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Vu-Bridge | Play like a Champion!

Defending against pre-empts. by Paul Bowyer

This area of the game is something of a minefield. Your right-hand opponent opens the bidding at the three-level (or four-level) and you are suddenly out of your comfort zone. What do you do? Well, all you can do in retaliation to these pre-emptive strikes is to Double for take-out, bid your own suit or maybe have a shot at 3NT. One thing's for sure - this is a bear-garden. Bid and you may get Doubled for zillions. Pass and you may find you have missed a game (or even a slam). That's whart pre-emps are there fore - to put you to an uncomfortable guess.

Let's see how you get on...
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Question 1

  South
♠ A J 8 7
♥ K Q 9 5
♦ Q J 8 4
♣ 9 		 
Q: 1 - The vulnerability is Love All and the bidding starts on your right. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
3♣
?


 Your choice:
A: Double. A classic take-out Double. Yes, you only have 13 points but, crucially, you can support anything partner bids. Often having the right shape is more important than having a lot of points.

Your result so far:
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Question 2

  South
♠ A J 8 7
♥ K Q 9 5
♦ Q J 8 4
♣ 9 		 
Q: 2 - The vulnerability is Love All and the bidding starts on your right. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
3♦
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass. You might like to Double for penalties but that option is not open to you. If you Double, partner will bid. Fine if partner bids Hearts or Spades but why should you be that lucky? If North bids 4♣ on a five-card suit where are you going now?

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Question 3

  South
♠ A J 8 7
♥ K J 9
♦ A J 4
♣ A 9 8 		 
Q: 3 - The vulnerability is Love All and the bidding starts on your right. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
3♦
?


 Your choice:
A: 3NT. What else? If you Pass you may find you have missed a game contract. If you Double what will you do if partner bids 3♥ (or even 3♠?). If partner has nothing you will fail in 3NT, possibly Doubled. Tough - it happens. MUCH more likely is that dummy displays some useful cards and 3NT makes.

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Question 4

  South
♠ K 4
♥ A Q 10 7 6
♦ 7 5
♣ A J 6 3 		 
Q: 4 - The vulnerability is Love All and the bidding starts on your right. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
3♦
?


 Your choice:
A: 3♥. Dangerous (you are coming in at the three-level with a mere five-card suit) but Passing is equally dangerous (you may miss a game contract your way). East's pre-empt has made things very difficult for you but bidding (the aggressive action) is probably the right thing to do in the long run.

Your result so far:
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Question 5

  South
♠ A J 4
♥ A K J 10 8 7 6
♦ 7 5
♣ A 		 
Q: 5 - The vulnerability is Love All and the bidding starts on your right. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
3♦
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♥. Take the strain off partner. You don't need much in the hand opposite to make game and you should therefore have a stab at it yourself. 3♥ would ask too much of partner to raise with a couple of useful cards. Double is bizarre and 3NT is completely bonkers.

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Question 6

  South
♠ 5 4 2
♥ A 7
♦ K 9
♣ A K Q 10 8 7 		 
Q: 6 - The vulnerability is Love All and the bidding starts on your right. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
3♦
?


 Your choice:
A: 3NT. maybe not entirely obvious but you can often make 3NT with the aid of a long suit. Here, with not very much opposite, you might make six tricks in Clubs, the ♥A and a Diamond trick. That leaves one trick to find, and it's not asking too much for partner to provide it. If he has nothing at all (or if the Clubs don't break) then 3NT will fail. That's life. 4♣ isn't fish, fowl nor good red herring. It's just wet.

Your result so far:
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Question 7

  South
♠ J 8 7 5 3
♥ 10 6 4
♦ Q 7 4
♣ K 9 		 
Q: 7 - The vulnerability is Love All and the bidding starts on your left. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
3♣DblePass
?


 Your choice:
A: 3♠. An easy question, really. Partner has asked you to bid so that's what you should do. What else can you do but bid your best suit? Nothing at all... However, compare and contrast this with the next question.

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Question 8

  South
♠ A J 8 5 3
♥ A 10 4
♦ J 7 4
♣ A 9 		 
Q: 8 - The vulnerability is Love All and the bidding starts on your left. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
3♣DblePass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♠. 3♠ would just be answering partner's request to bid. When you have a decent hand you must take the strain off partner and bid game. If you were to bid 3♠ how would hard-pressed partner know whether you had this hand or the hand above in Question 7?

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Question 9

  South
♠ 7 6 3
♥ A 4
♦ 7 5 3 2
♣ Q J 9 8 		 
Q: 9 - The vulnerability is Love All and the bidding starts on your left. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
3♣DblePass
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass. Partner has asked you to bid but you have a nasty surprise for declarer - his seven-card suit is not breaking well. Normally speaking you'd expect to be making a couple of trump tricks and the ♥A on your own and you'd a expect a trick or three from a hand that could make a take-out Double at the three-level. The likely result of this action is a penalty of 300-500, depending on how much dummy turns up with.

Your result so far:
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Question 10

  South
♠ J 8 6 5
♥ A K Q 8
♦ A 9
♣ Q 7 4 		 
Q: 10 - The vulnerability is Love All and the bidding starts on your right. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
3♦
DoublePass3♥Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass. You have made your pitch and all partner can do is to bid the minimum. Why should you be able to make game? True, you have 16 points but so what? Partner hasn't promised a bean. Don't get carried away by the quality of your trump support - look at all the losers you have outside Hearts and ask yourself where they might get parked.

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Overall Results

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What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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Rate yourself:

0 - 40% Maybe this quiz is on a lesson you didn't take yet!
41 - 50% If you have covered this in a lesson discuss the questions with your teacher.
51 - 60% Not bad, but you should re-read the lesson to build a stronger foundation.
61 - 75% Well done: You have a good base, although not yet perfect.
Perhaps review the difficult questions with your teacher or fellow sudents.
Over 75% You are a 1st class player! You really learn well. Kudos to you and your teacher!
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