborhood!

But before you head out to the hardware store for that chicken wire, let's make sure our bidding and play is worthy of our feathered friends.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ 8
♥ 6 5 4
♦ K J 10 6
♣ A J 9 4 3

Q: 1 - South:

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

A: 2 No-trump: This is a great bid if your Pard is awake. Why didn't you bid the first time? What does your bid mean? It can't possibly mean you've got a lot of points. It has to be Michaels for the minors. Why didn't you do it the first time? Your shape must be a little off.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A K 3 2
♥ 9 8
♦ K J 9 8
♣ Q 7 4

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	2♥
?

A: 3♥: Don't forget: Usually any raise of Pard's suit in a competitive action shows a WEAK hand. So what do we do? Our friend, the cuebid raise, showing at LEAST a limit raise with a lovely fit. It's of course forcing, and cannot be ignored. Sort of like that rooster outside your window at dawn.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ K Q 9 8 5
♥ J 10 3
♦ A K J 8
♣ 2

Q: 3 - South:

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

A: 4♦: No, that's not chickens you smell. It's a possible slam. Pard has shown 16-18 pts. Thinks are lookin' good except for the Hearts where we have three quick losers. We are going to show our Diamond stopper. Pard will know we are showing a first round control. How will he know? Why would we name a new suit once we've agreed on trump!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
2♣	p	2♦	p
2♠	p	3♠	p
?

A: 4♣: Pard's 3♠ bid shows slam interest. How exciting! We might possibly have 7♠ or 7 No-trump. Blackwood, if Pard only has one Ace, will not get us there. Again, a control-showing bid is what we need. We know we've got 6♠, but let's go for ALL the chicken feed.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A 10 8 3
♥ K J 8
♦ 8 5
♣ A J 8 4

Q: 5 - South:

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

A: Pass: Pard's 2♥ bid is NOT forcing. He may only have four Hearts and he's holding only 8-11-ish points. We don't see game, so let's pass.

And now, let's go earn some scratch to feed our chickens with a great 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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