"Won't You Try?" Responding to Overcalls by Marti Ronemus

Pard makes a one-level overcall, which is passed to us. We're not sure what to do, but we just heard The Jefferson Airplane's 1968 "Won't You Try?" on the radio. We're inspired to take action.

Today we will look at responding to Pard's overcall with a minimum hand of our own. We want to take action, but we're not crazy (well...). Pard's overcall shows somewhere between 7-ish and 17-ish points and should guarantee a five-card nice suit. With a small hand, we don't much care where on the point scale he is.

Here's what we need to review. With a FIT, we raise Pard according to the Law of Total Tricks. Also, a new suit by us is NOT NOT NOT forcing! It promises a suit of our own. Pard may or may not bid again, up to him. The only absolutely forcing bid is a Cuebid of the opponent's suit, and we're not tackling that one today!

Let's give this a try. It's easier than you think.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ Q 8 4
♥ K Q 9 2
♦ 8 4
♣ 9 8 7 6

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♠: We respond just as we would have if Pard had opened. Even if he had a full opener, we don't much care, as we don't have game even if he's at the top of his overcall.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ Q 8 4 2
♥ K Q 9
♦ 8 4
♣ 9 8 7 6

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♠	Pass
?

A: 3♠: Is this invitational? Heck no. Remember, in a competitive auction (one where both partnerships are in the action), raising our Pard's suit is the absolutely weakest answer we can give. When we jump to 3♠, we are showing we have a nine-card trump fit and we are obeying the Law, bidding to the level of our combined trumps. (Nine trumps equals nine tricks equals the three-level.)

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 8 4
♥ K 9 7
♦ K 9 8 4
♣ Q 9 8 7

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♠	Pass
?

A: 1 No-trump: You've got a minimum hand with stoppers. We don't want to pass if we can find a way to try.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 8
♥ K 9 7
♦ 4 3
♣ K Q J 9 8 7

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♣: A new suit by us at the two-level is not forcing. If we wanted to force the auction, we'd have to cue-bid.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ Q J 8 5 4
♥ K 9 7 3
♦ 4
♣ 9 8 7

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♠	Pass
?

A: 4♠: It's our old friend The Weak Freak. We've got a singleton (in the opponent's suit, yet!) and we know we have a ten-card trump suit. The Law will protect us. This is such fun!

And now we get to try 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.

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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