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 "I Thought I Was Alone" Responding after Overcall by Marti Ronemus

Well, guess who was just named "People Magazine's" Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive? Yes!! It's Neil deGrasse Tyson! And here I thought I was alone in my gigantic crush on this guy. (One has to wonder how many were entered in this competition!)

If you haven't seen his "Star Talk" on late (LATE) night TV, you gotta catch it. For those of you who've been living underground for the last decade, Neil is the guy who's making science cool. He's the director of the Hayden Planetarium, author, TV star, been featured in Superman comics, and on and on and on.

However! I almost parted ways with him when he was instrumental in having Pluto demoted. While not solely responsible, he admits he "drove the get-away car" in the controversy. I have forgiven him, though, because he is the only person alive who could actually make me care about how black holes are formed.

And now, we at Vu-Bridge are hoping to make you actually care about responding to Overcalls. We continue Friday's discussion.

Our choices?
**Raise our Pard's bid... the weakest response we can give, not forcing.
**Name a new suit... forcing if we haven't previously passed and usually showing a five-card suit of our own. Usually.
**Cuebid the opponent's suit, promises a FIT and 10 or more points. Remember, with a fit and a BAD hand, we raise Pard's suit.
**Double. Negative Double, forcing, promises a nice 7-ish plus points and four of the unnamed major(s) and strong tolerance for the fourth suit (usually).
**Pass. Ugh. For Ray Charles fans, definitely at the bottom of the list.

Question 1

  Your Hand
 8 2
 K Q 9 6
 A 10 7 6
 7 6 5
 
Q: 1 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--12
?


 Your choice:
A: Double: The Negative Double couldn't be more perfect. It promises four Hearts. If we had five, we'd overcall. It also shows we can support Diamonds if Pard chooses them. Perfect bid for once.

Your result so far:
Open Question

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With Marti Ronemus

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Spend a week combining a vacation and improving your bridge game. You’ll be playing the best bridge of your life. For details and locations,
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Question 2

  Your Hand
 K 10 9 4
 A 9 4
 Q J 8 4
 J 4
 
Q: 2 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--12
?


 Your choice:
A: 3: We are going to bid the opponent's suit. This means we have a dandy fit with Pard, 10 plus points, and we insist Pard bid again. We have a Darn Nice Hand, and we want to make sure those Dirty Dogs fall in a black hole.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
 K 10 9 4
 9 4 3
 Q J 8 4 3
 4
 
Q: 3 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--12
?


 Your choice:
A: 3: Compare this to the last hand. This time we have a dandy fit with Pard and a hand we're not proud of. How can we tell Pard we've got a fit, but a lousy hand? By raising HIS suit to the level of trumps in our combined hands. We know he's got five, we've got 4, so that's nine, and that's nine tricks equals a three-level bid. Got that? Now, look at the last hand again. NICE hand with a fit, we bid the OPPONENT'S suit. BAD hand with a fit, we raise. Got that? If not, read it again. Slowly. (Neil could probably explain it better than me.)

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
 9 4
 A K 9 4 3
 J 10 8 2
 A 4
 
Q: 4 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--12
?


 Your choice:
A: 2: We've got a nice suit of our own, and a nice enough hand that we want our Pard to bid again. This ensures he will... forcing for one round.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
 9 4
 K 9 4 3
 Q J 10 3
 7 4 2
 
Q: 5 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--12
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass: Can't overcall. Can't double (right shape but too weak). Can't raise. Can't cuebid. Can't bid No-trump. Rats.

Let's try a hand now.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

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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