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 No-trump Auctions "Fruitcake is Forever" by Marti Ronemus

How that wonderful, flavorful, magnificent dessert, fruitcake, ever became a holiday joke is beyond me. I LOVE fruitcake, especially if it's been soaked in booze for a couple months. Dense, delicious, loaded with surprise treats. Wow.

It was not always a joke. Fruitcake dates back to Roman times, and has been a special occasion dessert for millennia. In fact, it's an essential part of British royal weddings. A piece of Kate and Prince William's cake sold at a Beverly Hills auction house for $7500, and one from Chuck and Di's wedding for $6000. AND!! A pineapple fruitcake went to the moon with Apollo 11. Sadly, it came back intact and now resides in the Smithsonian.

There's even a town in Colorado, Manitou Springs, that celebrates the delicacy on Jan. 3 (sorry, we just missed it) by having a Great Fruitcake Toss. We put it on our calendar for next year.

Meantime, let's tackle our quiz and hand, so we can go have a slice and a cuppa. We're looking at No-trump auctions today.



Question 1

  Your Hand
♠ A J 9 3
♥ A 2
♦ K J 8 4
♣ K 3 2 		 
Q: 1 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
1 No-trumpp2♣*p
2♠p3♦***p
?

*Stayman: "Do you have a four-card major?"
***Forcing! He's got four Hearts (if he had Spades, that's where we'd be) and probably five Diamonds.

 Your choice:
A: 4♦: The only bid we can't make a case for is Pass. Pard is highly distributional, red, red, red. He has a hand big enough to shove us to a game in Diamonds. We limited our hand with our opening bid. We need to tell Pard about our outstanding Diamond support and leave it to him. Remember, the partner of the limiter (us!) is in charge.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Bridge Boot Camps

With Marti Ronemus

New! 2018 Boot Camp Schedule
New locations!
New Class Levels
Ask to be sure you receive your schedule!



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,
mronemus@comcast.net

Question 2

  Your Hand
♠ Q 6 5
♥ A 9 6
♦ K Q 9 8
♣ A J 5 		 
Q: 2 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
1 No-trumpp2♦*P
2♥p2 No-trumpp
?

*Transfer to Hearts

 Your choice:
A: 3♥: Let's think this through calmly. Pard has shown a hand with 8-9 pts. He invited with 2 No-trump. He only has five Hearts. If he had six, he'd invite with 3♥ rather than 2 No-trump. We've got 16 pts. BUT we have what Eddie Kantar calls The Death Hand, 4-3-3-3. We don't have a suit that will run. Our best bet is to return to our known eight-card fit in Hearts by bidding 3♥.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
♠ Q 6 5
♥ A 9
♦ K Q 9 8
♣ A J 5 2 		 
Q: 3 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
1 No-trumpp2♦*P
2♥p2 No-trumpp
?

*Transfer to Hearts

 Your choice:
A: Pass: Gee, this looks a lot like the last hand... and it is. EXCEPT!! We're holding only two Hearts, and with Pard's five, that's only seven. We have no eight-card fit, so we're passing. We're flat and have nowhere to go.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
♠ Q 7 6
♥ A 9 8
♦ K Q 9 8
♣ A J 7 		 
Q: 4 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
1 No-trumpp2♥*p
2♠p3 No-trumpp
?

*Transfer to Spades

 Your choice:
A: 4♠: Pard has shown a hand with game-going values plus exactly five Spades. His No-trump bid protects us in case we only have two Spades. We know we have an eight-card fit, so we correct to Spades. Let's think a little further: We've got such a flat hand. Why not just leave it in 3 No-trump? Because Pard may be very distributional. Hands play better in a suit ... if you've got one, and we do.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
♠ K Q 3 2
♥ K J 5 2
♦ A 7 4
♣ K 8 		 
Q: 5 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
1 No-trumpp2♣p
2♥p3 No-trumpp
?

*Stayman: "Do you have a four-card major?"

 Your choice:
A: 4♠: When Pard asks if we have a four-card major, we dutifully bid ours, up the line. Interestingly, after our Heart bid, Pard bids 3 No-trump. What does that tell us? He's got four Spades, and three or less Hearts. Otherwise, why would he have bid Stayman? We need to correct to 4♠.

And now, let's play a hand and earn our cake.

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

Rate yourself:

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Review the subject and try again. You'll be surprised how much better you'll do.
We're here for you!!
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No mentor? Make finding one a priority!
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