"Let Me Entertain You" Interpreting Bids by Marti Ronemus

The 11th edition of "The Joy of Cooking" is out. It's the 75th anniversary edition, and filled with advice on throwing the best ever parties. Here's some guidance that I am writing down!
1. There's no shame in serving store-bought food. Put it on a fancy plate and no one will know. (You can't disguise a rotisserie chicken, though!)
2. Resist the urge to clean up during the party. And refuse all offers from guests to help dishes. (Sorry, but that sounds crazy to me. Anyone who wants to help me clean gets another free drink.)
3. Welcome chaos. (Unavoidable at my house.) If last minute, something does happen to upset your well-laid plans, rise to the occasion. The mishap may be the making of your party. Remember that way back in Roman times, Horace observed, "A host is like a general: it takes a mishap to reveal his genius."

And isn't that true of bridge? Anyone can make a lay-down hand. It takes talent to pull success from the jaws of disaster.

Today you will NOT see a hand. We are going to interpret the bids shown. Good practice.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠
♥
♦
♣

Q: 1 - South: Remember: NO HANDS are given today!

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	2♥	Pass
Pass	Pass

Which is the first bidder to limit his hand? Is the bid forcing? What does it show? Who's in charge of the auction?

A: 2♥: The rebid of an old suit is always limiting. In this case our 2♥ responder says he has a minimum hand of 6-9 pts. This bid is NOT forcing. The partner of the first person to limit their hand is in charge of the auction.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠
♥
♦
♣

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	3♥	Pass
Pass	Pass

Which is the first bidder to limit his hand? Is the bid forcing? What does it show? Who's in charge of the auction?

A: 3♥: Again, the rebid of an old suit is almost always limiting. In this case, responder has 10-12 pts (and probably four trump). This bid is NOT forcing, but rather limiting. South is in charge of the auction.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠
♥
♦
♣

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
1♠	Pass	2♠

Which is the first bidder to limit his hand? Is the bid forcing? What does it show? Who's in charge of the auction?

A: 2♠: It took a while to get there, but when North rebids Spades at the two-level, he's promising a minimum responder hand 6-9 pts and is the first to limit his hand. South asked North to choose one of his suits, and South did by correcting to Spades. North is now in charge of the auction.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠
♥
♦
♣

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
1 No-trump	Pass	3 No-trump

Which is the first bidder to limit his hand? Is the bid forcing? What does it show? Who's in charge of the auction?

A: 1 No-trump: When opener bids 1 No-trump, he's saying he's got a minimum hand 12-14/15 pts and no other four card suit to bid. He is denying four Spades also. North is in charge of placing the contract, and since he goes to 3 No-trump, he must have 13-plus pts of his own.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠
♥
♦
♣

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♠	Pass
1 No-trump	Pass	3♣	Pass
3♠

Which is the first bidder to limit his hand? Is the bid forcing? What does it show? Who's in charge of the auction?

A: 1 No-trump: Opener again limited his hand to a minimum and control of the auction passed to North. The 1 No-trump bid was NOT forcing, but responder's 3♣ jump shift is indeed forcing. South prefers Spades and bids them, and the final decision is completely in North's hand.

And having avoided disaster, with a minimum of chaos, we move on to our entertaining 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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