"People Who Aren't" by Marti Ronemus

Back in the very early days of interactive computer instruction (1985), a woman arose from the general boredom to become a major star with a cult following. Remember Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing? I would bet a lot of our Faithful Readers improved their keyboard skills with Mavis' help, typing her hilarious sentences with her whole-hearted encouragement.

There's only one catch... there was no such person as Mavis Beacon. Organizations would try to book her for speeches... only to find out she didn't exist. The woman pictured on the packaging was a woman named Renee L'Esperance, who was paid $500 to model for the cover.

Back In The Day, retailers actually refused to carry the product because Mavis was a woman of color. When the program became a cult hit, they ate their words, and millions were sold.

We at Vu-Bridge consider ourselves the Mavis Beacons of bridge. We instruct and encourage with clarity and humor, or at least we like to think so. At any rate, put your fingers on the home keys and let's get to work.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A 9 7
♥ 4
♦ A K J 6
♣ A K 10 9 8

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♣	Pass	1♥	Pass
?

A: 2♦: 3♦ would be a jump-shift and certainly would describe the strength of our hand. 3 No-trump is where we probably will end up ("probably" being the operative word). BUT!! Why would you bid anything except 2♦. It's a reverse, thusly forcing, it guaranteed a fat intermediate or better hand, and it guarantees that the first-bid suit is longer than the second. No reason to use up all that bidding space for any other bid.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
Pass	Pass	1♦	Pass
?

A: 1♠: Here's the story, folks. It's almost impossible for a passed hand to force the auction. You may only get one shot here, so let's tell Pard about that gorgeous Spade suit. Yes, 2♣ shows your point count. Yes, it reflects your shape. BUT!! What if Pard opened light in third seat. He could easily pass your 2♣ bid.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
?

A: 2♣: Here, we're NOT a passed hand. Our bid is forcing, we got game values. There's no chance we'll miss a major fit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♣	Pass	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♦: What, you cry? You need a fat 16 for a reverse? Bridge is not a game of points, it's a game of tricks. This hand is a trick-taker. A case can be made for other answers, but we think 2♦ perfectly describes the hand. We need to force the auction.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A Q 9 8 7
♥ A Q 10 8 6 4
♦
♣ 3 2

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	1 No-trump	Pass
?

A: 2♠: Once again, we're going to reverse. Do we care this hand only has 12 points? Not hardly! Spectacular shape! Eleven cards in two suits! A void! You need to make a forcing bid and show off a little.

How about 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

Rate yourself:

0 - 40%	We applaud your effort. Review the subject and try again. You'll be surprised how much better you'll do. We're here for you!!
41 - 50%	Buy your mentor a cuppa and ask for clarification on the ones you got wrong. No mentor? Make finding one a priority!
51 - 60%	Nice improvement! One more review and you'll have this down solid!
61 - 80%	What a good job! All that's left is some fine tuning
Over 80%	Wow! It's time for you to become a mentor. Find someone who needs help and share your knowledge!