"Everything I Know..." by Marti Ronemus

Everything I know about bridge, I learned from the story of Noah and the Ark. How's this for wisdom?

DON'T MISS THE BOAT. As our Faithful Readers know, I believe in bidding till my nose bleeds. It's better to overshoot the dock occasionally than underbid and have the opponents win the race.

PLAN AHEAD. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark, and we don't want to be surprised when we run into that bad trump split.

FOR SAFETY'S SAKE, TRAVEL IN PAIRS. At least half the fun of bridge is knowing someone has our back. This is why we always start with a "Thank you, Pard!" We need to treasure our Pard... after all, who else would put up with us.

DON'T LISTEN TO NAY-SAYERS. Just get the job done! Don't over-think, don't be overcome with paralysis by analysis. Make your plan and hop to it. Or swim to it.

And sometimes we'll get into the bidding and think we see a big leak in the boat developing. Let's see if we can stay afloat with these hands, which center around "invitational" problems.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
?

A: 3♥: This is something to talk to Pard about. Pard has limited his hand to 6-9 points. With our 16 High Card Points, we might or might not have game. What we really want to know is if Pard has any help for us in Hearts. When we name a new suit after suit agreement and Pard's answer will be below game, the new suit asks for help. Pard will return to "our" suit if he has no help. Great bid for keeping water out of the boat.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ Q 10 2
♥ K Q 8
♦ 8 4 3 2
♣ 7 6 5

Q: 2 - North-- We are now the partner from the last hand:

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
3♥	Pass	?

A: 4♠: Pard asked us to bid game if we could help in the new suit. We can. We have a minimum hand and, had Pard bid 3♠, we would have passed. Pard's new suit after our agreement on Spades said, "If you can help in Hearts, we can make game." We do have help, so we bid game.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - North-- We are now the partner from the last hand:

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
3♥	Pass	?

A: 3♠: Same question from Pard: "Can you help in Hearts? If so, bid game." This time our answer is no, no help. We return to "our" suit at the cheapest possible level.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 7
♥ A K J 9 7
♦ A K J 8 5
♣ 4 2

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	2♥	Pass
?

A: 4♥: We have a great chance for game opposite any minimum hand from Pard. What makes this hand special is that all the honors are concentrated in the long suits. To use Help Suit Game Try, it's best to have a suit with three losers in it. We'll be fine.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	2♥	Pass
?

A: 3♥: We've got a lovely hand, but a pathetic trump suit. By inviting rather than going to game, we'll make our problem our Pard's. If he's at the top of his range, he'll put us in game.

Some folks play the 3♥ to ask Pard to go to game with actual trump support, a Game Suit Help Try in the trump suit. Talk it over with Pard.

If your Pard hasn't jumped ship, let's play 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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What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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