Contract Bridge
Bidding quiz
You have the following hand, both sides vulnerable:
♠ AKQ7 ♥ 93 ♦ J65
♣ AQ42
1. You are the dealer. What would you bid?
2. Your partner deals and bids One Diamond, and the next player passes. What would you bid?
3. Your left-hand opponent bids One Diamond, and your right-hand opponent bids One Heart. What would you bid?
4. Your partner deals and bids One Heart, and the next player doubles. What would you bid?
5. Your partner deals and bids One Heart, you respond One Spade, and partner bids Three Diamonds. What would you bid?
6. Your left-hand opponent bids One Club, and your righthand opponent bids One Spade. What would you bid?
1. One club. You have 16 points and balanced distribution, which would suggest opening one notrump, but you have two suits unstopped.
It is therefore better to start with a suit bid. Furthermore, the one-club opening offers the advantage of enabling you, in most instances, to show both of your suits on the one-level.
2. One spade. You’re sure of game, but that doesn’t mean you should bid two spades. A jump-shift would indicate a probable slam, and your values are simply not good enough for that. Change one of your hearts into a spade and you’d then have an acceptable two-spade bid. The one-spade response is 100% forcing, and you plan to bid strongly later on.
3. Double. This indicates opening-bid values and support for spades and clubs, the two unbid suits. It would be wrong to bid one spade, which would imply greater spade length and usually less in high-card strength.
4. Redouble. This shows 10 or more points in high cards. You plan either to get to game or to double the opponents for penalty.
5. Four clubs. A small slam is already certain, since partner’s jump-shift shows at least 19 points in high cards and distribution. Your hope is to reach a grand slam. Four clubs is a waiting bid that gives partner a chance to further describe his hand. Your next move will depend on what he does over four clubs.
6. Pass. The value of a hand changes as the bidding progresses. Before the bidding started, you had a good chance of finding partner with spade or club support, but that hope is now a thing of the past. Your best strategy at this point is to pass and hope the opponents climb too high in the bidding.