"One Trick Pony" by Marti Ronemus

We all know these famous inventors, but do we really? Here are some of their "other" inventions. Are they familiar? Leonardo Da Vinci--a primitive scuba suit. Alexander Graham Bell--metal detector. Thomas Edison--talking doll. Clarence Birdseye--harpoon gun.

So these guys were flexible. How about us? Are we flexible on our bids? Can we see outside the box? Let's find out.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
1 No-trump	Pass	2♥**	Pass
2♠	Pass	3 No-trump	Pass
?

**Transfer to Spades

A: 4♠: Pard's 3 No-trump bid showed 10 pts and exactly five Spades. With three pieces of trump, we can safely bid 4♠. There are those who, with this 4-3-3-3 hand, would leave it in No-trump. Sometimes it works, but Pard could be very distributional. Should we gamble that we can make 10 tricks in No-trump, thereby garnering a top score? Should we make the safe bid of 4♠? In the immortal words of Clint Eastwood, "Are you feelin' lucky?" We like playing in a suit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
?

A: 4♠: An opening bid at the four level usually promises an eight card suit and an outside source of tricks. While the outside source is somewhat questionable, the two singletons more than make up for it. Your distribution couldn't be any better. Give it a try.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	2♥	Pass
?

A: 4♥: We like disciplined Weak Twos. We know that Pard has 5-1/2 tricks. We're a little on the fence with this hand, but knowing we've got the ninth trump and those three aces, we like this hand. And no contract is too high if Pard has to play it.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ A 9 7 4
♥ K 5 4
♦ 7 3
♣ A J 10 4

Q: 4 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	1♥
?

A: Double: It's our old friend, the Negative Double. We are promising Pard exactly four Spades. If we had five, we'd bid the suit. But wait! We don't have the Diamonds, which the Negative Double should show. No prob. If Pard bids Diamonds, we simply retreat to the sure seven card Club fit. It's not as necessary to have the missing minor as long as we have the major. Got that?

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ K Q 6
♥ A Q J 10 5
♦ 8 5
♣ A Q 6

Q: 5 - South?

South	West	North	East
1♥	Dbl	Redouble	Pass
?

**Redouble promises 10 pts, and neither confirms nor denies a fit. It also guarantees the redoubler will bid again.

A: Pass: There's no perfect bid on this hand, so we have to pick one that is the least lie. 1♥XX is the best contract you'd like to play. It would earn you a lot more than game.

West will probably bid again, and what will happen next? Pard has promised another bid. What will he do? Stay tuned...

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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