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 "Mellow Yellow" Responding to Takeout Doubles by Marti Ronemus

True confession: I'm a complete sucker for the "Despicable Me" Minions. How anyone can look at and listen to them without laughing is beyond me. Anyway, watching them in their latest movie got me thinking: Why are so many cartoon characters bright yellow? The Simpsons, SpongeBob, Peanuts' Woodstock, dozens more.

Indeed there are two reasons. First is visibility. Cartoon characters color schemes are based on making them stand out from their backgrounds. Since the sky is background so often, the color diametrically opposed on the color wheel, yellow, is used.

The second reason is psychological. The color yellow is associated with happiness and fun.

Now, as bridge players, we could wear yellow to make everyone around us happy. OR!! We can make our bids bright and clear so they stand out. Let's try that today, responding to Take-Out Doubles.

A quick review of what Pard's TOD means: 1) Shortness (no more than two cards) in the opponent's suit. 2) Four cards in any unbid major (if the opponent bid a minor, you can get away with four-three). 3) Tolerance (three cards) for any unbid suit. 4) An opening-ish hand (including distribution). The modern TOD shows a very specific hand.

When we respond to a TOD, we have two responsibilities. First, we need to pick a suit. Knowing Pard's shape (above) is a huge help. Secondly, and this is where most beginners fall down, is we need to show our point count. With 0-8ish pts, we bid as cheaply as possible. With 8-ish to 11 pts, we jump one level, and with more than that, we consider game.

So let's paint the town yellow with our responses. Ready?

Question 1

  Your Hand
 9 3
 9 5
 9 7 4 2
 J 9 7 3 2
 
Q: 1 - South?
SouthWestNorthEast
-1DblPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 1: This is the nightmare hand. Not only do we have no points, but our length is in the opponent's suit. Fortunately, since Pard promised tolerance for any suit, we have at least a seven-card Diamond fit. Don't embarrass yourself by sniveling. Just bid.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 2

  Your Hand
 A J 8 3 2
 K 9 4
 A 9 2
 Q 2
 
Q: 2 - South?
SouthWestNorthEast
-1DblPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4: From the ridiculous to the sublime, no? Pard promised an opening-ish hand, and while he might have only three Spades, we don't care. We've got enough to go to game. It's important with a TOD to not put Pard in a position where he's gotta guess what we have. Tell him we have game with our bright yellow hand.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
 K 8 7
 A 9 5
 Q 10 9 8
 9 7 3
 
Q: 3 - South?
SouthWestNorthEast
-1DblPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 1 No-trump: This says exactly what we have: 6-9 HCP and stoppers in the opponent's suit, with no real fit anywhere else. Perfect.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
 A 9
 K J 9 8
 K 4 3
 A J 8 2
 
Q: 4 - South?
SouthWestNorthEast
-1DblPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 3 No-trump: We've got 16 HCP and stoppers in the opponent's suit. Opposite Pard's opening-ish hand, we have game. Is slam a possibility? Not likely with LHO opening.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
 Q J 3
 Q J 9 4
 9 7 6 5
 K 3
 
Q: 5 - South?
SouthWestNorthEast
-1DblPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 2: We're going to show Pard our suit, PLUS!! By jumping one level, we promise 8-11 pts. Now it's Pard's problem, because we've accurately described our hand.

Next week, we're going to see what happens when RHO bids over our Pard's TOD. For now, let's play 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.

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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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