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 Potpourri of Bidding Challenges "Thin Line" by Marti Ronemus

The line between genius and eccentricity is a very thin one, as any bridge player will tell us. Hard to judge, no? Here are some examples of "eccentricity" from geniuses in history to help us decide.

PYTHAGORAS refused to eat beans, not because he didn't like them, but because he thought they would dull his mind. BEETHOVEN kept a full bathtub in his studio, and would hop into it many times during the day. BALZAC drank 50 cups of coffee a day and then wondered why he had stomach cramps, headaches and high blood pressure. TESLA did toe exercises believing it would boost his brain cells. Finally (and my favorite) BEN FRANKLIN took "air baths" an hour a day, standing naked at his open window. One wonders what the neighbors thought.

Now we have a basis of comparison to decide about our Pard's level of craziness, no?

Some bids are on the thin line also. Some less experienced players often think that if they could just learn a few more conventions, their game would improve geometrically. Well, it just isn't so. It's just plain crazy. Let's look at some basic auctions.



Question 1

  Your Hand
♠ Q J 10 9
♥ K Q 10 5
♦ Q 9
♣ 8 6 5 		 
Q: 1 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--1 No-trumpPass
2♣*Double***2♠Pass
?

**Stayman: "Do you have a four-card major?"
***Lead Directing Double. Usually, the double of an artificial bid (like Stayman) is for lead direction.

 Your choice:
A: 4♠: Pard showed 15-17 points with his opening bid. Opposite that, we've got game-going values. We found our major suit fit. We don't need any more information so we place the contract.

Your result so far:
Open Question

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Question 2

  Your Hand
♠ Q J 10 9
♥ K Q 10 5
♦ Q 9
♣ 8 6 5 		 
Q: 2 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--1♠Pass
?



 Your choice:
A: 3♠: We have the same hand, but this time Pard opens 1♠. We need to make a plain sane limit raise, showing 10-12 points and usually four pieces of trump.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
♠ K Q 9 5 4
♥ 8 7
♦ A Q 9
♣ K 8 4 		 
Q: 3 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
1♠Pass2♦Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 3♦: We don't need to get crazy here. We can't rebid our Spades, as that would promise six. We hold a No-trump shape, so we could bid 2 No-trump. But holding two honors and an honorette in Pard's bid suit, why not show him a little support first? We like raising Diamonds. If we had a Heart stopper, No-trump would be our first choice.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
♠ K Q 9 5 4
♥ 8 7
♦ A Q 9
♣ K 8 4 		 
Q: 4 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
1♠Pass2♥Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 2 No-trump: Same hand, but this time, Pard has bid 2♥. Knowing that the Hearts are covered, and knowing we (most likely) don't have an eight card major suit fit, we're going to limit our hand by bidding 2 No-trump. Pard will know we have a minimum opener with stoppers in the unbid suits. Now it's his problem.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
♠ K Q 9 5 4
♥ 8 7
♦ A Q 9
♣ K 8 4 		 
Q: 5 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
1♠Pass2♠Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass: Pard limits his hand with his 2♠ bid. Even if he is at the max of 9 points, we aren't going anywhere. "Sane" bidding requires that we be able to Do the Math. We do it, and we pass.

And now, how about a not-so sane hand?

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.
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