"Hands Off!" More Responder Rebids by Marti Ronemus

To all the clean-freaks out there, we just aren't doing our jobs. Here are four of the dirtiest objects in our environment, each one far worse than what we find in public restrooms.

Keyboards: hiding amongst the qwerty keys is an abundance of staph germs, mold and yeast. Ugh.

Phones: believe it or not, the average smartphone is covered with ten times the germs found on a public restroom toilet. (One must wonder who is tasked with the measuring.)

Remote controls: 67.7 colony-forming bacteria per square centimeter.

And the worst of all--the innocent kitchen sponge, with 10 million bacteria per square inch, 200,000 times the average public toilet. Makes you want to buy a box of rubber gloves, no?

So after we wash our hands, let's tackle our quiz. We return to one of our favorite subjects, bids deeper in the auction.

In each case, we are responder and Pard will have opened a minor and rebid 1♠. We know he doesn't have enough to Jump Shift, so he is limited to around 17-ish pts... sort of limited, but not really.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ 9 3
♥ K 9 7 4
♦ J 8 6 5 4
♣ K 9

Q: 1 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	Pass
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
?

A: 1 No-trump: If we were to bid 2♦, Pard would have to bid again. More importantly though, we would be promising 10-plus pts. Let's talk about why we didn't bid 1♦ our first bid. Our hand is terribly minimal and chances are we won't be bidding again. Most players would show the major with this minimum, by-passing the Diamonds. Not all, but most.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ 9 3
♥ K Q 9 7 6 4
♦ 7 6
♣ 8 7 6

Q: 2 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	Pass
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♥: This bid accomplishes two goals. First, it tells Pard we've got a six-card suit. Secondly, rebidding an old suit at the two-level shows a minimum hand. Pard will be able to immediately imagine what we've got and know what to do. By the way, we all did bid 1♥, didn't we? There are only 5 HCP, but the shape is great. We can clean up with this hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 9 3
♥ K Q 9 7
♦ K 8 7 6
♣ 8 7 6

Q: 3 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♦: We've got an eight-card fit. Opener has to have 4-plus Diamonds. Imagine the hand-- four Spades, less than four hearts. That leaves at least six cards in the minors. Can't be 3-3, or he'd open 1♣. He HAS to hold four-plus Diamonds. 1 No-trump would also be reasonable.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K 8
♥ A Q 9 8 7 6
♦ J 7 5
♣ 7 5

Q: 4 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
?

A: 3♥: We have 10 HCP plus 2 for distribution (long suit). We can't bid the same thing with 12 pts that we bid with 6, so we must jump. Our rebid of an old suit at the three-level shows 10-12 pts, and rebidding an unsupported suit shows six cards. Pard doesn't have to imagine a thing... we have described it perfectly.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ Q 8
♥ K Q J 10 9 2
♦ A J 8
♣ 7 5

Q: 5 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
?

A: 4♥: Let's consider options. No-trump is out because of our shape. Hearts at the two- or three-level are insufficient to our points and NOT forcing. The only forcing bid we have left is 3♣ (new suit) but that just doesn't suit (pun intended). With our self-sufficient suit (a suit we don't mind playing opposite a void) and enough points for game, we can bid game. We have cleaned the glass and can see clearly. And let's see if we can wash up a 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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